Shenzhen official hopes for better HK relations
Shenzhen deputy Communist Party secretary Bai Tian yesterday expressed the hope that senior officials from the border city and Hong Kong can improve exchanges.
'We should discuss the system and the contents of the co-operation [on building an international megalopolis] and define the detailed rules,' he said during the 10th Guangdong party congress.
In his re-election manifesto, Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen proposed the creation of a Shenzhen-Hong Kong international megalopolis to strengthen co-operation. The proposal was picked up by Guangdong party secretary Zhang Dejiang , who positioned Shenzhen as one of two central cities in the province in his report to the party congress on Monday. He also said Shenzhen's mission was to become an international metropolis with Chinese characteristics.
Mr Bai reviewed a decade of co-operation between Shenzhen and Hong Kong since the handover, saying the cities had had a successful record in finance, trade and tourism.
He said Shenzhen had contributed to Hong Kong's prosperity and stability in the past 10 years and officials 'believe the co-operation suggested by the chief executive can be achieved based on the good foundation they have now'.
'Learn from Hong Kong, and service Hong Kong, are the principles we have set for co-operation,' he said.
Mr Bai admitted the city had a long way to go. He said that Shenzhen was at the same level as other mainland cities because it had lost its favourable tax advantage.
'But we still think we are 'special', for we have ... fortune that has built up in the past 27 years,' he said.
