AmCham HK e-Magazine
November/December 2025
COVER STORY
A conversation with Ambassador Kurt Tong, managing partner, The Asia Group
Following the APEC leaders’ summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, Ambassador Kurt Tong spoke with AmCham Hong Kong on the outlook for US-China relations and the global trading system. Tong was US consul general in Hong Kong from 2016 to 2019. His tenure featured a “USA Loves Hong Kong” campaign even as the city’s politics veered into acrimony and protest. His US State Department positions included stints in Tokyo, Beijing, and Seoul, as well as ambassador to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) organization.
CEO INTERVIEW
“Technology is not nice to have, it’s must have”
A conversation with Michael Yue, Managing Director and General Manager, Google Hong Kong
You might think you know Google as a search engine or an email provider. “Googling” has, after all, become synonymous with Internet search. But the company’s portfolio is far broader, spanning cloud, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital infrastructure to advertising that powers economies. Here, Michael Yue explains how Google is bringing this technology to the city to fulfill its local commitment to “advancing Hong Kong, together”.
CHINA
By Andy Rothman
The fourth plenum, a key meeting of China’s leadership, outlined recommendations for China’s 15th five-year plan, which will begin next year. Here veteran China watcher Andy Rothman looks at priorities for China’s economy as it tackles the next round of geoeconomic headwinds and its own pressing domestic issues.
BUSINESS
Bringing private healthcare to China, one step at a time
Roberta Lipson of United Family Healthcare looks back
When Long Islander Roberta Lipson arrived in Beijing in 1979 at age 24, she wasn’t expecting to make history. But as an American businesswoman in China, she has continuously broken barriers, building China’s first private hospital, now a chain, and a series of businesses under the New Frontier Health brand.
HONG KONG
Why the city is becoming a magnet for sports business
Loron Orris gives the lowdown on the nexus between sports and Hong Kong
Visitors to Hong Kong in the early 20th century were astounded by the range of sports that the colony offered, from cricket to rowing and horse racing. In the 20th century, the construction of leisure facilities across the city gave Hong Kong its first Olympics team in 1952 and the world’s largest per capita count of swimming pools.
HONG KONG
How the SPCA is unleashing Hong Kong’s pet economy
By Edith Terry
Dating apps to find your ideal pet companion? Pet influencers who are sought after by pet food brands and more, like @egg_roll328, who has over 180,000 followers on Instagram, or @siu9.2020, with 998,000 followers. Or Google’s original Top Dog, Yoshka, who was the first to visit the café at Google’s Mountain View campus in 2011.
BUSINESS
Engaging and Retaining Women in the Workplace
By Soundari Mukherjea and Sara Wood Madera
“If you worked, who would watch the kids?” said by HR head of an organization in Asia
“Mothers don’t succeed here,” told to a working mother by the HR head of another organization
“What is the point of all this education if you are not going to be working?” asked of a parent considering a career break.
CHAMBER
China’s largest inland city, known for its spicy cuisine, is the hub of international rail connecting Asia and Europe and an industrial powerhouse. AmCham visited the city of over 30 million from November 6-7 for the first time in 12 years. Tours of a newly built data center, a pioneering biotech firm, a major EV manufacturer, and a robotics company specializing in automated consumer product assembly were among the highlights.
CHAMBER
Navigating climate policy in a new era
In a global economy where US policy has become distinctly unfriendly to advocates of renewable energy and climate change, AmChamHK’s Sustainability Committee, which tackles Environmental, Social and Governance issues as well as energy convened a leadership conference last September, during Hong Kong’s Green Week from September 8-12.
ADVERTORIAL
Hong Kong’s First “University-style” High School
Stamford American School Hong Kong opens its West Kowloon Campus
A reimagining of secondary education
“Education is a little like Formula 1,” says Andrew Noakes, head of school at Stamford. “Every micro‑adjustment and every shaved gram add up to performance gains. We’ve applied the same precision thinking to how we design learning environments — so students can be more focused and more self‑directed. Hong Kong’s children no longer need to look overseas for a world‑class education.
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