According to Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK), the department responsible for attracting foreign direct investment and supporting businesses to set up in Hong Kong, the 487 companies came from 48 economies.

The Chinese mainland continued to lead with 120 companies, followed by the United States (71), Britain (43), Japan (27) and France (25). There were 29 companies from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations economies.

In terms of sectors, the portfolio covered a broad spectrum ranging from innovation and technology (106 companies), followed by transport and industrial (65), tourism and hospitality (60) and Fintech (57).

Start-ups in various sectors took up 14.4 percent of all the companies assisted.

The 487 companies together will create 6,009 jobs in their first year of establishment or expansion, representing a 14.1-percent increase compared with the 2018 figure.

Among the companies, 27.7 percent said that they plan to make use of Hong Kong as the platform to take part in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area development and the Belt and Road Initiative.

InvestHK's Director-General of Investment Promotion Stephen Phillips said 2019 was "another record year for InvestHK in terms of the number of companies assisted and the number of jobs created by those companies".

"Hong Kong continues to attract overseas and Chinese mainland investors because of its core advantages and emerging business opportunities, especially in the light of the latest developments in the Greater Bay Area and the Belt and Road Initiative," Phillips said.

"Looking forward to 2020, notwithstanding the uncertain global and local economic environment, we will continue to strive to attract foreign companies, ranging from entrepreneur-led ventures to multinationals, to set up a presence in Hong Kong," he said.

"A special focus will also be put on attracting innovation and technology companies in line with the government's policy objectives," he added.