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Seizing Opportunities and Striving for Innovation and High-quality Development

Last week, I led a delegation comprising major officials in charge of financial policies and regulation to visit Beijing and call on the leadership of various Central Authorities. With the recent adoption of the Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively to Advance Chinese Modernisation (hereinafter referred to as “the Resolution”) at the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the leaders we met focused on elaborating the blueprint and plans laid out in the Resolution for deepening reform and opening-up to advance Chinese modernisation. We also had thorough exchanges and discussions on how Hong Kong could accurately grasp the direction and goals of national development to achieve its own high-quality development.

Based on the prevailing situation of the Mainland, as well as the complex and volatile international environment, the Resolution made an objective and accurate assessment of the country’s future macroeconomic and social development, and came up with a new blueprint with realistic and practical arrangements. The Resolution serves as a set of fundamental guiding principles for formulating future national policies. Hong Kong is also facing a profoundly changing domestic and international environment. We must first understand the changes before we are able to embrace them. That requires us to have a good grasp of the direction of the country’s future policy development directions and the rationale behind them. By doing so, Hong Kong will be able to leverage the momentum of our country’s development and capitalise on our unique characteristics and advantages, so as to accelerate high-quality development for our economy as well as add value and strength to various industries.

For instance, the Resolution calls for efforts on “improving the institutions and mechanisms for fostering new quality productive forces in line with local conditions”; “improving the systems for promoting full integration between the real economy and the digital economy”; and “harnessing the institutional strengths of the ‘one country, two systems’ principle in order to reinforce and enhance Hong Kong’s status as an international financial, shipping and trade centre, support Hong Kong and Macao in building themselves into international hubs for high-calibre talent, and improve relevant mechanisms to see the two regions playing a greater role in China’s opening to the outside world”. Taking all these directions together, it is not hard to see that our past efforts have already laid favourable groundwork in such areas. Looking ahead, we must remain steadfast and confident, and press ahead with our work solidly and gradually.

Last week, I led a delegation comprising major officials in charge of financial policies and regulation to visit Beijing. We called on Mr Xia Baolong, Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council.

Meeting with Mr Li Yunze, Minister of the National Financial Regulatory Administration (fourth from right).

Meeting with Mr Han Wenxiu (second from left), Deputy Director in charge of routine work of the Office of the Central Commission for Financial and Economic Affairs and Director of the Office of the Central Rural Work Leading Group, as well as Mr Yan Pengcheng (first from left), Deputy Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Financial and Economic Affairs.

Meeting with Mr Wu Qing (third from left), Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

For example, on accelerating the development of new industrialisation, we will launch the $10 billion New Industrialisation Acceleration Scheme this year. It will provide funding on a matching basis for enterprises from industries of strategic importance to set up new smart production facilities in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Investment Corporation Limited has continued to enhance its role as “patient capital” and is implementing a medium-to-long term investment strategy, with a view to actively attracting companies with cutting-edge technologies as strategic partners, and accelerating the building of Hong Kong's innovation and technology ecosystem. In addition, our singular edges include the institutional advantages under the “one country, two systems" principle, the implementation of the common law system and alignment with international standards. These edges have created the favourable conditions for expediting the development of the digital economy and its institution framework, including the promotion of data governance and data trading.

We must make full use of Hong Kong's advantages as an international financial, shipping and trading centre. Through result-oriented policies and an efficient market, we can channel capital into projects that can speed up the cultivation of new quality productive forces and attract a pool of leading talent engaged in advanced technology from all over the world.

Hong Kong is where cultures of the East and West meet. Being highly international is deep in our DNA. International mega events and exhibitions of different themes have gathered a lot of tourists and enthusiasts in the community. Following the Hong Kong Book Fair, Sports and Leisure Expo and World of Snacks, the Animation-Comic-Game Hong Kong (ACGHK), opened last Friday, has become a must-go event for comic lovers every year. I also went to the event, showing my support to this important comic mega event in the region. On the day, many people, in particular teenagers, arrived early. They spent generously to buy things they loved. Many also showed up as cosplayers, creating a lively and joyful atmosphere for this popular event.

This time, the ACGHK has continued to draw in many overseas dealers. Many of them told me that they were impressed by the passion of Hong Kong comic lovers. The event has also attracted many visitors from the Mainland and overseas, and it serves as a great platform for dealers to open the Asian market for their products. They said they would continue to join the event in future.

Last week, I paid a visit to the ACGHK, during which I toured the booth of the Hong Kong Comics Development and Promotion Support Programme supported by the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency.

Many cosplayers dressed up as anime characters at the ACGHK, creating a lively and joyful atmosphere for the event.

The ACGHK this year continued to draw in a good number of overseas exhibitors.

We hope that a series of thematic exhibitions and mega events can bring in more visitors and consumers, thus enhancing its vibrancy. It is true that changes in the consumption patterns of visitors and residents, as well as the strength of the Hong Kong dollar, have led to a rather lacklustre performance in Hong Kong’s private consumption recently, while exports of travel services have been impacted as well.

However, recent figures also show that exports of goods and overall investment have increased. Total exports of goods, as one of the main drivers of the local economy, continued to perform strongly with the sustained external demand and the benefits from the faster growth of our country’s overall exports. The value of Hong Kong's merchandise exports has recorded double-digit year-on-year growth for three consecutive months, rising by 12.5% year-on-year in the second quarter as a whole.

Regarding investment, while elevated interest rates have dampened the current market and investment sentiment to a certain extent, overall investment expenditure still continued to grow. There is potential for the momentum to be sustained.

The advance estimates on the gross domestic product for the second quarter to be released this week will also reflect that Hong Kong’s overall economy continued to grow.

Looking ahead, despite the ongoing challenges in the geopolitical landscape, interest rates are expected to be adjusted downward later in the second half of the year, which bodes well for the performance of investment and asset markets. Meanwhile, our country’s economy is progressing steadily, and its sound fundamentals of long-term growth remained unchanged. This will provide the strongest support for Hong Kong’s economy. Many companies are actively planning to list in Hong Kong, and the vibrant development of innovation and technology is attracting top talent from the Mainland and overseas who are keen on starting their careers in Hong Kong. With more enterprises and talents arriving in the city, along with the gradual implementation of various policies of the country that benefit Hong Kong, the overall development atmosphere in Hong Kong is becoming more positive and dynamic. This will provide support to different economic segments.

July 28, 2024