The State Department issued travel advisories for the mainland of the People's Republic of China and Hong Kong on Wednesday.

State Department’s reduction in its China travel risk assessment follows years of Chinese government complaints about the previous “reconsider travel” advisory being too harsh.

The State Department on Wednesday downgraded its travel advisory for China, shortly after the White House announced it had secured the release of three Americans as part of a prisoner swap with Beijing.

Hong Kong has become a center for money laundering and sanctions evasion under the tightening grip of Beijing, US lawmakers have warned, calling for a re-evaluation of America’s close business relationship with the Asian financial hub.

Hong Kong has become a center for financial crime as Beijing tightened its grip on the city, US lawmakers said, highlighting the worsening ties between the former British colony and Washington.

US lawmakers have urged the government to rethink banking ties with Hong Kong, citing its "increasing role" in money laundering, sanctions evasions and reported funneling of banned technology to Russia.

Shares of Chinese express-delivery company S.F. Holding rose in their trading debut in Hong Kong after the financial hub’s second-largest listing this year. The Shenzhen-based company’s shares rose 1.

SF Holding, China’s largest courier deliverer often regarded as the nation’s equivalent to FedEx, inched up after a flat trading debut in Hong Kong amid tepid sentiment, a precursor to a busy week of stock debuts that will add several billion Hong Kong dollars to this year’s listing proceeds.