South China Morning Post:
According to the Qianhai plan issued on Sept. 6, the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone will be expanded to 120 square kilometers from 14.92 square kilometers. What are the considerations on the expansion? There are worries in Hong Kong that there may be competitions between the newly developed industries in Qianhai and those industries already built in Hong Kong, and that it may even lead to a brain-drain from Hong Kong. How can we formulate the Qianhai-Hong Kong relationship to be both competitive and complementary? Thank you.
Cong Liang:
Thank you for your question. The Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area makes clear requirements to further promote the development of the Qianhai cooperation zone and rolls out preferential policies in the new expanded areas. In accordance with the decisions and deployments made by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, we will manage the items concerning the expansion of Qianhai in a comprehensive approach. We support the expansion of Qianhai with two considerations.
On the one hand, the expansion of the Qianhai cooperation zone will nourish more development spaces for deepening reform and opening up in Qianhai. After over a decade of development and construction, area limitation has become a prominent problem restricting the reform and development of Qianhai. The expansion of Qianhai will promote institutional innovation and industrial upgrading in Qianhai, as well as the trial implementation of major reform policies. It's fair to say that the expansion of Qianhai acts as a means of deepening reform and opening up, and creates conditions for the further reform and opening up.
On the other hand, it will create more opportunities for Hong Kong. Strengthening cooperation between Shenzhen and Hong Kong is Qianhai's mission, as well as its special advantages. At present, numerous modern services enterprises from Hong Kong have entered the mainland market through Qianhai. However, due to the area limitation, it's hard to fully meet the development needs of these enterprises. After the expansion, the land available for industrial development will increase substantially in Qianhai. It will better leverage Hong Kong's advantages, upgrade cooperation between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, provide strong support for Hong Kong's economic development and push forward the integration of Hong Kong into national development.
Next, we will collaborate with the authorities of Guangdong province and Shenzhen city to concentrate on two aspects, in accordance with the decisions and arrangements made by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council. First, we will steadily accelerate the zone expansion and launch of preferential policies. We will promote the existing preferential policies in the fields of financial reform and innovation, and legal affairs cooperation to all newly added areas after the expansion, in a bid to provide compelling support for the deepened reforms and opening up in Qianhai. Second, we will make efforts in addressing institutional issues created by the proper decoupling between administrative districts and economic zone. The zone expansion involves two administrative districts of Baoan and Nanshan. We will work jointly with Guangdong province and Shenzhen city, to accelerate the process of proper decoupling between localization administration and economic management, fully leveraging the two institutional advantages and arousing the enthusiasm of all.
Thank you.
