Kicking off work on ‘China’s future tallest building’, Hong Kong tycoon Hui Wing-mau lauds bay area plan
Property mogul says city’s young entrepreneurs could benefit from the business environment just across the border in Shenzhen
Hong Kong property tycoon Hui Wing-mau on Monday urged the city’s young people and entrepreneurs to seize opportunities afforded by the “Greater Bay Area”, as he kicked off work on China’s next top skyscraper in Shenzhen.
In an exclusive interview, the Shimao Group chairman also said he hoped a state leader would be tasked with promoting Beijing’s bay area project, aimed at socially and economically integrating Hong Kong, Macau and nine Guangdong cities. He said that would show the central government values the plan.
Hui said Hong Kong and Guangdong province could benefit from working more closely to drive their economies forward.
Get young people involved to boost Greater Bay Area integration
“Shenzhen and Hong Kong’s development was based on the mainland’s reform and opening up [from the late 1970s], when the mainland’s economy took off and created a lot of opportunities for Hong Kong. The Greater Bay Area is the second [wave of] opportunities and we must seize them,” he said.
But he said the plan required initiative from local businesspeople. He added: “It must not be the government doing all the work. Shenzhen has been trying to attract businesses and capital, and Hong Kong entrepreneurs need to find and develop good projects here ... [Hong Kong] has the money and skills, and mainland China has a huge market. It should be best for us to cooperate.”
Hui, a newly elected standing committee member of China’s top advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), was speaking after overseeing the foundation ceremony of his latest project in Shenzhen, alongside CPPCC vice-chairman Tung Chee-hwa, Shenzhen party secretary Wang Weizhong and mayor Chen Rugui.
The commercial-residential complex, called the Shenzhen-Hong Kong International Centre, comprises buildings such as an office tower planned to be about 700 metres (2,300 feet) tall, a young people’s entrepreneurial and start-up centre, a museum, a hotel, a performing arts hub and an international school. Its expected cost is 40 to 50 billion yuan (US$6 billion to US$8 billion).