BEIJING, July 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The value of trade
between the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and the
Chinese mainland has surged more than sixfold from $50.77 billion to $360.33
billion, an average annual increase of 8.5 percent since the
Hong Kong's return to the
motherland 25 years ago, according to the Chinese Ministry of
Commerce.
While integrating itself into the country's overall development,
Hong Kong has become an important
participant in domestic circulation and a key contributor
connecting domestic and international circulation.
By the end of 2021, investment from Hong Kong into the mainland had topped
$1.4 trillion, accounting for 57.6
percent of the mainland's total attraction of overseas
investments.
"Proactively integrating itself into the country's overall
development and carving out its role in national strategies,
Hong Kong has maintained its
strengths in its high degree of openness and in aligning with
international rules," Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Friday
at the meeting celebrating the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland.
"With continuously expanding areas and enabling mechanisms for
Hong Kong's cooperation and
exchanges with the mainland, people in Hong Kong now have better opportunities to
start their own businesses and make achievements," he added.
Tapping into Greater Bay Area
The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao
Greater Bay Area (GBA), which aims to become a world-class bay area
and city cluster, is a significant national project conceived and
promoted by President Xi.
On July 1, 2017, Xi witnessed the
signing of a framework agreement between the National Development
and Reform Commission, the country's top economic planner, and the
governments of Guangdong,
Hong Kong and Macao on deepening Guangdong-Hong
Kong-Macao cooperation.
A year later, Xi announced the opening of the Hong
Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, a supergiant sea-crossing traffic project
that links Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao. It has become a physical symbol of
China's vision for the GBA.
On February 18, 2019, the outline
development plan for the GBA was unveiled, which envisaged creating
a role model of high-quality development, an international
first-class bay area and a world-class city cluster.
Last September, a plan was launched for further developing the
Qianhai cooperation zone for the southern metropolis of
Shenzhen and the HKSAR, with the
aim of helping the zone better play an exemplary and leading role
in the development of the GBA.
The number of Hong Kong-funded
enterprises in the Qianhai zone surged 156 percent year on year in
2021. Of the total foreign investment in actual use in Qianhai last
year, 93.8 percent was from Hong
Kong.
Individuals from Hong Kong are
benefiting from the GBA initiative too. Hong Kong and Macao professionals from eight sectors,
including teachers, doctors and tour guides, are now allowed to
practice on the mainland with mutual recognition of qualifications.
By now, over 3,000 professionals have obtained qualifications on
the mainland.
Addressing at the celebration, Xi again said central government
fully supports Hong Kong in its
effort to seize historic opportunities offered by China's development and actively dovetail
itself with the Guangdong-Hong
Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
National governance
"Since Hong Kong's return to the motherland, it has been
re-integrated into China's
governance system, and a constitutional order was established with
the 'One Country, Two Systems' principle as its fundamental
guideline," Xi noted.
Chinese citizens who are permanent residents of the HKSAR can
participate in the governance of both the SAR and the country as
empowered by law.
After its return, at the Ninth National People's Congress (NPC)
in 1998, deputies from Hong Kong
began to participate in the NPC, the highest body of state power,
to discuss plans for national development and problems affecting
people's lives, and to put the people's expectations at the top of
the agenda on state matters.
Meanwhile, more than 5,600 representatives from all walks of
life in Hong Kong serve as members
of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC)
at all levels, including over 200 in the CPPCC National Committee.
They are all valued advisors on key national programs and
contributors to the development of the country.
Thirty-six deputies from Hong
Kong were elected to participate in the work of the 13th
NPC, accounting for 1.2 percent of total deputy numbers while over
200 CPPCC members are from the HKSAR, 10 percent of the total. Both
ratios significantly exceed Hong
Kong's share of the country's population of about 0.5
percent.
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-06-29/Hong-Kong-25-years-on-Better-integrating-into-national-development-1bfyY0p1lWo/index.html
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SOURCE CGTN