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HSBC plans to step up investment in Asia, including China, as the country's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's contribution to the group's total profit has risen to 60 percent in the latest quarter.

"We intend to reduce capital and costs in our underperforming businesses to enable continued investment in businesses with stronger returns and growth prospects… including in all our businesses in Asia," the bank said in a press release on Tuesday.

The group said it also intended to strengthen its investment banking competitiveness in Asia and in the Middle East.

The decision came as its businesses in US and EU markets posted underperformance in 2019, while the Chinese mainland and India, among other regions, performed well.

It reported a profit of $6 billion in 2019, slumping 53 percent year-on-year.

Although HSBC is based in London, most of its profits come from Asia, particularly Hong Kong. According to the bank's financial results for the fourth quarter of 2019, the adjusted profit before tax in Hong Kong reached $2.6 billion, accounting for almost 60 percent of the group's total during the period.

There is the potential for an economic slowdown in the region to affect HSBC's business in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and in the Chinese mainland, the bank's Chief Executive Noel Quinn was quoted as saying in a press release. 

"Longer term, it is also possible that we may see revenue reductions from lower lending and transaction volumes, and further credit losses stemming from disruption to customer supply chains," he said.

However, the main impact will be in the first quarter, but some improvement is expected as the novel coronavirus looks increasingly contained in China, according to HSBC.

Chinese experts told the Global Times in recent interviews that the impact of the outbreak on China's economy is only temporary and limited, as manufacturing will catch up by rising work hours while consumption is expected to rebound sharply after the end of the viral outbreak.