In the Bulletin
Editorial
July
Letters
To the Chamber
ARCHIVES
2000 Issues
1999 Issues
|
July 2000 Issue
the bulletin
The Chamber's Outbound Mission
Successful Mission to
Beijing Addressed Vital WTO Issues
Your General Committee completed another successful,
three-day mission to Beijing on June 13. During the visit, the mission delegates met with
senior mainland officials, including State Councillor and Secretary General of the State
Council Wang Zhongyu, and MOFTEC Minister Shi Guangsheng. With the help of the China
Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), the delegation also visited the
State Economic and Trade Commission, State Planning Commission and People's Bank of China.
A separate visit was made to the Hong Kong SAR Office in Beijing.
As with other annual Chamber visits to the national capital in recent times, this year's
mission included four representatives of other national chambers of commerce in the Hong
Kong SAR, as well as six General Committee, two China Committee and five other special
interest committee chairmen. Although this year's mission was a little more low-key than
some of our earlier trips to meet with national officials, it certainly achieved the
objectives expected of it. Indeed, the very business-like nature of the mission and the
practical issues raised, probably reflected the new maturity in the Chamber's relationship
with high-level policy making bodies in Beijing. As Chamber chairman and mission leader I
was certainly pleased with its outcome.
Members of the mission were especially keen to hear the views of senior Beijing officials
on a wide range of issues related to recent progress in the mainland economy and business,
as well as the leadership's broader national development plans. A number of the questions
raised with senior officials reflected the specialist interests of the delegates (a clear
advantage of being involved in such visits), but there were also many of more general
interest to Chamber members.
Of particular importance was the interest shown by delegates in the potential impact of
the mainland's imminent entry into the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and its likely
effect on mainland-SAR economic, trade and investment relations. Indeed, with closer
economic and commercial ties between Hong Kong and the mainland, the future economic
development of the Hong Kong SAR will rely on the economic prosperity of the mainland. In
this context, the Chamber delegation raised with mainland officials the ideas of signing a
free trade agreement between the mainland and the SAR, and they agreed it was worthy of
further study. The delegation also took the opportunity to present its study,
"China's Entry into the WTO and the Impact on Hong Kong Business" to national
officials.
For their part, the national officials were extremely forthcoming in their explanations of
Central Government policies, their views on the importance of the Hong Kong SAR in a
national and International context, and in their plans and hopes for the future in terms
of national economic and business development. Mr Wang said that understanding the
relationship between the mainland and Hong Kong was essential in considering the role the
SAR plays in the economic development of the mainland. He said that while the SAR was a
WTO member as an independent customs territory it was also a part of China. This unique
relationship would enable business cooperation between the two areas to expand, and with
it the importance of Hong Kong's role in the region.
Mr Wang welcomed the Chamber's help with programmes related to the Central Government's
policy of developing China's western regions, but sought to remind Hong Kong business that
this was a long-term development plan, with initial efforts focussed on infrastructure and
eco-environmental projects. He indicated that the processing trade now conducted in the
eastern coastal region was not suitable for the west, but encouraged SAR investors to
investigate establishing high-tech processing activities in the west, as well as providing
service industry and marketing expertise for western enterprises seeking to reach
international markets.
This advice was well received by the mission delegates. In the final analysis, however,
the value of these missions, both to the General Committee and broader Chamber membership,
is not just in the information provided by national officials and the questions answered
by them. Rather, it is in making and maintaining of high-level personal contact at the
level of the national administration, and of hearing the views of these national officials
on a first-hand, face-to-face basis. We hope to be able to provide similar opportunities
well into the future.
|
