Submissions and Reports

The second draft of the “Law of the People's Republic of China on Foreign Investment (Draft)”was released for public opinion and comment at the end of 2018. The Draft aims to boost the Mainland’s economic development by attracting more foreign capital. Most members of the Chamber generally support the provisions contained within the Draft. However, the Chamber has some concerns about whether the proposed law will apply to Hong Kong and Macao enterprises, as the Draft does not clarify this issue. In its submission, the Chamber also shared its thoughts on a number of other areas in the Draft.

The PRC Ministry of Finance and the PRC State Administration of Taxation jointly released the Consultation Draft on the Detailed Implementation Rules of the PRC Individual Income Tax Law and the Provisional Implementation Measures of the Additional Itemized Deductible Items for public comment on 20 October, 2018. The four major local chambers jointly submitted a letter to the Ministries of Finance and State Administration of Taxation on 14 November to reflect Hong Kong businesses’ concerns and suggestions.

The Chamber submitted its proposals on facilitating Trade in Goods under Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) to Ministry of Commerce of PRC and Trade and Industry Department of HKSAR on 26 April 2018.

The Chamber considers enhanced, and preferably seamless, cross-border movements of capital, people, goods and services within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area essential ingredients for its successful development. The Chamber calls on the Government to focus on the areas where Hong Kong possesses competitive advantages, leveraging its established expertise as an international financial, shipping and logistics, offshore RMB, and dispute resolution centre.

The Chamber submits its proposals for further liberalization and implementation of CEPA to the Mainland and Hong Kong governments every year.

香港總商會每年均向內地及香港政府就CEPA的下一步開放政策及實施情況提供建議。此次建議書，其中一個重點是建議內地政府考慮給予符合CEPA原産地規則的香港原産貨物“國民待遇”，在進入內地市場後享受與內地生産商同樣便捷的行政管理程序。

The Chamber’s proposals for Hong Kong to capitalise on the national initiative of Belt and Road by leveraging on its competencies in the field of financial services are set out in the attached.