They may seem strange bedfellows: Hong Kong, one of the world's freest markets, and the mainland, a communist planned economy - even though they are in the same country.
Even less likely, it might be assumed, is the prospect of lively, capitalist Hong Kong actively campaigning to be a part of a mainland five-year plan, a foundation of the planned economy since the days of Mao Zedong .
But this is exactly what is happening, as the city strives for greater integration with the vast, fast-growing and often aggressively capitalist market across the border, amid fears it may otherwise be marginalised and warnings that it may have been already.
Hong Kong officials are now busy talking to their mainland counterparts about how the city can play a bigger role in the country's economic development under the 12th five-year plan, which is due to start in 2011.
Underpinning this effort, according to one of the government's top advisers, is a growing anxiety in Hong Kong about being shoved aside by cities such as Shanghai - and a surprising level of community support for greater involvement in the country's blueprint for the next five years. The National Development and Reform Commission, the mainland's top planning body, is holding preliminary talks on the five-year plan.
In 2006, for the first time since the handover, Hong Kong rated a mention in a five-year plan. But it was a brief one - just two lines of text in the 90-page 11th plan referring to the central government's support for preserving Hong Kong's status as an international financial, trade and logistics centre.
