When clashes between police and protesters spilled into the heart of Hong Kong’s business district this week, one company provided the backdrop.
Jardine Matheson’s status as one of the largest property owners in Central, as the district is known, is at the heart of a fortune that dates back almost two centuries to the opium trade with China’s Qing dynasty.
But as unrest engulfs the Asian financial hub, Jardine Matheson is among the territory’s largest and most exposed conglomerates. It has been one of the biggest winners from an economic boom in Hong Kong, but one that has also seen inequality spiral and the property market become increasingly unaffordable for many.