China and HK to push belt and road initiative

Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China, said yesterday that the central government attached great importance to its Special Administration Region, Hong Kong, to play a role in helping drive the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21th Century Maritime Silk Road scheme initiated in 2013 by President Xi Jinping.

“Hong Kong has strengths and is unique in being an international trading city and also the gateway for investment in mainland China,” Zhang said. 

Xi proposed the scheme to drive economic growth along and outside of the route over the coming decades. It was in response to investors’ need now to look for new opportunities in new industries and new regions.

China and Hong Kong held the Belt and Road Summit in Hong Kong to spread the word on their initiative to about 2,000 participants from around the world including giant companies from Thailand. 

The scheme is focusing on the development of five major areas – infrastructure, finance, logistics, maritime and international trading. 

The project spans more than 60 countries in Asia, Europe and Africa, accounting for more than 60 per cent of the world’s population, more than 30 per cent of the world’s merchandise trade and about 30 per cent of the world’s GDP. 

The initiative is also aimed at Southeast Asia, as the region is one of most attractive investment destinations in the world. 

The establishment of the Asean Economic Community last year and Hong Kong’s negotiations for free trade agreements will create an enormous market that offers easier movement of goods, services, investment, capital and people across the region.

Businessmen from Asean countries including Thailand, however, urged China to relax foreign investment conditions and reduce trading barriers, as they experience difficulty dealing in import and export with China compared to Hong Kong, which is now an international free trade city. 

They also suggested to operators in Hong Kong to consider customer-centricity in order to give business alliances satisfaction. 

In turn, Asean needs to improve infrastructure and promote| small and medium businesses to the international market as well as China. 

Asean entrepreneurs believe that they still have more room |to grow regionally so they can strengthen relations between China, Hong Kong and Asean. 

CY Leung, chief executive |of the Hong Kong Special Administration Region, said Hong Kong could serve as a “super-connector” between the mainland and the rest of the world in areas such as finance, investment, professional services, trade, logistics, culture, creativity, innovation and technology.

Zhang said the China National Development and Reform Commission in March of last year issued a vision and action plan on jointly building the belt and road and kicked off some projects. 

“A package of major projects |has started with the building of |the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. 

“Meanwhile, an overall plan is being made for the China-Mongolia-Russia corridor for some projects,” he said.

In pursuit of infrastructure connectivity, China’s international cooperation on production capacity is well underway in more than 10 key areas including equipment manufacturing, automobiles and electronics. 

A thousand container trains have travelled among China, central Asia and Europe. 

China’s 13th five-year plan has also greenlighted Macau to leverage its unique advantages to enhance its roles and functions in the country’s economic development and to open up to other countries, including the belt and road initiative.

Leung said Hong Kong is strengthening transportation |and logistics services including maritime, expanding trade and investment ties with belt and road countries, and working on free trade agreements and a taxation scheme.

“We proposed partnering with mainland Chinese enterprises, especially those from neighbouring provinces and regions, to establish and grow trade and commercial relations with the route,” he said.

Beyond economic relations, Hong Kong will play a role in |people-to-people and cultural exchanges through the routes, as the city is home to many community organisations such as trade associations, youth groups, think tanks and other non-governmental organisations. 

Gregory So, secretary for |commerce and economic development, said Hong Kong offered investors the best option in terms of low and simple tax, free flow of information, corruption-free government, rule of law, independent judiciary, productivity of its |workforce, stability and security, free-port status, geographical convenience, and communications and transport infrastructure.