This could indicate that even though there is an agreement in place, Beijing might ignore it, as Dan Harris of the China Law blog points out.

“The problem isn’t the law,” he says. “It’s that when something is important to China – some cutting edge technology that it wants – then those laws don’t have any use at all.”

Dan Harris, managing partner of law firm Harris Bracken, said that over the past three months businesses have been asking: “Is Hong Kong safe? Should I send our people there?”

He is based in the US and advises clients on their strategy in China and Hong Kong.

“What we are mostly getting is clients saying they will not be setting up in Hong Kong, or just asking our opinion on what they should do to lower their footprint in Hong Kong.”