HK firm finds haven in Greater Bay Area

Shenzhen-based Protech sees sharp sales spike last year as company stayed open amid COVID-19 outbreak, keeping busy with overseas orders as digital transformation gains traction.

Bucking the sluggish, pandemic-induced economy, the tech company of Hong Kong budding entrepreneur Steven Pun Chi-ho is going strong, thanks to Pun's decision to relocate his company across the border years ago.

Throughout last year, Shenzhen-based Protech, which specializes in high-definition digital technology products, recorded a 30 percent increase year-on-year in total sales volume.

Pun, the company's 36-year-old CEO, said the unexpected revenue hike was an important milestone for the firm, which will seek further expansion. Established 11 years ago, Protech has been recognized as a national high-tech enterprise, with businesses extending across the globe.

He attributed much of the sales hike to the Chinese mainland's early control of the pandemic. Because of its successful pandemic control strategy, China was the only major economy to post growth in 2020. Pun's company resumed operations in February 2020, shortly after the onset of the pandemic, making it among the first batch of companies resuming operations in Shenzhen's Longgang district. That has brought Protech many orders from overseas competitors in Southeast Asia, as most of them remained shut amid the pandemic.

The boom of online entertainment and telecommuting under the pandemic also drove growth, Pun said. The company's main products — gadgets based on high-definition multimedia interface technology — are used to connect various digital devices, improving audio and video entertainment, as well as the work-from-home environment.