Eddy S. H. Li, President of the Chinese Manufacturers’ Association of Hong Kong

My first factory on the mainland opened in Shenzhen in 1984 soon after I started my own business in the early 1980s.

After the low-value-added and labor-intensive processing industries were gradually relocated to the mainland over the past few years, Hong Kong has been able to focus on developing high-value-added products and services that require precise expertise.

Before 1997, many of my friends immigrated to foreign countries for fear that Hong Kong would regress and the lifestyle of Hong Kong people would change after the return. But in recent years, more and more people have come back.

A great change is that the exchange and communication between Hong Kong and the mainland have been largely intensified. Many young people in Hong Kong have moved to the mainland for study and entrepreneurship, and more Hong Kong women have married men from the mainland.

Before 1997, we had to go to the Middle East and Europe to explore the watch market. After the return, we have had access to the huge mainland market. Now the Belt and Road Initiative and the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area have brought new business opportunities for us.

For Hong Kong, the future is very promising. What has never changed is the advantage of “one country, two systems.”