Bay Area sci-tech bond capable of global achievements: Scientist
China is on the right path to making international scientific breakthroughs, with closer cooperation between Hong Kong and the mainland following the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area blueprint, a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nancy Ip Yuk-yu, said.
Ip, a Hong Kong deputy to the National People’s Congress, the country’s top legislature, said scientists in Hong Kong and other Bay Area cities on the mainland should seek out projects to cooperate on. They should also make full use of the region’s scientific resources and mature industrial ecosystem, she added.
A neuroscientist and vice-president for research and graduate studies at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Ip is promoting the university’s research in healthy aging. This is a new interdisciplinary research subject, which studies how to keep the elderly healthy with proper disease prevention and a quality life style.
In the face of a growing aging population, many countries, including China, attach great importance to studying aging societies. But such research in China is at an early stage and not focused, Ip said.
Talking to China Daily during the annual two sessions in Beijing, Ip believes the country is encouraging cross-boundary cooperation in the Bay Area. This means Hong Kong can use its edge in basic research and take a lead in research subjects such as healthy aging.
An abundant pool of talents, funds, bio-samples, equipment and mature industrial ecosystem in Guangdong will facilitate research and also commercial applications, Ip said.
On Feb 18, the central government released the 50-page development outline for the Bay Area, with a separate chapter on the region’s vision to a world-class innovation and technology center status.
According to the outline, the central government will formulate a specialized plan for easier crossboundary transmission of medical data and bio-samples such as blood samples. It will enable Hong Kong and Macao research institutes in Guangdong to enjoy equal rights with other mainland institutes, including various national and Guangdong provincial policies and funds.
It currently takes months for Hong Kong hospitals to provide a few hundred of such samples. But with a much larger population, the same number can be provided by mainland hospitals right away, explained Ip.
However, it could be time-consuming to apply for a cross-boundary use of mainland bio-samples, she noted.
“So easier boundary-crossing procedures for bio-samples will largely facilitate our research,” Ip said.
Calling the outline “an important first step”, Ip has been promoting the implementation of key details of relevant policies.
For instance, even though the country has allowed the crossboundary use of national funds, issues like how the money should be managed and audited are to be settled.
“I hope these policies can be well implemented to facilitate easier flow of supporting supplies for scientific research across the boundary … so researchers can spend more time on research itself, and less on administrative procedures,” Ip said.
More tax breaks and easier boundary-crossing arrangements for talents are also essential, she added.
Ip believes that with the Bay Area’s international ties and strong research and development capability, the 11-city cluster will attract more leading scientists and universities and enterprises around the world. This will help to boost innovation and technology development.
“One of the key performance indicators to assess whether the Bay Area development is successful is to see whether quality talents are willing to work and stay in the region,” Ip said. “This is what an international I&T hub should be like.”
Ip revealed that the HKUST’s new campus in Guangzhou will start enrolling postgraduate students soon — with construction to be completed as early as 2021.
It will be focused on interdisciplinary subjects to fully utilize the industrial system in Guangdong and facilitate the industrialization of scientific research in the Bay Area.
Public discussions in Hong Kong about matters concerning the Guangdong-Hong KongMacao Greater Bay Area city cluster have heated up noticeably since the central government authorities unveiled the outline development plan for the Bay Area last month. Since the Bay Area is projected to become a new innovation and technology hub and regional economic growth engine, a lot of emphasis is on attracting young people with new knowledge to work in the nine cities in Guangdong instead of Hong Kong and Macao only.
Although it is a bit too early to talk about career opportunities in the Bay Area at this point, those thinking about pursuing careers in Guangdong should start preparing for the day by arming themselves with practical knowledge as well as occupational skills.
Hong Kong residents who have been following the annual sessions of the National People’s Congress and the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in Beijing must have noticed the great importance that State leaders, Guangdong provincial government as well as NPC deputies and CPPCC members from Hong Kong and Macao attach to the Bay Area city cluster development. It is not surprising at all because the Bay Area city cluster is an integral part of the national development strategy for the next 30 years or so alongside the Belt and Road Initiative. The latter is already well underway, which means Bay Area development will no doubt shift into a higher gear soon.
As a matter of fact, governments of Guangdong province and the two special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao are already taking necessary measures to cash in on the Bay Area, so to speak, with an eye on engaging young people to ensure its future development. The nine cities in Guangdong are some of the best-developed on the mainland, but Hong Kong youths probably know Shenzhen and Guangzhou a lot more than the other seven cities in the Pearl River Delta region. That means they should at least consider career opportunities in those smaller PRD cities and start learning more about them now. After all, Shenzhen and Guangzhou are already very high on mainland college graduates’ list of job spots. Hong Kong youths contemplating careers in those two big cities will face very stiff competition for sure.
Many recent opinion polls found Hong Kong youths in their 20s are generally more open to working in Guangdong than older people — especially those who already have a stable job here in Hong Kong. But the percentage of those who do not reject the idea of finding career opportunities up north is not remarkably high. Some observers believe the SAR government and its Guangdong counterpart should provide useful information about what to expect for those looking forward to working in the PRD area, such as the concept of the “one hour living circle”. That will definitely be a plus for those who want to expand their career prospects beyond Hong Kong. Remember: Opportunities come to those who are prepared.