In foreign companies 'minds, it is only to be expected that after 1997, administrative efficiency in Hong Kong will decline and that clean government and the rule of law will suffer--this is a necessary evil of any dealings with China. But foreign businesses worry less about the 1997 effect than about Hong Kong's rising prices and operating costs.
在外商心裡，九七後香港行政效率降低、廉能法治受損都是可以預見的，這是和「中國」打交道的必要之惡；而外商對九七的憂慮，還比不上香港物價高漲、營運成本增加來得傷腦筋呢。