Japanese online financial firm SBI Holdings Inc. is considering withdrawing from or downsizing its business in Hong Kong, a source familiar with the plan said Wednesday as China seeks to tighten its grip on the semi-autonomous region.

The plan comes in response to growing concern about Hong Kong's standing as a financial hub following Beijing's imposition of a security law that sparked an international outcry.

The United States has been stepping up pressure on China by revoking the special treatment extended to Hong Kong.

SBI carries out foreign exchange and securities business as well as medicine development, with several dozen employees, including those hired in Hong Kong.

Many Japanese companies do business in Hong Kong, the former British colony that was promised 50 years of a high degree of autonomy following its 1997 reversion to Chinese rule.

Other Japanese financial institutions operating in Hong Kong may follow suit amid fears of stricter controls by China.

In a recent survey by the Japan External Trade Organization targeting nearly 600 Japanese firms in Hong Kong, over 80 percent of the 304 respondents expressed concern about the impact of the security law.

According to the survey, 36.7 percent said they would review operations in the territory, citing downsizing and pulling out as options. Another 35.1 percent said they expected no change.

The Japanese government has stressed that a free and open Hong Kong should be maintained under the principle of "one country, two systems."

==Kyodo

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