Published: 20:49, October 9, 2024 | Updated: 21:43, October 9, 2024
HKSAR, mainland ink deal to deepen services trade liberalization
By Wang Zhan in Hong Kong

(Back row, from left) Director-General of Trade and Industry Aaron Liu; Permanent Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Maggie Wong; Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Algernon Yau; Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu; Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Yin Zonghua; Director-General of the Department of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao Affairs of the Ministry of Commerce Fan Shijie; and Deputy Director General of the Third Bureau of the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee Cao Qingtao witness the signing of the Amendment Agreement II by Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po (front row, left), and Deputy China International Trade Representative of the Ministry of Commerce Li Yongjie (front row, right) on Oct 9, 2024. (PHOTO / HKSAR GOVERNMENT)

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government and the Ministry of Commerce on Wednesday signed an agreement to further liberalize and enhance cooperation in trade in services.

Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po and Deputy China International Trade Representative of the Ministry of Commerce Li Yongjie represented Hong Kong and the mainland respectively in signing the deal under the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement.

“The Amendment Agreement II introduces new liberalization measures across different service sectors where Hong Kong enjoys competitive advantages, making it easier for Hong Kong service suppliers to establish enterprises and develop business on the mainland,” said Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, who witnessed the signing of the deal.

It also enables more Hong Kong professionals to obtain qualifications to practice on the mainland, allowing “more of Hong Kong's quality services to be provided to the mainland market, and contributing to and serving the country's development,” he said.

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In November 2015, the HKSAR government and the Ministry of Commerce signed the Agreement on Trade in Services under CEPA to liberalize trade in services between the mainland and the SAR.

New liberalization measures were added under another deal in November 2019 that amended the services agreement.

Further consultations were later held in response to the aspirations of the Hong Kong business community for greater participation in the development of the mainland market, leading to the agreement signed on Wednesday.

Under the deal, new liberalization measures will be introduced across several service sectors where Hong Kong enjoys competitive advantages, such as financial services, construction and related engineering services, testing and certification, telecommunications, motion pictures, television and tourism services.

Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po delivers a speech at the signing ceremony of the Second Agreement Concerning Amendment to the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement Agreement on Trade in Services (Amendment Agreement II) on Oct 9, 2024. (PHOTO / HKSAR GOVERNMENT)

The measures include removing or relaxing restrictions on equity shareholding and business scope in the establishment of enterprises; relaxing qualification requirements for Hong Kong professionals providing services; and easing restrictions on Hong Kong's exports of services to the mainland market.

Most of the liberalization measures apply to the whole mainland, while some of them are designated for pilot implementation in the nine Pearl River Delta municipalities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

According to an HKSAR government statement, the deal allows imported dramas produced in Hong Kong to be broadcast during prime time in television stations on the mainland after obtaining approval from the National Radio and Television Administration.

It optimizes the implementation of the 144-hour visa-exemption policy for foreign group tours entering Guangdong from Hong Kong by increasing the number of inbound control points and expanding the stay areas to the whole of Guangdong province. It also supports cruise companies to arrange international cruise itineraries involving port-of-call in the mainland cruise ports.

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The deal also removes the asset requirement of not less than $2 billion as at the end of the most recent year for Hong Kong financial institutions investing in shares of insurance companies and the restriction prohibiting foreign bank branches established by Hong Kong service suppliers from conducting bank cards services.

“The HKSAR government will continue to encourage different sectors of the community to leverage the unique advantages of 'one country, two systems' and join hands with their counterparts on the mainland to promote the competitiveness of the professional services sector, in order to inject new impetus to economic development and achieve high-quality development," Lee said.