Far East Horizon begins a new phase in its journey toward globalization

Comprehensive financial and industrial service provider using Hong Kong as launch pad for international expansion

Hong Kong, celebrating the 25th anniversary of its return to the motherland on Friday, is to open a new chapter in prosperity. Far East Horizon, a comprehensive financial and industrial service provider headquartered in Hong Kong, vows to give full play to the advantages of Hong Kong's capital market to help global partners seize opportunities at home and abroad.

Established in 1991, Far East Horizon began its business journey as a financial leasing service provider. It went public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2011 to reach more investors and expand its operations in the world.

Riding on the sound business environment of Hong Kong, Far East Horizon reported turbocharged growth over the years. The company has set up offices in about 30 cities across China including Shanghai, Tianjin, Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

It has formed a worldwide business network with more than 20,000 employees. The total value of assets under its management is more than 300 billion yuan ($44.96 billion). It has established trusted partnerships with more than 20,000 enterprises.

It has also been selected as a constituent stock of 14 subindexes of the Hang Seng Index, including the Hang Seng Composite LargeCap & MidCap Index. It was also added to the MSCI China Index and the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.

A dreamland

According to the company, Hong Kong boasts a large number of financial resources such as innovative products, capital, investors and issuers. These not only opened new financing channels to Far East Horizon, but brought mindset changes to the company in terms of innovation, corporate governance and talent attraction.

Far East Horizon has recorded many "firsts" in the capital market of Hong Kong since its listing in 2011.

For example, it issued a total of 2 billion yuan of dim sum bonds, a type of renminbi-denominated bonds, in the Hong Kong market in 2011, becoming one of the first financial leasing companies in China to issue such a bond.

It issued $400 million of subordinated perpetual bonds, which could be recognized as an owner's equity in financial statements and corporate ratings, in 2017 in Hong Kong. The bond was the first of its kind issued by a nonbank financial institution in Asia.

In recent years, the group has launched several international syndications, which shows its extensive and in-depth cooperation with various banks and financial institutions.

It also issued bonds denominated in different currencies such as Hong Kong dollars, Singapore dollars, Australia dollars and renminbi. Breakthroughs were also made in issuing different types of bonds including senior bonds, perpetual bonds and convertible bonds. In this dreamland, Far East Horizon got more chances to interact and communicate with leading global investment banks such as Citibank, J.P. Morgan, UBS, HSBC, DBS, UOB Kay Hian and Mizuho Securities, which played an irreplaceable role in it raising funds across the globe.

A successful strategy

Over the last 30 years, Far East Horizon has been on a mission to integrate global resources to support the real economy. It proposed a strategy known as "finance plus industry" to optimize its business structure, as well as to ensure its capital flow to the real economy rather than securities or high-risk investment.

So far, more than 1 trillion yuan has been invested in the real economy in China. Under this strategy, finance－which provides a solid foundation for Far East Horizon－remains at the core. In addition, the company can provide professional industrial operation and management services to help clients achieve bigger goals.

In 2021, as a Hong Kong-headquartered investor, Far East Horizon partnered with Shandong Jianzhu University in Yantai of Shandong province to construct a new platform to facilitate collaborative innovation by businesses, universities and research institutes. The project, with a total investment of 1.3 billion yuan, will be capable of accommodating nearly 7,000 students upon completion in 2023. Apart from providing construction management services, Far East Horizon will also operate the facility for 15 years to contribute to local infrastructure development, talent cultivation and global exchanges.

So far, Far East Horizon has expanded to industries including urban public utilities, healthcare, cultural tourism, engineering construction, machinery, chemicals and medicine, electronic information, public consumption, transportation and logistics.

In the nonfinancial sector, Far East Horizon attaches great importance to providing construction machinery operation services to clients with healthcare and education. Horizon Construction Development was established in 2011 to provide one-stop and all-around construction equipment operation services.

It serves a large number of landmark projects in China and across the world, including the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai) and Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

In the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge project, Horizon Construction Development arranged nearly 1,000 aerial work platforms to contribute to the construction. The subsidiary ranked first in Asia and fourth in the world on the list of Access 50 of Global Aerial Work Platform Rental Company issued by KHL Group in 2021.

The "finance plus industry" strategy has been proved effective in maintaining stable development of the company during times of uncertainty.

In the first quarter of 2022, Far East Horizon achieved a more than 15 percent year-on-year increase in operating income. The profit attributed to ordinary shareholders increased by nearly 20 percent. The income from nontraditional business accounted for almost 40 percent of the total.

Unveiling the initiative

Hong Kong will enter a new chapter after returning to the motherland for 25 years. Far East Horizon is set to begin a new phase in its journey toward globalization. The company will promote the idea of "globalization of resources, globalization of operations" and continue to leverage Hong Kong's role as a global financial link to connect the company with overseas markets.

So far, the company has formed a platform to deal with matters related to asset globalization.

Last year, Far East Horizon Asset Management under Far East Horizon received a Type 4 license for advising on securities and a Type 9 license for asset management from the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong.

Far East Horizon said this will significantly enrich the scope of clients' investment targets and satisfy their needs for diversified asset allocation and cross-border asset allocation through the provision of a series of offshore investment products, including hedge funds, equity funds, bonds and derivative investments.

Far East Horizon will also take measures to let its service "go global", as an increasing number of domestic companies and industries are promoting the concept of internationalization in operation and management.

The company said it will continue to help global clients to allocate quality Chinese assets while bringing more diversified global resources to Chinese enterprises, which effectively fulfils its mission of "integrating global resources, promoting industry development".

The company will also continue to promote the concept of ESG－environmental, social and governance－to push forward the construction of a modern company with an international perspective. Far East Horizon obtained an A-rating from MSCI for its efforts in ESG practices, holding a leading position in the financial industry in China.

tangzhihao@chinadaily.com.cn