Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu (right) meets governor of Hunan province Mao Weiming (left) on May 29, 2023. (PHOTO / HKSAR GOVERNMENT)
The Hunan-Hong Kong-Macao Exchange Conference for Integrated Development was held in Hong Kong on Tuesday, with the aim of leveraging the respective advantages of the three sides, and strengthening their all-round exchanges and synergistic cooperation in economy and trade, science and technology innovation, and culture and tourism.
Hunan, an inland province in south-central China, enjoys a long history of exchange and cooperation with the two special administrative regions. Hong Kong is the second largest trade partner of Hunan, with total imports and exports reaching 56 billion yuan ($7.9 billion).
The conference held on Tuesday marks the province’s first major investment and economic activity outside Hunan following the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is important for the three sides to combine the advantages of Hunan’s advanced manufacturing industry with modern service industries of Hong Kong and Macao, accelerate the development of new business models, and jointly nurture new modes of industrial integration.
Mao Weiming, governor of Hunan province
A promotion meeting with the theme “Welcome to Charming Hunan” was held after the exchange conference, during which Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po delivered a speech, saying that Hunan and Hong Kong have always maintained close contact with each other in relation to the tourism industry, and have successfully organized a number of promotion and exchange activities.
“With high-speed railway between Hong Kong and Hunan cutting travel time to a few hours, I am confident that the two places will see vigorous development in tourism cooperation,” Chan added.
In the past 40 years, more than 6,000 Hong Kong and Macao enterprises have invested in Hunan, accounting for about 67 percent of the province’s use of investment from outside of the mainland. Meanwhile, more than 400 enterprises from Hunan have set up businesses in the SARs, representing 40 percent of its outbound investment.
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Hunan and its capital Changsha boast a leading business environment, ranking among the top seven in the 2022 business environment evaluation campaign organized by the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce.
Mao Weiming, governor of Hunan province, noted that Hunan is making every effort to build itself into a national highland for advanced manufacturing, a highland for science and technology innovation with core competitiveness, and a highland for reform and opening up.
Chief Executive of the HKSAR John Lee Ka-chiu said that with Hunan’s rich tourism resources and the SAR’s well-developed service industry, the two places can jointly promote overall development of the tourism sector and achieve complementarity and mutual benefits
Mao proposed deepening exchanges with Hong Kong and Macao in trade, industry, finance and tourism, and further achieving win-win cooperation.
“It is important for the three sides to combine the advantages of Hunan’s advanced manufacturing industry with modern service industries of Hong Kong and Macao, accelerate the development of new business models, and jointly nurture new modes of industrial integration,” said Mao.
Bernard Chan Pak-li, deputy secretary for Commerce and Economic Development of the HKSAR government, said, “Hong Kong will work all out to seize development opportunities of the National 14th Five-Year Plan, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Belt and Road Initiative to foster growth, and in turn give full play to its strength as an international hub to fuel the pace of mainland enterprises going global.”
The HKSAR government has established the Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises and launched a package of policies to attract talents, including the Top Talent Pass Scheme, to promote Hong Kong’s diversified development, under which Hong Kong welcomes Hunan’s companies and talents.
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Chief Executive of the HKSAR John Lee Ka-chiu held a meeting with Mao on Monday to welcome Mao and his delegation’s visit to Hong Kong, saying that with Hunan’s rich tourism resources and the SAR’s well-developed service industry, the two places can jointly promote overall development of the tourism sector and achieve complementarity and mutual benefits.
irisli@chinadailyhk.com