The Nexus of Professional Service Practices in Chinese Financial Centres

Bringing together work within economic geography and regional science, this paper arguesthat to develop a more sophisticated theoretical understanding of how of international financial centres (IFCs) are evolving, an approach which conceptualises the nexus of midlevel economic practices within and between professional service firms and sectors has considerable merit. Drawing upon theoretical work on relationality and place, it argues that the IFC as a place is instrumental in shaping a nexus of professional service practices that produce particular economic outcomes. It develops this argument by presenting research into professional service industries in two Chinese IFCs – Hong Kong and Beijing.