For immediate release
HKGCC Chairman Stephen Ng led a 35-member high-level delegation to call on several leaders of Guangdong Province on 28 June, including Zhu Xiaodan, Governor of Guangdong; Wang Qiang, Head of Shenzhen Nanshan District; and Sun Huaizhong, Deputy Director General of Hong Kong and Macao Affairs of Shenzhen Municipal People’s Government.
Delegates also met with Huang Yebin, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of Guangdong Provincial People's Congress, and Li Yangchun, Deputy Director General of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of Guangdong Provincial People's Government, as well as visited the Shenzhen-based leading information technology company Tencent. The aim of the mission was to explore future development and cooperation between Guangdong and Hong Kong.
Over the past five years, Guangdong’s GDP growth has averaged 8.5% annually, rising from RMB 4,600 billion to RMB 7,280 billion, ranking it first among all provinces and municipalities in the Mainland for 27 consecutive years. Guangdong Governor Zhu Xiaodan said: “After long periods of rapid growth, Guangdong is facing more conspicuous structural problems than other areas. Therefore, we have accelerated our upgrading and transformation process, which means economic development in Guangdong will also enter the era of the ‘new normal’ at an earlier stage.”
This year marks the start of the National 13th Five-Year-Plan. Faced with the continued weak global growth, and the Mainland’s slowing economy, businesses in both Hong Kong and the Mainland face many challenges. Guangdong has been the frontrunner for reforms and opening up, and enjoys close cooperation with Hong Kong.
Zhu said, “Guangdong’s 13th Five-Year Plan aims to build a moderately prosperous society by 2018 and also promote further liberalization of trade in services. Moreover, we are also looking to tap into new opportunities under the ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative. We plan to strengthen cooperation in innovation between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, as well as establish a Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Big Bay Area, which will allow the three areas to cooperate, upgrade and sustain economic growth.”
The Greater Pearl River Delta (PRD) accounts for 5% of the country’s total population and one-eighth of its GDP, according to Mainland statistics. With the three major economic centres of Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong driving regional growth, the PRD has become an important economic hub for the Mainland.
Mission leader and Chamber Chairman Stephen Ng said: “Hong Kong complements Guangdong’s economy and should proactively develop innovative technologies. With our strengths in research and development and financing, our proximity to Shenzhen, Guangzhou and other key PRD cities, coupled with advanced infrastructure facilities connecting the three places, I believe that Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao can jointly develop the region into a world-class centre for science and innovation.”
A cluster of innovative enterprises is growing rapidly in Guangdong, particularly in Shenzhen, which is regarded as a dynamic and innovative city. In just a few decades, Shenzhen has transformed itself from a border town into a national economic centre, with its GDP equivalent to a medium-sized province in China, and ranking fourth among medium- and large-sized cities in the Mainland. In 2015, Shenzhen’s GDP growth reached 8.9%, some 2% higher than the national average. Thanks to the development of innovation and technology, Shenzhen still continues to perform well, in spite of downward pressure on the Mainland’s economy.
Despite Nanshan accounting for just one-tenth of Shenzhen’s total area, the district has attracted more than 70% of the city’s high-tech and innovation resources. Many leading enterprises, such as Tencent, Huawei, ZTE, DJI, KuangChi Science and Appotronics, have established a presence in the city, with some even becoming multinational enterprises.
Head of Shenzhen Nanshan District Wang Qiang said Nanshan’s development goal is to nurture innovation, and provide training to build up talent and support enterprises. “Nanshan’s hatchability of technology incubators ranks first in the Mainland. The number of patented inventions owned for every 10,000 people is 280, which is the highest in the Mainland. Nanshan is regarded as China’s Silicon Valley,” he said.
Shenzhen has been advancing the Mainland’s “going out” strategy by encouraging mature local enterprises to expand globally. Deputy mission leader Aron Harilela said Hong Kong can be an ideal platform for Guangdong enterprises to “go global” and provide legal, risk management, financial and financing services, which are all needed by those enterprises.
Mission leader Stephen Ng added that the improved infrastructure of the Greater Pearl River Delta will enhance the connectivity between cities in the region and high value-added services will become the focus of economic development. He said Hong Kong must build on its strengths as an international financial, shipping and trading centre and capitalize on the advantages of "One Country, Two Systems" to strengthen cooperation with Guangdong in establishing the world’s largest innovation circle.
Photo captions:
Photo 1: Guangdong Governor Zhu Xiaodan (right) welcomes HKGCC’s Chairman Stephen Ng and the Chamber’s delegates.
Photo 2: HKGCC’s delegation leaders pose for a group photo with Guangdong Governor Zhu Xiaodan (centre).
Photo 3: HKGCC’s delegation called on Tencent at Nanshan District’s Hi-tech Park.
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