Hong Kong leader reveals details of the city's game plan for One Belt, One Road strategy
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying mentioned the strategy 44 times during his final full-year policy address
If Leung Chun-ying has his way, Hong Kong will fully ride on Beijing’s go-global trade strategy of One Belt, One Road as the Chief Executive yesterday mapped out an ambitious plan to exploit opportunities across myriad sectors - and with him in the driver’s seat.
In his last full-year policy address before his five-year term as leader ends next year, he surprised the markets by mentioning the term “One Belt, One Road” 48 times in his speech. It was the second major item he zoomed in on after giving a bird’s-eye view of the city’s overall economic situation.
Positioning itself as “a super connector” between the mainland and the west, Hong Kong will set up a steering committee chaired by Leung to formulate strategies for the city’s participation. A “Belt and Road” office will be formed to carry out studies and coordinate work among government departments, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council and Hong Kong Tourism Board and other private organisations, Leung said.
Marketing professor at Chinese University of Hong Kong, Leo Sin Yat-ming, regarded Leung’s prominent mention of “One Belt, One Road” as a political gesture that Hong Kong will fully support the mainland’s economic blueprint. “There must be some political considerations,” he said.
The “One Belt, One Road” strategy, first unveiled in 2013 by president Xi Jinping and highlighted in the nation’s 13th five-year plan last year, has two legs: the New Silk Road economic belt linking China and Europe; and the Maritime Silk Road linking it to Southeast Asia, Africa and Europe. It spans 65 countries on three continents, including Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Russia, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.
The strategy is widely seen as the Chinese version of the Marshall Plan, a post-second world war initiative by the United States to aid Western Europe.
Stanley Lau Chin-ho, honorary president of Federation of Hong Kong Industries - one of the city’s largest trade bodies - expected the set-up of the steering committee and the “Belt and Road” office would accelerate Hong Kong’s relevance to the strategy.