HK, Shenzhen to enter full cooperation on I&T
Cooperation on innovation and technology (I&T) between Hong Kong and Shenzhen is expected to reach a whole new level as both cities aim to beef up investment and increase collaboration in coming years.
Party Secretary of Shenzhen Wang Weizhong on Thursday pledged to deepen I&T collaboration between his city and Hong Kong, with many ongoing projects rolling out progressively.
These include an I&T mega park to be built jointly by the two cities at the Lok Ma Chau Loop and a 15-square-kilometer Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone and the Shenzhen Qianhai and Shekou Free Trade Area.
Wang made the remarks at the discussion of the Guangdong province delegation to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. Delegates from the province also touched on issues of intensifying collaboration inside the Guangdong-Hong KongMacao Greater Bay Area.
Shenzhen’s pledge echoes Hong Kong’s ambition to focus on innovation and technology to boost its economy and turn itself into an international I&T hub by collaborating with Shenzhen and the Chinese mainland. Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor made developing I&T one of the top priorities in her maiden Policy Address last week.
She vowed to double research and development investment as a proportion of the city’s GDP to 1.5 percent from the current 0.73 percent in her five-year administration. Research funds of no less than HK$10 billion are set aside for universities as well.
“The development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and collaboration between Hong Kong and Shenzhen will connect the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors of the innovation and technology industry, thereby developing an international innovation and technology hub in the area,” Lam said in her Policy Address.
Director of the Centre for Innovation and Technology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong Professor Wong Kam-fai said that Hong Kong, with its edge in basic or so-called upstream research and first-rate universities, can synergize with Shenzhen in building an innovation and technology hub under the development of the Greater Bay Area. It can also provide a talent component for the I&T hub that both cities dream to merge into.
Wong suggested opening a green-visa passage for I&T talents, to increase the mobility of talents between the two cities. Wong said Hong Kong, which excels in legal services, can help mainland companies apply for international patents.
He said Hong Kong is expanding its I&T hub role by boosting investment in the application phase of I&T, or the midstream and downstream.
Contact the writers at stushadow@chinadailyhk.com