Think tank picked to boost development of city in line with Beijing national plan
Fifty-six academics and business leaders with extensive experience of the mainland have been enlisted for a Hong Kong think tank set up to advise the chief executive on boosting the city’s socio-economic standing in line with national development.
The team, unveiled yesterday, will form three expert groups – economic advancement, social development and research strategy – under the Chief Executive’s Policy Group (CEPU), headed by Stephen Wong Yuen-chiu.
“Hong Kong has gone from chaos to order and now is in the critical period of transiting from stability to prosperity,” Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said before the announcement.
“I hope to be able to make up for the lost time in the shortest time possible and achieve results. I would like to formulate policies to bring positive values and impacts to Hong Kong in the short, medium and long term.”
The think tank includes figures from business, finance and academia, all appointed with immediate effect for a one-year term. It includes Professor Zheng Yongnian, presidential chair professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen.
Zheng was among the experts invited in 2020 to share his views on the 14th five-year plan at a seminar hosted by President Xi Jinping in Beijing.
Other major names include Professor Lau Siu-kai, a consultant at the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies think tank; Adam Kwok Kai-fai, executive director of Sun Hung Kai Properties; and Martin Lee Ka-shing, chairman of Henderson Land Development.
“To help Hong Kong integrate into national development, it is natural that the government needs to tap the expertise of those who know China and the Greater Bay Area initiative,” said Lau, also a former head of the government’s Central Policy Unit.
“If the CEPU can make good use of the experts as their mentors or resource persons, it can also help extend the CEPU’s people connection and enhance the quality of their research.”
He understood the group would meet once or twice a year.
Wong said all the members had significant experience and knowledge in their fields and were keen to offer innovative ideas to benefit the city. In addition to meetings, his unit would consult members on specific areas to maximise use of their skills.
Chan Wai-keung, a political scientist at Polytechnic University, agreed the city government needed more China experts to help it formulate policies to align with national development.
“Hong Kong-grown bureaucrats do not seem to understand China much,” Chan said.
“Similar high-profile panels to advise the chief executive have also been formed in previous terms of the government. But not much seems to have been achieved. We just hope the expert group this time will not become just another talking shop.”
Other experts recruited for the think tank include Guo Wanda, executive vice-president of the Shenzhen-based China Development Institute, and Professor Huang Ping, director of the Centre for Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Business experts include investment banker Levin Wang Lei, chief executive officer of Huatai Financial Holdings, and the chief executive of China Development Bank’s Hong Kong branch and Hong Kong Chinese Enterprises Association vice-chairman Li Xiguang.
Hong Xiaoyuan, the non-executive director of China Merchants Bank Company and assistant to the president of China Merchants Group, and Dowson Tong Taosang, senior executive vice-president of Tencent, are also on board.