Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce director Eden Woon Yi-teng ponders a question after releasing details of the chamber's 75-page Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) submission to the Government yesterday.
The proposals call for Hong Kong companies to have further access to markets not due to open up under China's earlier agreed World Trade Organisation commitments.
Mr Woon stressed the proposals would also benefit the mainland, saying early access by Hong Kong companies would help 'work the kinks out' of the inevitable WTO implementation problems.
The chamber has also suggested tariffs on Hong Kong manufactured goods exported to China be cut to zero under the deal.
Mr Woon said Hong Kong's jewellery makers alone said such a cut could be worth up to HK$2 billion and create 1,000 jobs.
However, Deutsche Bank senior economist Jun Ma said if tariffs were cut to zero within a year, it would boost Hong Kong's economy by only 0.43 per cent over an eight-year period, from 2003 to 2010.
