Apply Hong Kong rules on Shenzhen side of shared innovation hub, adviser to Chinese policymakers says
- Only ‘radical reforms’ at Lok Ma Chau Loop can serve country’s development needs in face of West’s economic sanctions, argues Professor Zheng Yongnian
- Financial industry should also be included in official plan for zone, he says, calling the sector one of Hong Kong’s unmatchable strengths
An innovation hub that straddles Hong Kong’s border with Shenzhen should be run according to rules adopted in the financial hub, an adviser to Chinese policymakers has said, arguing that only “radical reforms” at the Lok Ma Chau Loop can serve the country’s development needs in face of the West’s economic sanctions.
Zheng Yongnian, a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Shenzhen campus and board director of the Guangzhou Institute of the Greater Bay Area, made the call on Friday at a seminar focusing on the hub of top laboratories and research institutes.
While the State Council has proposed adopting some Hong Kong systems, including those for taxation and arbitration, on the Shenzhen side of the zone, the political scientist said the country needed to be bolder in the face of increasing economic hostility from the West.
“I personally feel that the development of the Loop project needs a more radical plan,” Zheng said in a pre-recorded speech.
The academic has widely been viewed as an economic adviser to the Chinese leadership since appearing at a symposium on economic and social work chaired by President Xi Jinping in 2020. He is also a member in the Chief Executive’s Policy Group formed last May.