Former CE urges HK businesses to look to Gansu
Hong Kong and the northwestern Gansu province should jointly explore fresh cooperation areas, considering their complementary needs and strengths, Leung Chun-ying, vice-chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference National Committee, urged on Thursday.
Speaking at Gansu province’s investment promotion conference in the city, the former chief executive of the special administrative region noted Hong Kong must consider the needs of the country and strengths of the city when planning for the future, as Premier Li Keqiang has stressed previously.
“The needs of the country include the needs of Gansu, while the strengths of Hong Kong comprise its advantages in law and internationalization,” Leung said. “The two places should enlarge the scale of cooperation and improve performance.”
Gansu’s position means it is well-placed to participate in the Belt and Road Initiative, as a channel to Central Asian and West Asian countries. Gansu always has a tight business relationship with Hong Kong, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said.
“Hong Kong could help Gansu on its ‘go global’ strategies and become a two-way investment and trade platform for the province and other Belt and Road countries,” said Chan.
Hong Kong has become the largest export market for Gansu as well as the biggest source of foreign capital, most of which is focused on resources, energy and property. By the end of last year, more than 1,000 Hong Kong companies had invested in Gansu, while the amount of contractual investment capital reached $15.6 billion.
Meanwhile, there are also many Gansu firms invested in Hong Kong, and three were listed on the city’s stock exchange.
“The development of Gansu could bring Hong Kong businessmen more opportunities, and in exchange they could provide more energy for the province,” said Tang Renjian, deputy secretary of the Communist Party of China Gansu Provincial Committee and governor of the province.
Zhang Yinghua, director of the Department of Commerce of Gansu province, introduced five sectors with potential for broader cooperation with Hong Kong — logistics, traditional Chinese medicine, manufacturing, recycling and agriculture, and cultural tourism.
He said the province had launched 166 key projects amounting to nearly 300 billion yuan ($47.45 billion) in these sectors, and sought deeper collaboration with Hong Kong companies for mutual benefits.
Commissioner of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the HKSAR Xie Feng, Deputy Director of the Central People’s Government’s Liaison Office in the HKSAR Qiu Hong, and Under Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Bernard Chan Pak-li were also at the conference.