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Thursday, March 21, 2019, 00:47
HK well placed to benefit from investment law
By Luo Weiteng
Thursday, March 21, 2019, 00:47 By Luo Weiteng

Wang Zhimin, director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region delivers a speech at a seminar held in Hong Kong on Wednesday on the just-concluded annual two sessions. (EDMOND TANG / CHINA DAILY)

BEIJING – Hong Kong is in a strong position to benefit from the newly approved national Foreign Investment Law which will help boost the city and the nation’s development, says Wang Zhimin, director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Wang told a meeting on Wednesday that Hong Kong could also play a proactive role in national development.

The new Foreign Investment Law is fundamental legislation which showcases a whole set of achievements made over the past four decades as part of the reform and opening-up process

Wang Zhimin

director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

The gathering drew around 1,500 Hong Kong-based industry leaders. It focused on instructions made by President Xi Jinping and the impact of new measures introduced during the annual sessions of the National People’s Congress, the country’s top legislature, and the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the top political advisory body.

The annual meetings, often referred to as the “two sessions”, concluded last week in Beijing. They are one of the most significant events in the nation’s political calendar.

Wang said the new law had been one of the key highlights of two sessions.

“The new Foreign Investment Law is fundamental legislation which showcases a whole set of achievements made over the past four decades as part of the reform and opening-up process.

READ MORE: Foreign investment law essential amid changing times, says top legislature

“It also allows overseas investors, especially those from Hong Kong, to write the next chapter in the country’s new round of economic reforms and national development,” he explained.

Fast-tracked for approval at the NPC closing meeting, the law comes into effect on Jan 1, 2020. The new Foreign Investment Law, as Premier Li Keqiang has stressed, can also be used as a reference for investment coming from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. Institutional arrangements and practices which have long been in place and proven effective for Hong Kong investors will continue.

Wang believes the passage of the law sends a strong message that investors from Hong Kong and Macao, who contributed 70 percent of all overseas investments on the mainland, will do business in a better-regulated environment.

Concerns Hong Kong investors may be deprived of these benefits should be quickly dispelled. 

Today, the new Foreign Investment Law, together with the existing agreements under the framework of the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, known as CEPA, provides a multiple layer of policy support for Hong Kong businesspeople to invest on the mainland. 

“It can also be said that investment from Hong Kong is given top priority," Wang argued.

ALSO READ: Foreign investment law to serve as China's basic law, says spokesman

Over the past 40 years, nearly 450,000 investment projects funded by Hong Kong investors have been approved on the mainland. This illustrates the city’s unique role as a proactive participant, contributor and promoter during a very impressive and dynamic era in the country’s history.

The new Foreign Investment Law reinforces the theme of higher-level reform and opening-up. It also paves the way for Hong Kong to play a bigger role in the national plans for the Belt and Road Initiative and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Wang said.

A bright future for Hong Kong will be closely linked with the mainland’s — even more so than before, he added.

sophia@chinadailyhk.com

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