Hong Kong will seek support of mainland China to expand scale of cross-border data coming into city, Paul Chan says
- City to explore possibility of introducing platform where information can be traded and framework on guidelines for good data governance, Financial Secretary Paul Chan says
- Greater access will help cement Hong Kong’s status as global data hub, he adds
Hong Kong will seek the support of the central government to expand the scale of data coming into the city to cover places beyond the Greater Bay Area in a bid to further drive the development of innovation and technology, the finance chief has said.
Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po on Thursday also said the city would look into the possibility of introducing a platform where information could be traded and a framework on guidelines for good data governance in collaboration with mainland China.
“In the future, we will further seek support from central ministries and commissions to explore expanding the geographical area and scale of data coming to Hong Kong and look into the feasibility of [setting up] a framework of cross-border data governance and data trading,” he told a digital economy summit.
Chan announced the plans weeks after Hong Kong and the mainland launched a pilot scheme to facilitate data sharing for certain industries in the bay area by adopting a standard contract to ensure compliance and security of cross-border transfers of information.
The bay area refers to Beijing’s initiative to integrate Hong Kong, Macau and nine mainland cities into an economic powerhouse.
Beijing has been promoting data trading, which typically involves business intelligence, advertising, demographics, research and market information. The first big data exchange on the mainland was set up in Beijing in March 2021, while a marketplace in Guiyang sealed the country’s inaugural deal involving personal information last May.
The financial chief said the greater access would cement Hong Kong’s position as a global data hub, which would help promote local research and developments in artificial intelligence, big data and healthcare, thus enhancing the city’s appeal as a base for the innovation and technology industry.
Chan said Hong Kong must catch up in the digital economy in view of the fast-evolving competition, conceding that “there is a lot still to be done with a lot of room for improvement in relevant policies”.
“If we don’t move forward quickly, we will fall behind others,” he added.
The first phase of the cross-border pilot scheme involves the banking, credit referencing and healthcare sectors. Hong Kong’s Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau and the Cyberspace Administration of China signed a memorandum of understanding for the initiative in June last year.
Former chief executive Leung Chun-ying, also a vice-chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the nation’s top political advisory body, at the same event said the arrangement marked a key milestone as it reduced the compliance hurdles associated with large data transfers and expedited the filing process.
“Going forward, we should not underestimate the difficulty of the next steps in enabling the information data flow,” he told reporters at a press conference. “But if the problems are resolved, the information flow can unleash a great deal of productivity.”
Leung said he hoped that closer collaboration between Hong Kong and the mainland in matters related to the digital economy would enable the nation’s digital industry to expand its reach beyond the country through the city’s extensive global connectivity.
The former chief executive added that some countries were “thinking too much due to political reasons” and had become wary of the nation’s technologies, but it could still tap into other markets with great potential, such as those in Southeast Asia.
At the same event, Liu Guangyuan, deputy director of the central government’s liaison office in Hong Kong, highlighted the mainland’s digital economy achievements, saying new industries, such as cloud computing and big data, contributed over 300 billion yuan (US$42.2 billion) in revenue in the first 10 months of 2023.
He also lauded Hong Kong’s free and open business environment for being one of the city’s edges in developing the digital economy.
“Hong Kong youth’s enthusiasm for engaging in technology and innovation is unprecedentedly high,” he said. “As Hong Kong integrates into the building of a digital bay area and contributes its unique strength, it will surely achieve better development of its own digital economy.”
Liu also urged businesses in the technology sector to “tell China’s story of digital economy developments well” and “make China’s voice in digital collaborations heard”. “Unreasonable suppression” by other countries would not stop China’s digital economy growth, he stressed.
Last August, United States President Joe Biden signed an executive order to restrict some American investments in sensitive technologies, such as artificial intelligence systems and semiconductors in the mainland, Hong Kong and Macau. Hong Kong is also subject to US export controls targeting the nation’s cutting-edge computing chips.
But local authorities, which have been luring investments from mainland and overseas firms, still managed last year to secure deals with battery maker CATL, as well as drug giant AstraZeneca.
Healthcare is one of the three sectors the first phase of the cross-border information flow arrangement is covering.
