11 wise men (two from HK) to run economic test lab
An 11-person committee, with two of the members from Hong Kong, will run the project to turn land over the border at Qianhai in Shenzhen into an innovative zone for service industries, the South China Morning Post has learned.
Beijing has given its blessing for Shenzhen to turn the 15-square-kilometre zone on reclaimed land north of Shekou into 'the Manhattan of the Pearl River Delta'. To achieve that, the central government has promised Qianhai will be allowed to test some groundbreaking ideas. One is to invite Hong Kong people to help manage the area.
Wang Jinxia, spokesman and director of Qianhai's operations and development department, told the Post that two Hong Kong people would join the 11-member administrative committee that would be given the power to manage the area.
The two Hong Kong members will be independent from Shenzhen's public service - meaning they will be subject to different oversight than mainland cadres.
'We are thinking of inviting well-known, influential Hong Kong people from either the political or business spheres to help manage the area. They will bring insights on Qianhia's development strategy,' Wang said. The details were still under discussion.
Wang stressed that the Hong Kong members would be given 'real power and responsibilities' and not just be consultants.
'The administration committee is the only decision-making body of Qianhai,' he said. 'It definitely enjoys real power.'
Qianhai will have an ombudsman and several other bodies to monitor the daily operations of the administration committee. They will have the power to inspect financial records and documents, acting in a similar way to Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption.
The ombudsman will report directly to the Shenzhen's People's Congress. Its members, too, will be from Shenzhen and Hong Kong.
Mainland authorities have promised Qianhai will have greater legal and administrative autonomy as a 'special zone within the special economic zone' of Shenzhen. But they have still to work out the details. Shenzhen will finalise most of Qianhai's laws, regulations and its tax regime by the end of this year.
China Investment Corp, the nation's sovereign wealth fund, may bankroll some of Qianhai's development, business magazine Caijing reported on Thursday. The fund had suggested forming a joint venture with the Shenzhen government to develop between 6 per cent and 13 per cent of Qianhai's area, it said. The report said CIC could sell joint ventures there to overseas investors if there were sufficient interest.
The magazine quoted a letter from CIC chairman Lou Jiwei to the Shenzhen government stating that 'the company is paying close attention to Qianhai's development and [is] willing to jointly develop the area as a partner'.
The CIC is already committed to investing HK$10 billion in developing the Lok Ma Chau Loop, an area of heavily polluted marshland just over the Hong Kong border but administered by Shenzhen.
Prime property
Shenzhen is banking on Qianhai to bolster its economic growth
The amount, in yuan the municipal government will invest in the area over three years is: 40b yuan
