How HK’s borderless entrepreneurs are bucking the eCommerce slowdown

Every time I speak with our team in Hong Kong, I hear a version of the same story — one that runs counter to the global narrative on trade tensions, tariffs, and softening demand from Mainland China.

Notwithstanding current macroeconomic challenges, we’re finding that eCommerce founders in Hong Kong are bucking the trend, with the number of active startups rising 10% year-on-year and eCommerce leading that growth. Rather than waiting for tariffs or supply chains to stabilise, they’re building more adaptable businesses across markets and currencies.

At Aspire, we’re seeing double-digit growth in new business accounts from eCommerce companies in Hong Kong. Many of these are run by international founders who see Hong Kong as both a testbed and a launchpad. They’re using the city’s infrastructure, logistics, and financial connectivity to serve customers globally.

So what’s fueling Hong Kong’s eCommerce comeback? From what we’re seeing across our customer base, four shifts stand out:

Cross-border readiness from day one - Founders are building for multiple currencies and payment rails upfront. Transactions on Aspire’s platform skew heavily towards USD and HKD, with CNY flows growing thanks to more flexible settlement options. This readiness means businesses can adapt quickly when currency or tariff pressures hit.

Content-commerce convergence - Platforms such as Xiaohongshu and Douyin are blurring the lines between content and commerce, turning social engagement into purchase intent. In Hong Kong, where Xiaohongshu recently set up an office, this “creator-commerce” wave is reshaping online retail. For eCommerce founders, success increasingly depends on building authentic narratives and partnering with creators who can translate those stories into sales.

Smarter financial operations - The best founders are moving beyond basic banking to intelligent finance solutions that optimise capital and unlock real-time visibility into cash flow. Many founders underestimate how much operational drag comes from manual financial management. The more visibility you have over every transaction, the faster you can reinvest in growth. Today, AI is amplifying that advantage, helping founders automate complex, multi-geo operations and make sharper, data-led decisions in real time.

Progressive policy approach to payments - Underlying all of this is one clear advantage: Hong Kong’s payments infrastructure and its appetite to stay ahead of the pack. The city’s strength has always been its ability to move money quickly, securely, and across borders – but now policymakers are going a step further by expanding digital currency use cases, specifically for real-time cross-border payments. The city is also positioning itself as a regulated hub for stablecoin settlement and tokenised assets.

For founders, this experimentation means potentially faster, cheaper, multi-currency payments that remove long-standing friction from international trade. This is why many of the founders we work with are excited about innovative payment integrations.

Looking ahead

When I ask founders what keeps them in Hong Kong, the answers are consistent: proximity to suppliers, access to capital, and the sheer speed of business. Increasingly, it’s also about the ability to move money fast: to settle, pay, and expand without friction. That’s where Hong Kong still holds an edge.

As the city deepens its digital currency pilots and strengthens payment systems, ecommerce businesses that stay financially agile will be best placed to capture the city’s next wave of borderless growth.

This article was written by Andrea Baronchelli, co-founder and CEO, Aspire.