As the curtain rises on this year’s national two sessions in Beijing, a sense of purposeful momentum pervades the proceedings. The annual gathering of the members of China’s top legislative and political advisory bodies arrives at a moment of profound significance — not merely as a routine exercise in governance, but as the launch pad for the nation’s 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30), a blueprint that will shape the country’s trajectory over the next five years. For Hong Kong, the message from the capital could not be clearer: The door to national development is wide open, and those who step through it decisively will reap the greatest rewards.
The economic backdrop against which this year’s sessions unfold is one of quiet confidence. China’s gross domestic product surpassed 140 trillion yuan ($20.3 trillion) last year, a milestone that reaffirms the economy’s remarkable resilience amid a turbulent global landscape.
Liu Jieyi, spokesman for the fourth session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, rightly noted that the country’s growth rate remains among the highest of major economies, powered by the deepening integration of technology and industry and the gathering force of new quality productive forces. The Spring Festival holiday offered a vivid illustration of this vitality: Domestic tourism spending climbed to 803.4 billion yuan, up 126.4 billion yuan from the previous year, a testament to the enduring strength of the Chinese mainland consumer market.
Yet the true story of this year’s two sessions extends well beyond headline figures. What makes 2026 extraordinary is the convergence of long-term strategic planning with immediate policy action. Premier Li Qiang announced in the Government Work Report a GDP growth target of 4.5 to 5 percent for 2026 — a figure that, while slightly more conservative than previous years, reflects a mature and deliberate recalibration. As the Economist Intelligence Unit has observed, a modestly lower target gives policymakers room to prioritize structural reform. Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley analysts have noted that because 2026 is the first year of the 15th Five-Year Plan, the government may set a range rather than a single figure, anchoring market confidence while preserving flexibility. This is not a retreat from ambition but an ambition refined by experience.
Central to the new blueprint is the deepening of China’s high-standard opening-up — a commitment that carries particular resonance in an era of rising protectionism and geopolitical fragmentation. Liu’s declaration that “the door will not close; it will only open wider” is not empty rhetoric. It is substantiated by concrete achievements, foremost among them the Hainan Free Trade Port. Since the launch of island-wide special customs operations in December 2025, Hainan has emerged as a laboratory for what institutional opening-up can achieve. In its first month alone, the value of zero-tariff imported goods rose 38.9 percent year-on-year, while 21,000 new companies were registered — a 16.42 percent increase — including 331 foreign-funded firms. During the Spring Festival, offshore duty-free sales surged 30.8 percent and visa-free foreign arrivals jumped 75.6 percent. The expansion of zero-tariff coverage from 21 to 74 percent of imported items has fundamentally reshaped the province’s economic proposition, attracting global businesses and tourists alike.
Hainan’s success is not an isolated experiment. It’s a signal of the broader direction in which China is heading — toward an economic model that embraces globalization, calibrating openness to maximize benefit while managing risks. At a time when much of the Western world is turning inward, erecting tariff walls and retreating from multilateral commitments, China’s willingness to expand trade and investment liberalization stands as a powerful counterpoint. It’s precisely this kind of principled openness that the world needs more of, not less.
Hong Kong’s distinctive advantage lies in its dual identity — a city that combines both the China advantage and the global advantage under the “one country, two systems” framework. It is the world’s largest offshore renminbi hub, processing roughly 80 percent of global offshore RMB transactions. Its common law framework, open capital markets, and world-class universities make it an irreplaceable bridge between mainland innovation and international capital
For Hong Kong, the implications of this national trajectory are transformative. Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, urged lawmakers and political advisers to grasp the “extraordinary significance” of the growth opportunities embedded in the 15th Five-Year Plan. His words carry weight. The plan supports Hong Kong in consolidating its status as an international financial, shipping, and trade center while building itself into a global innovation and technology hub and a high-end talent magnet. The plan designates the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area as one of China’s three engines of high-quality growth — a framework within which Hong Kong’s role is not peripheral but central.
The city is already moving in the right direction. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s announcement that he will personally lead a task force to formulate Hong Kong’s first five-year development blueprint represents a watershed in strategic planning. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po’s 2026-27 Budget lays out concrete measures to align with national priorities — from establishing the first national manufacturing innovation center outside the mainland to injecting HK$10 billion ($1.27 billion) into the Hetao Hong Kong Park and accelerating AI industrialization.
Yet opportunity does not wait. As Legislative Council President Starry Lee noted, this year’s two sessions offer Hong Kong a broader platform to thrive. The city must now translate alignment into action with urgency and precision. Regional competitors — Shanghai, Shenzhen, Singapore — are moving swiftly to anchor themselves in national and global value chains. Hong Kong’s distinctive advantage lies in its dual identity — a city that combines both the China advantage and the global advantage under the “one country, two systems” framework. It is the world’s largest offshore renminbi hub, processing roughly 80 percent of global offshore RMB transactions. Its common law framework, open capital markets, and world-class universities make it an irreplaceable bridge between mainland innovation and international capital.
The path forward demands that Hong Kong deepen its role not merely as a superconnector but as a “super value-adder” — turning its institutional strengths into strategic engines of national modernization. This means accelerating professional mobility across the Greater Bay Area, forging industrial linkages in sectors like semiconductor packaging and biopharma logistics, and channeling venture capital toward frontier technologies. It means ensuring that the Northern Metropolis becomes not just a development zone but a living interface between Hong Kong and Shenzhen’s manufacturing ecosystem.
The two sessions mark a beginning. They chart a course for the next five years that is ambitious and grounded, visionary and practical. For Hong Kong, the question is no longer whether opportunities exist — they manifestly do. The question is whether we will seize them with the speed, coherence, and conviction they demand. The nation has opened the door wider than ever. It’s time to walk through it.
The author is the convenor at China Retold, a member of the Legislative Council, and a member of the Central Committee of the New People’s Party.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
