China Committee
Chamber Chairman Betty Yuen, CEO Patrick Yeung and Petrina Tam, GBA Working Group Convenor, attended the 2024 CCPIT spring festival reception and inauguration ceremony of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao GBA Development Business Roundtable on 26 February. HKGCC is a member of the Roundtable, which was jointly established by CCPIT Guangdong and the CCPIT Representative Office in Hong Kong and Macao.
Chamber members attended a conference titled the “New Era of Free Trade Ports & the Future of Hainan and Hong Kong,” organized by the People’s Government of Sanya City on 27 February. The event offered an introduction to Hainan’s free trade port policy and the business opportunities available in the Sanya Demonstration Zone for Hainan-Hong Kong Economic Cooperation.
Chen Weidong, Minister of the United Front Work Department, Haikou, visited the Chamber on 1 March. The delegation was received by Eric Fok, General Committee Member and China Committee Chairman.
Haikou, which has a population of 3 million, welcomed over 1 million newly registered companies in 2023. Chen said the local government was proactively working to improve the business environment and encourage more foreign investment.
The world’s economy never been more connected. However, amid rising geopolitical tensions, greater inflationary pressures, a global pandemic and wars, this may change. Recent data points to persistently uneven recovery, with notable imbalances between consumption and production, public and private investment, manufacturing and services, new and old economy sectors, etc.
At a seminar on 6 March, Bernard Aw, Chief Economist of Coface for Asia Pacific, and Junyu Tan, Regional Economist for North Asia, shared share their insights into the outlook of the global and China economy in 2024.
At the Keqiao (Hong Kong) Economic and Trade Cultural Promotional Conference on 6 March, Chen Hao, Party Secretary of Keqiao’s District Committee, gave an interesting presentation on the textile production base, whose trading volume in 2023 was over RMB 360 billion.
Ranked first among similar markets in China for more than three decades, Keqiao’s exports to Hong Kong exceeded RMB 372 million in 2023, a year-on-year growth of 257.47%. Chen hoped that the international platform offered by Hong Kong could be strategically used to further promote Keqiao’s development advantages and investment environment. He also looked forward to strengthening cooperation with Hong Kong enterprises and talent. Members of the China Committee attended the conference.
China Committee Vice Chairman Felix Lee attended the Qianhai Economic and Trade Exchange Seminar on 8 March. Organized by Qianhai Management Authority, the event offered a detailed outline of Qianhai’s opening up and latest developments for Hong Kong companies looking to learn more about business opportunities in the Greater Bay Area.
The Xinjiang Aksu – Hong Kong Industrial Cooperation Conference was held on 12 March in Hong Kong to promote “eight 100 billion-level industrial clusters” and “seven demonstration zones” for high-quality regional economic development. Michael Ngai, Chairman of the Chinese Financial Association of Hong Kong, said Hong Kong would work to promote cooperation with Xinjiang by sharing development opportunities as well as providing sufficient and diverse funding to support its development.
Maisie Chan, Commissioner for the Development of the Greater Bay Area, updated members on the latest developments in the GBA at a committee meeting on 14 March. Chan said Hong Kong could provide world-class professional services and an experienced workforce to help enterprises develop business there. The city was also a strategic springboard for overseas start-ups and enterprises looking to enter the GBA.
Chamber Deputy Chairman Agnes Chan, General Committee member Roy Ng and China Committee Vice Chairman Edmond Yew attended the Guangdong Province Spring Reception 2024 on 18 March. HKSAR Chief Executive John Lee, Governor of Guangdong Province Wang Weizhong, also attended the event, which was organized by the Council for the Promotion of Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Cooperation.
HKGCC Legislative Council Representative Jeffrey Lam represented the Chamber at the 2024 New Year Symposium on 17 March, organized by the Foshan Municipal Government. Foshan is an important node city in the GBA, with a regional GDP of RMB 1,327.6 billion in 2023.
Chamber CEO Patrick Yeung and China Committee Vice Chairman Felix Lee attended the 2024 Hong Kong Spring Reception and 135th Canton Fair Promotion Seminar on 18 March. The event, which welcomed over 200 guests, was jointly organized by the China Foreign Trade Centre and the Commercial Office of the Economic Affairs Department at the Hong Kong Liaison Office.