HK finance chief: City to gain from mainland boost

Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po on Sunday said the city’s economy will see a “significant improvement” in the third quarter thanks to the Chinese mainland’s positive economic growth during the same period.

Meanwhile, local stakeholders stressed the key factor for Hong Kong’s economic recovery lies in bringing the COVID-19 pandemic under control. The city recorded one untraceable local infection on Sunday.

In his Sunday blog, the city’s financial chief said it is “highly possible” that Hong Kong’s export figures and its gross domestic product will rise for July to September as the mainland reported an increase in its September exports and imports of 9.9 percent and 13.2 percent respectively.

Official data show in the past decade that the mainland has been both Hong Kong’s largest destination of exported goods and supplier of imported goods.

Chan also forecast that local consumption will see a boost as the pandemic has abated since September with social distancing measures being relaxed.

The Hong Kong government has allowed travel agencies to organize local tours consisting of no more than 30 people from Friday amid a fall in local infections. Up to Saturday, almost 60 travel agencies had registered over 100 local tours during the three-day Double Ninth Festival, which falls on the ninth day of the ninth month on the Chinese lunar calendar, from Saturday to Monday.

But Chan cautioned that the economy has yet to escape the recession.

The key for the city’s recovery from economic recession is to contain the pandemic in order to resume a normal cross-boundary flow of people, and turn to the mainland market, he pointed out.

Chan cited the “internal circulation” strategy — a development model raised by President Xi Jinping that focuses on the domestic cycle of production, distribution, and consumption — supported by innovation and upgrades in the economy.

Hong Kong’s economy still has opportunities to recover significantly, Chan concluded in his blog.

Dennis Ng Wang-pun, president of the Chinese Manufacturers’ Association of Hong Kong, agreed that Hong Kong should eye opportunities on the mainland and expand into that market by providing highquality professional services and products.

Faced with the i ntensifying rivalry between the United States and China over trade and with the increasing threat of protectionism hanging over global trade, this is Hong Kong’s only option if it wants to revive its economy and reduce unemployment, the veteran industrialist said.

But before that, the city needs to get the pandemic under control so that the authorities can relax boundary restrictions between the mainland and Hong Kong as soon as possible, Ng added.

Tourism sector lawmaker Yiu Si-wing said relaxation measures could offer some help to the “frozen” industry, but the long-term solution is to gradually resume limited crossboundary travel between the mainland and Hong Kong.

In an article on her social media account on Sunday, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor cautioned that the whole society needs to remain vigilant, noting that “one local case of unknown source is one case too many”.