Press Releases

Total number of local companies surpasses 1.3 million

The total number of local companies registered under the Companies Ordinance reached 1,314,655 at the end of June this year, up 25,989 from the corresponding figure at the end of 2015, according to the statistics released by the Companies Registry today (July 10).

A total of 71,769 local companies were newly registered during the first half of 2016, among which 17,452 were incorporated online via the one-stop electronic company incorporation and business registration service at the e-Registry (www.eregistry.gov.hk).

The Registrar of Companies, Ms Ada Chung, said, "To facilitate business, the Registry launched a full-scale Company Search Mobile Service (www.mobile-cr.gov.hk) on May 20, 2016. Users may conduct all types of searches using their smartphones and mobile devices anytime and anywhere to obtain up-to-date company information, including document image records."

Ms Chung added, "In addition, the business community widely adopted the new initiatives introduced by the new Companies Ordinance that facilitate business and save costs, such as the alternative court-free procedure for reduction of capital and the new administrative restoration procedure."

In the first half of 2016, all 93 companies which reduced their capital made use of the alternative court-free procedure and about 59 per cent of company restoration cases used the new administrative restoration procedure. Further, around 60 per cent of the new companies incorporated electronically adopted the sample articles of association provided at the e-Registry.

Regarding non-Hong Kong companies that have established a place of business in Hong Kong, 466 companies were newly registered under the Companies Ordinance in the first half of 2016, compared to 478 in the second half of 2015. The total number of registered non-Hong Kong companies reached 10,273 by the end of June 2016, up 4.29 per cent year-on-year.

The number of charges on assets of companies received for registration in the first half of this year was 9,459, 9.54 per cent down from 10,457 in the second half of 2015. The number of notifications of payments and releases received for registration in the first half of this year was 10,502, down by 10.4 per cent when compared to 11,721 in the second half of 2015.

The number of documents delivered for registration during the first six months of 2016 increased by 1.38 per cent to 1,319,144, compared to 1,301,143 in the second half of 2015.

A total of 1,978,505 searches of document image records were conducted through the Registry's electronic search services in the first half of 2016, an increase of 0.36 per cent when compared to the figure of 1,971,323 in the second half of 2015.

For details of half-yearly statistics, please visit the "Statistics" section of the Registry's website (www.cr.gov.hk).