It’s tough getting over the wall (Hong Kong and People’s Republic of China financial collaboration).

IT’S TOUGH GETTING OVER THE WALL

These are galling times for Simon Murray, chief executive of Hong Kong management and investment holding company Hutchison Whampoa.

Here’s Hutchison, “with the capacity today to buy a company overseas for a billion US’, as he put it, while over the border the billion-people-strong Chinese market beckons tantalizingly–always with the big deal remaining elusive.

“After committing ourselves to HK$12 billion [$1.54 billion] last year for our expenditure programmes in Hong Kong, we’re touching the ceilings and the four walls locally,’ said Murray.