Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor walks to the podium to deliver her fourth Policy Address at the Legislative Council on Wednesday, announcing measures that will facilitate the city’s further integration into the nation and secure the city’s long-term prosperity. (CALVIN NG / CHINA DAILY)
Hong Kong’s role as an international financial, trading and aviation hub will be enhanced, as the 2020 Policy Address on Wednesday highlights the city’s mutual connect with the Chinese mainland.
These policies, backed by the central government, will facilitate Hong Kong’s further integration into the country, especially the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and secure the special administrative region’s long-term prosperity under the “one country, two systems” principle, business and political leaders said.
The central government supports the gradual expansion of eligible securities under the current mutual Stock Connect with the mainland, Hong Kong CE Carrie Lam said
In her fourth Policy Address, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said the central government supports the gradual expansion of eligible securities under the current mutual Stock Connect with the mainland.
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It will allow some pre-profit biotechnology companies listed in Hong Kong and stocks listed on the mainland Sci-Tech Innovation Board to be traded under the Stock Connect between Shenzhen, Shanghai and Hong Kong as soon as possible. Shares of some biotech companies rose on the news.
There are 24 pre-profit biotechnology companies listed in Hong Kong. A government source said relatively large companies with higher market value will be selected.
Secondary-listed companies such as Alibaba, JD and NetEase were not included in the expansion; the market had expected they would be.
Welcoming the move, Laura Cha Shih May-lung, chairman of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, said it shows the SAR government’s determination to consolidate and enhance Hong Kong’s role as an international financial center. The policy will ensure the vitality of Hong Kong’s capital market, and continuously promote its attractiveness and competitiveness, she said.
Lam said the government will also expedite the implementation of the cross-boundary wealth management connect program in the Bay Area, which started piloting in late June and is expected to be fully implemented by year-end.
It will allow residents in the Bay Area to carry out cross-boundary investments in wealth management products distributed by banks from Guangdong, Macao, and Hong Kong.
Carlos Casanova, senior economist for Asia at Union Bancaire Privee in Hong Kong, said he thinks the move will attract capital flows of affluent Guangdong into Hong Kong, and consolidate the city’s role as a wealth management center in its rivalry with Singapore.
I think it’s positive in terms of the financial sector and also in terms of reinforcing the narrative that Hong Kong will play an important role as a global financial center catering to the mainland. That is very clear from this policy announcement.
Carlos Casanova, Senior economist for Asia at Union Bancaire Privee
“I think it’s positive in terms of the financial sector and also in terms of reinforcing the narrative that Hong Kong will play an important role as a global financial center catering to the mainland. That is very clear from this policy announcement,” Casanova said.
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Long-term growth benefit
These measures will boost Hong Kong’s economy in the long term once the city is more embedded within the Bay Area, he said.
To highlight Hong Kong’s status as an international aviation hub, the central government supports the Airport Authority Hong Kong to buy shares and participate in the operation of the Zhuhai Airport to deepen the cooperation in building a globally competitive airport cluster.
Hong Kong enterprises will receive policy advisory, training and business matching services from the relevant chambers of commerce in Guangdong to expand their domestic sales channels and establish an interface with e-commerce platforms on the mainland.
Meanwhile, Lam said the government will soon unveil policies to allow the use of Hong Kong-registered drugs and common medical devices in designated Hong Kong-owned healthcare institutions in the Bay Area’s mainland cities.
The nation’s State Administration for Market Regulation later on Wednesday issued a document on the innovative development of medicine and medical equipment supervision in the Bay Area, according to mainland media Securities Times. It reportedly set a target to establish a basic mechanism covering all healthcare institutions in the region by 2022.
The SAR government will launch a funding program for youth entrepreneurship in the Bay Area to provide subsidies for about 200 youth startups, and also launch another scheme to encourage enterprises in the Bay Area to recruit Hong Kong university graduates
The SAR government will launch a funding program for youth entrepreneurship in the Bay Area, to provide subsidies for about 200 youth startups and earmarked HK$100 million (US$12.9 million) under the Youth Development Fund for this purpose.
Besides entrepreneurs, it will also launch the Greater Bay Area Youth Employment Scheme to encourage enterprises in the Bay Area to recruit Hong Kong university graduates with subsidies for about 2,000 positions.
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Witman Hung Wai-man, principal liaison officer for Hong Kong at the Shenzhen Qianhai Authority, noted that many technology firms in Guangdong want to recruit Hong Kong graduates, but cannot afford to do so due to the income gap between the mainland and the SAR.
The new funding program could bolster the growth of Hong Kong startups in Guangdong, Hung said. But it would be more helpful if Hong Kong startups and entrepreneurs enjoyed the same treatment as local residents, because the industries they can enter are restricted, he said.
Hong Kong youth Chan Sing said he is willing to apply for the programs. He recently opened a new incubator in the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Co-operation Zone in Futian district, Shenzhen. “I will consider hiring Hong Kong graduates rather than local counterparts, if they present the same level of abilities, because of the scheme,” he said.
Edith Lu contributed to this story.
