Explainer: How important is Hong Kong to the rest of China?

Anti-extradition bill protesters open umbrellas as they demonstrate at a Mass Transit Railway (MTR) station, at Po Lam, in Hong Kong, China September 4, 2019. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Concerns over Hong Kong's political and economic future are growing as pro-democracy protests drag on and turn increasingly violent, and China makes clear that forceful intervention is possible.

An intervention by Chinese troops could seriously damage Hong Kong's standing as a stable international financial centre and a gateway for global capital flowing into the world's second-largest economy. No other Chinese city, not even Shanghai, could step into that role in the foreseeable future.