HONG KONG - The government of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Thursday signed a comprehensive avoidance of double taxation agreement (CDTA) with Finland, further expanding the HKSAR's tax treaty network.

The HKSAR government's Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury James Lau and Consul-General of Finland in Hong Kong Jari Sinkari signed the CDTA on behalf of the governments of the two places.

The CDTA sets out the allocation of taxing rights between the two jurisdictions and will help investors better assess their potential tax liabilities from cross-border economic activities, the HKSAR government said in a press release.

"This is the 40th CDTA that Hong Kong has signed with its trading partners," Lau said. "Hong Kong has all along treasured the economic and trade ties with Finland, and I have every confidence that the signing of the CDTA will bring our bilateral relations to a new level."

In 2017, Finland was Hong Kong's 50th largest trading partner. Following the conclusion of the CDTA with Finland, Hong Kong has signed CDTAs with 16 member states of the European Union.

Under the CDTA, double taxation will be avoided in that any Finnish tax paid by Hong Kong companies will be allowed as a credit against the tax payable in Hong Kong on the same profits, subject to the provisions of the tax laws of Hong Kong. Likewise, for Finnish companies, the tax paid in Hong Kong will be allowed as a deduction from the tax payable on the same income in Finland.