New hospital in Shenzhen fails to impress Cepa critics
Local doctor's new eye facility in Shenzhen was made possible by free-trade deal, but many say such cross-border projects are too much effort
Critics of Hong Kong's free-trade deal with the mainland maintained their reservations about the scheme as the first wholly Hong Kong-owned hospital in Shenzhen opened yesterday.
Business and medical leaders said the complicated procedures and high risk under the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (Cepa) signed a decade ago had put off potential investors.
They said Guangdong authorities should lower the barriers.
Launching his eye hospital yesterday, founder and director Dr Dennis Lam Shun-chiu said he had struggled with the application procedures for two years.
"There are certain procedures yet to be optimised [under Cepa]", the ophthalmologist and former Chinese University professor said. "I had to go through all kinds of procedures with many departments."
He said he had to own or rent a site before he was granted approval for his business - meaning he could have lost his capital if the application failed.
The C-MER (Shenzhen) Dennis Lam Eye Hospital is the first on the mainland to be wholly owned by Hongkongers as a result of the ninth supplement to Cepa signed last year, which relaxed a requirement that Hong Kong doctors have mainland partners.