HONG KONG – Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK) and the Xi'an High-tech Zone Management Committee signed a memorandum of cooperation on Tuesday in Xi'an, Shaanxi, to support innovation and technology enterprises from the northwestern Chinese province in expanding into international markets.

The memorandum was signed at the Shaanxi-Hong Kong Joint Assistance to Enterprises Going Global — Hong Kong Advantage Helps Shaanxi Technology Enterprises Go Global Exchange Conference. 

Co-hosted by Xi'an Municipal Government of Shaanxi province, Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of Shaanxi Provincial People's Government and Shaanxi Provincial Association for Science and Technology, the conference was co-organized by Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government Economic and Trade Office in Chengdu, HKSAR Government Liaison Office in Shaanxi, Shaanxi Xixian New Area Development and Construction Management Committee, and Xi'an High-tech Industrial Development Zone Management Committee.

According to the memorandum of cooperation, Xi'an High-tech Zone Management Committee will encourage enterprises within the zone to use Hong Kong as a base for expanding overseas business. InvestHK will provide information on the business environment and policies in Hong Kong, as well as support for businesses investing and operating in the city.

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Enoch Yuen Ka-lok, director of the Economic and Trade Office of the HKSAR government in Chengdu, said at the conference that the national 14th Five-Year Plan clearly supports Hong Kong's construction of an international innovation and technology center. Shaanxi province is an important national science and technology industrial base with strong capabilities in energy and chemical, equipment manufacturing, aerospace and other fields.

Both Hong Kong and Shaanxi attach great importance to the development of the innovation and science industry, and hope to combine the SAR's advantages in tax system, finance, global network and other aspects with Shaanxi's industrial foundation and innovative vitality through deep integration, achieving win-win cooperation, said the director.

Yao Hongjuan, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the People's Government of Shaanxi province, stated that the province will actively promote and continuously deepen cooperation and exchanges in economic and trade investment, especially in technological innovation and new quality productivity representative industries between Shaanxi and Hong Kong, to assist enterprises in both regions to fully seize development opportunities and achieve complementary advantages.

Xi'an High-tech Zone is one of the first national high-tech zones approved by the State Council. In 2024, it ranked fifth in the comprehensive evaluation of national high-tech zones and first in the central and western regions.

The high-tech zone focuses on developing innovative industries such as optoelectronic information, intelligent manufacturing, biomedicine, automobiles, and new materials and energy, and has successfully established two hundred billion level industrial clusters in the automotive industry and electronic information.

The zone has developed into the world's largest production base for flash memory chips and new energy vehicles.

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The conference invited Tan Fei, senior manager of the Leasing and Operations Department of Hong Kong Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park Limited, and Zhao Pei, deputy director of the Research and Innovation Office of Hong Kong Polytechnic University, to share and promote the opportunities of the Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Centre and the theme of empowering new quality productivity through scientific research and innovation in Hong Kong universities.

Han Ping, deputy director of the Science and Technology Innovation and New Economy Bureau of Xixian New Area, Shaanxi province, also shared the latest developments of the Shaanxi Innovation Center.

The conference brought together many professionals in Hong Kong, especially in the field of financial services. Guest speakers from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, HSBC, and Deloitte Tax, shared and discussed how Hong Kong's advantages can help mainland enterprises enter the international market.