Thanks to the wise moves by the special administrative region government to bail out Ocean Park and Cathay Pacific Airlines, two leading firms in the tourism and airline industry, respectively, have escaped bankruptcy. The plight of these two entities is different. Cathay Pacific became financially insolvent when the COVID-19 pandemic swept through the globe; once the pandemic subsides, the company will be out of the woods. Ocean Park, however, was already in financial distress before COVID-19 wreaked havoc on the world economy, because a considerable volume of mainland tourists now prefer the newly established Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in Zhuhai. Therefore, even when the COVID-19 pandemic is over, Ocean Park’s survival will hinge on how its management team responds to competition from Chimelong Ocean Kingdom.
The SAR government should make more efforts to help industries that encounter challenges similar to those facing Ocean Park. The experience and woes of the local movie industry offer the government and players in those industries an idea about how they can cope with those challenges.
In his first policy address delivered 23 years ago, Hong Kong’s first chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa, said that “Hong Kong produces over 100 films and 5,000 hours of original television programs every year. In terms of the number of films exported, Hong Kong is now No 2 in the world, second only to Hollywood. Our recording industry is booming and our artists have a huge following. We have in Hong Kong first class infrastructure; a sound legal framework; and an administration that upholds intellectual property, freedom of expression, freedom of publication and privacy of communication. All these serve to protect creativity and encourage the growth of these industries.”
Twenty-three years on, Hong Kong’s film industry has declined. The Hong Kong Film Awards (HKFA) held its 39th awards ceremony in May. The film, Better Days, which was produced on the mainland, won eight awards including best film, best director, best screenplay and best original film song. The awards for best actress and best new performer also went to mainland artists.
The fact that more mainland artists are winning awards at Hong Kong’s film festivals has been attributed by some people to the quota system imposed on co-productions between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland: When the lead actor is from Hong Kong, the lead actress must be from the mainland, or vice versa. In reality, it is because most of the players in Hong Kong’s film industry have moved north.
Enterprises which are allowed to enter the mainland market, together with their employees, should quickly incorporate themselves into the mainland — especially the Bay Area
Hong Kong’s film industry ranked second globally in 1997. Why has it declined since then? The Hong Kong market pales in comparison with the mainland market. For instance, although the locally produced Infernal Affairs won six major awards of HKFA in 2003, it grossed merely HK$55 million (US$7.1 million) at the box office. However miraculous it was according to local standards, which regarded the film a top-grossing one in the past eight years, it is common knowledge that countless mainland productions grossed more than 100 million yuan (US$14.1 million) at the mainland box office.
In 2009, the box office of Hong Kong films was less than HK$240 million, with fewer than 50 productions or less than one-fifth of those of their peak year; it was the lowest annual output in more than half a century. On the other hand, co-production started to take off in the recent decade. For instance, Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons, which starred Hong Kong actor Stephen Chow Sing-chi, was the top-grossing Chinese-language film in 2013; Monster Hunt, directed by Hong Kong animator Raman Hui Shing-ngai, became the first Chinese-language movie in history with box office returns exceeding 2 billion yuan when it was screened in 2016. Hong Kong film industry players indeed have a vast mainland market to maximize their boundless potential.
The laws of economics are impossible to resist. Industries in Hong Kong must adapt to this new trend: They must integrate themselves into the country’s national development strategy as quickly as possible to survive or prosper. A good entry point for this undertaking is to accelerate the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. To start with, enterprises which are allowed to enter the mainland market, together with their employees, should quickly incorporate themselves into the mainland — especially the Bay Area. In addition, industries which cannot be moved to the mainland, such as Hong Kong’s local tourist attractions and facilities, should collaborate — instead of engaging in fierce competition — with their mainland counterparts.
The SAR government has done a remarkable job in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. Now that the pandemic is basically under control, we ought to, as well as staying vigilant about a possible comeback of the disease, simplify quarantine procedures and requirements within the Bay Area and resume its development as quickly as possible.
As a milestone for its first phase of development, the outline development plan for the Greater Bay Area aspires to align the two SARs with nine major cities in Guangdong by 2022 in terms of rules and regulations. The pandemic has caused delays, and this undertaking will need to be accelerated. Macao remains positive about this project. In his first policy address, Macao Chief Executive Ho Iat-seng said the city was confronting multiple challenges in its development, one of them being land scarcity which limits Macao’s growth potential. To tackle this problem, he came up with many suggestions, such as making use of 85 square kilometers of coastal waters for development, gradually promoting regional cooperation, gaining a foothold in the Greater Bay Area, deepening collaboration between Macao and Guangdong, particularly with Zhuhai, and jointly developing Hengqin with mainland authorities to expand the development area of Macao. Even though Hong Kong has more space than Macao, it is not sufficient for Hong Kong’s long-term development. Therefore, Hong Kong must also be proactive in integrating itself into the Greater Bay Area.
The author is a senior research fellow of China Everbright Holdings.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
