Belt and Road a big lift for HK’s gateway role
Hong Kong has been playing an irreplaceable role as the gateway to the vast Chinese mainland market since the city’s return to the motherland 20 years ago — a role that has taken on extra significance as the world’s second-largest economy opens up further and wields growing clout on the global economic and financial stage.
Besides serving as the preeminent platform for mainland enterprises “going out”, Hong Kong has been quick to join in the “boat ride” resulting from the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping as part of the SAR’s quest for a new footing in the country’s rapid development.
“Over the past two decades, Hong Kong has been a magnet for overseas investment that shores up the nation’s economic miracle,” said Andrew Yao Cho-fai, a Hong Kong deputy to the National People’s Congress and chairman of Hong Kong Shanghai Alliance Holdings.
“The SAR now seeks to find its place in the ‘go global’ trend as State-owned enterprises (SOEs) embark on an endless spending spree in a continued expansion abroad in search of a new growth engine, while the country moves ahead in the course of internationalizing its currency,” he said.
The trend is in tandem with the Belt and Road drive — a project that Xi mooted in 2013 with a view to linking China with Europe, Asia and Africa and boosting trade through a pervasive network of ports, roads, bridges and railways — and turning the renminbi into a truly global currency by turbocharging its usage in trade and financial transactions, Yao told China Daily.
Speaking on the sidelines of an annual conference of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) in Hong Kong last Friday, he said the city must capitalize on the Belt and Road Initiative by following in the footsteps of the mainland’s cash-rich enterprises in seizing the huge business opportunities on offer in the countries involved in the strategic project.
Hong Kong-based Stateowned conglomerate China Merchants Group, for instance, has been on the global expansion trail for almost three decades. The group now owns or manages nearly 49 ports in 19 countries and regions, including Sri Lanka’s Colombo Harbour, Nigeria’s Tin Can Island Port and Turkey’s Port of Kumport, all of which are located along the Belt and Road route.
“This makes an exciting case with Hong Kong joining forces with its mainland counterparts in exporting expertise in the financial, legal and other service-based sectors to underpin the port business,” Yao noted.
Lawmaker and Chairwoman of the New People’s Party Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee told the RICS gathering she was impressed by the great efforts undertaken by Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region in bolstering economic ties with its regional partners.
Nanning — the capital city of the far southern mainland region — took the lead in establishing the China-ASEAN Information Harbor during the 2014 exposition in a sign it’s determined to further strengthen cooperation in bilateral information.
Ip said Hong Kong, which is home to State-owned telecommunications operator China Unicom Global, has what it takes to join hands with its mainland partner in polishing its brand as the region’s information hub.