HK's status as financial hub strong as ever, says JPMorgan COO

JPMorgan will continue to invest in Hong Kong, the city where it has been doing business for a century, betting that it can bounce back from economic downturns and live up to its potential as the financial center of the world's second-largest economy.

"We will continue to do the business that we are doing and continue growing," said the bank's president and chief operating officer Daniel Pinto during an interview with SCMP in Hong Kong.

"We are not the type of company that is going to go fully in one day and fully out the other. These are [business] cycles, and we've been navigating cycle after cycle over time."

Pinto said China is now the world's second-largest economy and is full of opportunities,  adding that China's financial markets will develop further over time, and that international firms such as JPMorgan will play an important role in helping to sustain China's financial system.

He emphasized that the potential of the mainland Chinese market is unlimited, and that Hong Kong needs to maintain its position as a global financial center, creating an environment for local and foreign companies to continue to grow.

Pinto also said that the company's business in mainland China is still disproportionate to the size of the economy and that it will continue to recruit staff for its asset management business there.