Chinese Vice-Premier Han Zheng has underscored Beijing’s support for Hong Kong in maintaining a free and open business environment, urging the city to strengthen its professional services to enhance competitiveness.
Delivering his speech via videoconferencing at a high-powered business summit in Hong Kong on Wednesday, Han also said the city should take the initiative to promote more practical regional cooperation and contribute further to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, a drive to forge trade links stretching from East Asia to Europe.
“We support Hong Kong in maintaining a free, open and regulated business environment, developing smooth and convenient international links as well as closer exchanges and cooperation with more countries, and expanding economic and trade cooperation networks,” the senior mainland official told business leaders and foreign officials at the Belt and Road Summit.
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“I hope Hong Kong will strengthen its professional services and build a comprehensive service platform for the Belt and Road Initiative.”
Han said Hong Kong’s competitiveness in the international division of labour would be improved by maintaining its common law system, developing value-added shipping services and providing consultancy for projects under Beijing’s trade initiative.
The remarks by Han – the highest-ranked among four vice-premiers – came two months after President Xi Jinping’s trip to Hong Kong during which he asked the city to improve its status as an international financial, shipping and trading centre.
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The summit, held at the Convention and Exhibition Centre, is an annual flagship event co-organised by the Hong Kong government and the Trade Development Council. Amid the city’s stringent travel restrictions, the two-day conference was held in a hybrid format.
In his keynote speech, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said there was a growing consensus among international economies that the centre of global economic activity had shifted to Asia.
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Lee said this was backed by China’s average annual GDP growth of 6.3 per cent and Asean’s mark of 4.4 per cent between 2011 and 2020, which were higher than the global average of 2.4 per cent. The former refers to regional bloc the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
“Despite the pandemic, our financial system remains resilient to market volatility,” Lee said.
He cited the capital adequacy ratio of Hong Kong’s major banks as exceeding 30 per cent, and the average liquidity coverage ratio that stood at 150 per cent – noting they surpassed international standards – as well as the city’s foreign reserves of US$447 billion (HK$3.5 trillion), equivalent to about 130 per cent of local GDP.
“That ensures that our financial market is reinforced with the buffers and resilience necessary to counter global financial and political shocks.”
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Lee pledged to lead Hong Kong in its continued practice of free market policies and multilateralism, as well as being a pivotal gateway for belt and road policies and the Greater Bay Area development.
“In deepening collaboration and pursuing innovation at every level, markets open, business flows, economy and companies expand, the gains are mutually beneficial,” he said. The bay area ambition aims to integrate Hong Kong, Macau and nine mainland cities in the region into an economic and innovation powerhouse rivalling Silicon Valley.
Other speakers at the forum included World Trade Organization deputy director general Zhang Xiangchen, Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat and Bank of China chairman Liu Liange.
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The Belt and Road Initiative – much touted by Chinese leader Xi – was launched in 2013, aimed at connecting more than 70 countries across Asia, Europe and Africa via a “New Silk Road” of railways, highways and ports. It has been beset with hurdles caused by the coronavirus pandemic in recent years.
Official figures showed more than 180 countries and international organisations signed cooperation documents with China under the belt and road plan, with total trade along the route worth more than US$10 trillion.
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