MR CHAN KIN-POR (in Cantonese): Thank you, President. It is fair to say that a lot of credit goes to China-capital enterprises for their painstaking contribution to Hong Kong. They have been striving ahead arm in arm with us. At present, there are already more than 4 000 China-capital enterprises in Hong Kong serving in a wide range of industries and trades. They have even ensured the supply of food, water and other livelihood necessities to Hong Kong while taking up social responsibility to develop social welfare causes and support the Government in policy implementation. Therefore, they are definitely our most loyal partners. We are grateful to China-capital enterprises for their contribution to Hong Kong. Today, we should also thank Mr YIM Kong for proposing the original motion, which allows us to discuss how to keep attracting China-capital enterprises to come and invest in Hong Kong and assist in the policy implementation in Hong Kong.
It is our long-standing policy to attract China-capital enterprises to Hong Kong. Since the 1980s, China-capital enterprises have been setting up foreign trade subsidiaries in Hong Kong to attract business and investment. Fast forward to today, China-capital enterprises continue to grow in number and even account for the largest share among the world’s top 500 enterprises. Their development strategies have kept pace with the times. In addition to engaging in traditional industries, they raise international capital in Hong Kong, capitalizing on its advantageous role as an international financial centre, and use Hong Kong as a bridgehead to enter the international market, leveraging our “one country, two systems” framework.
At present, more than half of the listed companies in Hong Kong are China-capital enterprises, which have become one of the important driving forces of the Hong Kong economy. In the past, I have repeatedly urged the Government to strive for the listing of China-capital enterprises in Hong Kong, especially for enterprises already listed in the United States to return to Hong Kong for secondary listing. Apart from this, I also support developing Hong Kong into a financial centre, so that more China-capital enterprises can directly transfer their financial activities to Hong Kong. As a matter of fact, the financial industry is the main artery of Hong Kong’s economy. I hope that the Government takes effective measures to encourage more China-capital enterprises to invest in Hong Kong and make use of Hong Kong as a financing platform, thus promoting the sustainable development of Hong Kong’s investment market and consolidating the fundamentals of Hong Kong’s financial industry.
This year’s Policy Address presents a decision to vigorously develop “headquarters economy”, which is also a policy item that I have been pushing for over the years. The specific proposal is to facilitate foreign enterprises to tap into the Mainland market, and also assist Mainland enterprises in expanding abroad, so as to explore the immense opportunities brought about by the national and international dual circulation. In fact, after 10 years of endeavour, our country’s Belt and Road Initiative has finally achieved a major victory. This year, the first year after resumption of normalcy, the Hong Kong business community has already noticed more and more Central Asian and Middle East clients coming to Hong Kong for cooperation opportunities, so it is only natural for Mainland enterprisesto feel more strongly that business opportunities are everywhere. I believe it is precisely because of the awareness of this trend that the Government develops “headquarters economy” to attract China-capital enterprises to Hong Kong for the goal of expanding abroad and doing business with Belt and Road countries, capitalizing on Hong Kong’s advantageous role as a “super-connector”. Hong Kong has to provide China-capital enterprises with tailored services and clear the way for them to set up regional offices in Hong Kong, meanwhile strengthening our economic and trade ties with Belt and Road countries to boost the capability of Hong Kong as a “super-connector”.
Deputy President, the very essence of the “headquarters economy” in question is to not only assist China-capital enterprises in expanding abroad, but also facilitate foreign enterprises to tap into the Mainland market. There is no great contribution to Hong Kong, but international investors are equally important to Hong Kong, as an international financial centre under “one country, two systems”. Therefore, facilitating international enterprises to tap into the Mainland market is also a must go path for Hong Kong.
At present, due to geopolitical tensions, international enterprises have a lot of misunderstandings about Hong Kong and doubts about investing in Hong Kong. For this reason, Hong Kong continues with the strategy of the Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises to proactively reach out to enterprises that may be interested in coming to Hong Kong, explain to them and provide them with tailored services, with a view to facilitating them to tap into the Mainland market. At the same time, Hong Kong can also push for the country to introduce facilitation measures for foreign enterprises based in Hong Kong to do business in the Mainland. For example, the Policy Address proposes to offer “multiple-entry visas” to foreigners working in companies registered in Hong Kong, so as facilitate their business travel to the Mainland, which is a good start.
Mr YIM Kong, who proposes the original motion today, and Dr TAN Yueheng and Mr CHAN Pui-leung, who propose the amendments, are all “G19” members and experts on issues related to Chinese capital. Their insightful views are worthy of reference.
Thank you, Deputy President.