Dovetailing the development of Hong Kong and Shenzhen was unnecessary, and unlikely because of political limitations and economic differences, planning officials from Shenzhen and Hong Kong said yesterday.
Wang Peng, deputy director of the Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Urban Planning and Land Resources, said in a cross-boundary city planning conference that Shenzhen would complete its planning study for the next 30 years at the end of this year. The Shenzhen study was undertaken in response to Hong Kong's 2030 planning study which maps out the territory's long-term development.
Mr Wang said their study would look at a wide range of issues, such as how to strengthen co-operation with Hong Kong and how Shenzhen should be positioned with China's entry to the World Trade Organisation.
He said Shenzhen would like to see more co-operation with Hong Kong on boundary crossing and boundary area development, but full-scale co-planning charting the development of both sides was unlikely. 'The difficulty of that lies in differences in systems. Hong Kong is adhering to no changes in 50 years while we are still under the mainland social system.
'We also have different concerns, international positions and influences which might make such co-planning difficult.'
Mr Wang said competition between Hong Kong and Shenzhen was unavoidable but proper planning by both sides could make this mutually beneficial. 'Competition is inevitable in such a huge market as China . . . but we are in different positions and how to complement each other is important as long as we find our own places,' he said.