I N THE EARLY 1980s British officials worried about how Hong Kong’s inhabitants would be treated once the city-state was back under Chinese control. Civil servants entertained a tongue-in-cheek plan to move them to Northern Ireland, providing a “possibly happy outcome to the uncertainties”. The scheme never materialised. But although Northern Ireland did not take Hong Kong’s people, it might import its economic model.

Boris Johnson’s Brexit withdrawal agreement, finalised on October 17th, would in effect turn Northern Ireland into an entrepot—an arrangement not dissimilar from the “one country, two systems” relationship between China and Hong Kong. Northern Ireland would be in a de facto customs union with the EU , following many of its regulations on food and manufactured goods—thus removing the need for a hard border with Ireland. No matter what long-term arrangement Britain eventually makes, Northern Ireland would enjoy fairly free trade in goods with the bloc, while remaining part of the UK . It would benefit from future trade deals signed by Britain and possibly by the EU . Dominic Raab, the foreign secretary, argues that it is a “cracking deal”.

If Mr Raab is right, it would be a fillip for an economy already enjoying a strong spell (see chart). Pulled along by recovery in Ireland, in the past decade wages in Northern Ireland have risen more than in any other British region. Though it remains less wealthy, the province’s poverty rate is no longer higher than the British average. Unemployment is lower.