HK’s future lies in national blueprint
City to become ‘ eight centers’ in nation’s development plan
July 1 is a special date for Hong Kong. The special administrative region ( SAR) has been on an extraordinary journey in the past quarter- century, after it returned to the motherland in 1997. The journey has been unprecedented, during which the vibrant cosmopolitan city has surmounted waves of headwinds, and thrived as a major international financial, trade and shipping hub.
The special day is not only a reflection of the past journey, which proves the “one country, two systems” principle is a success as Hong Kong fortified its role as a “super connector” between Chinese mainland and the world. It more importantly marks a new start: After facing a series of internal social and economic challenges as well as a volatile global environment, how should the SAR rekindle its new roles under the national development blueprint and better integrate with the mainland to ensure longterm prosperity?
Hong Kong’s embodiment of national strategy is further highlighted in the central government’s national development blueprint. According to the national 14th Five- Year Plan ( 2021- 25), the central government supports Hong Kong to cement its four traditional roles as global financial, shipping, trade center and global center for law and dispute settlement in the Asia- pacific region, while encouraging the city to explore four new roles, including serving as a global innovation and tech center, among other directions involving the services sector.
John Lee Ka- chiu, the sixth- term Chief Executive of HKSAR who takes office on July 1, has vowed that Hong
Kong will harness its role as “eight centers” to the maximum, actively explore opportunities in the Greater Bay Area and better serve its position as the bridge that connect the Chinese mainland with the world.
“Some of Hong Kong’s traditional functions have been waning, but the city is ideally positioned to shoulder a bigger responsibility in China’s tech climb- up. It’s a task that Shenzhen may not be able to assume but Hong Kong could do an ‘ addition’,” an executive of Shenzhen- based leading tech firm, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Global Times.
He noted that this positioning is of critical importance, as it’s another effective means to counter Washington’s unilateral blockade against China’s rising tech industry.
The company, who saw one of its first product concepts being invented in the HKSAR, has already set up joint labs with Hong Kong universities – jumping on the bandwagon of many similar mainland companies such as Huawei and genetic sequencer MGI – to accelerate research and development ( R& D) of new gadgets.
MGI, also an affiliate of China’s genomics giant BGI Group, told the Global Times that Hong Kong can see its advantages as being “brain” of the Greater Bay Area, with global talents, scientific research quality and breakthrough research results.
“There’s more Hong Kong can do if we are now aiming for a global high land like Boston’s ultra- dense industrial cluster, where the total number of life science companies and employees leads the US and global urban clusters.” MGI said.
Hong Kong’s Innovation and Technology Bureau said in a statement sent to the Global Times that the city possesses strong R& D and innovation capabilities, with forward- looking R& D talent as well as the ability to break through “from zero to one”.
“As the 25th Anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to the motherland is approaching, we are more confident than ever that we could fully collaborate in the development of the GBA by leveraging the complementary advantages among different cities in the GBA, and develop the GBA into an international information technology hub,” the bureau said.
“Hong Kong is on trajectory to capitalize the huge opportunities presented by the Greater Bay Area. But it also needs to act beyond that and proactively integrate deeper with the mainland’s development plan,” Liang Haiming, dean of the Belt and Road Institute at Hainan University.
Under the central government’s dual- circulation strategy and the Belt and Road Initiative, “looking inland” has also drawn wide attention among Hong Kong businesses. “That means the GBA could also be developed into a base, paving way for Hong Kong companies to make inroads into China’s Central and Western areas,” Liang told the Global Times.