84,996 new local firms flocked to Hong Kong in 1H

That's a 9.34% increase from 2H12.

In a report, the Companies Registry announced that a total of 84,996 local companies were newly incorporated in the first half of this year, up 9.34% on the second half of last year.

Registrar of Companies Ada Chung said the number of newly registered local companies continued to rise in the first six months of this year, with 16,187 companies incorporated online at e-Registry.

As at the end of June, the total number of live local companies registered was 1,100,778, up 56,134 from the figure at the end of 2012.

For non-Hong Kong companies that have established a place of business in Hong Kong, 352 were newly registered in the first half, down 4.09% on the second half of 2012. The total number of non-Hong Kong companies registered reached 9,014 by the end of June.

Ms Chung said the Government’s aim is to bring the new Companies Ordinance into operation in the first quarter of 2014. “We hope that the legislative process for the remaining subsidiary legislation would be completed by the fourth quarter this year."

A total of 1,771,038 searches of document image records were conducted through the Registry's electronic search services in the first half of 2013, down 0.5% when compared to the second half of 2012.