Adviser urges stronger digital, cultural ties in GBA
Peter Lam Kin-ngok, a member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the nation’s top political advisory body, called for stronger digital economic cooperation between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong.
He also advocated deeper cultural industry cooperation among cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
Lam submitted his proposals during the annual gathering of the
CPPCC National Committee, which opened in Beijing on Monday.
Cross-border e-commerce has become one of the important channels for the mainland to import consumer goods. According to the data of the Ministry of Commerce, the transaction value of cross-border e-commerce on the mainland hit 43.8 trillion yuan ($6.09 trillion) in 2022, growing 3.5 percent year-onyear. Consumer goods imported through cross-border e-commerce exceeded 550 billion yuan in 2022, accounting for nearly 30 percent of the overall import volume of consumer goods.
Meanwhile, data from Hong Kong’s Census and Statistics Department show that the proportion of e-commerce sales in total business revenues increased from 5.7 percent in 2019 to 6.6 percent in 2021.
Noting that Hong Kong is an important node of the Belt and Road Initiative, Lam said the city can enhance its role as a “superconnector” in the construction of the Silk Road e-commerce.
The central government is advised to position Hong Kong as an international cooperation platform for Silk Road e-commerce, support Hong Kong enterprises in seizing opportunities brought by the pilot zone for Silk Road e-commerce cooperation, and provide more support for the industry to participate in the project, he said.
Promoting the smooth flow of cross-border data is a key part of digital economic cooperation, Lam stressed, suggesting that a data platform in the GBA should be established as soon as possible.
The GBA has gradually formed an industrial development model with Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Guangzhou serving as data centers and continuously