Sleepless in Hong Kong: CY Leung’s property headache

Why is the Hong Kong property market important to Leung Chun-ying, who took office as the third chief executive of Hong Kong on July 1? It is because the government is the biggest landowner in Hong Kong. It gets 25% to 30% of its budget from land and land-related revenues, including stamp duties. If you were being cheeky, you would call the Hong Kong government Asia’s biggest property company.