Beijing’s man in Hong Kong urges city to capitalise on Greater Bay Area opportunities or risk ‘historic regret’
- Luo Huining, head of Beijing’s liaison office, says Hong Kong ‘cannot afford to miss’ out on the possibilities afforded by the scheme
- Luo maintains the integration of the city into national development is not aimed at ‘mainlandisation’
The city’s integration into the nation’s development blueprint was not aimed at the “mainlandisation” or marginalisation of the city, Luo Huining, director of Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong, told a seminar on Tuesday
The future direction of the financial hub was thrown into doubt when President Xi Jinping last week called on Shenzhen to become the “engine” of the Greater Bay Area, an ambitious scheme aimed at uniting Hong Kong and Shenzhen, along with Macau and eight Guangdong cities, into a regional financial and technological powerhouse.
“We hope Hong Kong will come up with proposals and take the lead in developing the Greater Bay Area,” Luo said. “Hong Kong should make new contributions to the nation’s development.”
He explained the central government wanted to combine Hong Kong’s comparative advantages with those of the mainland cities.
“The development opportunities in Shenzhen and other mainland cities herald an important historic opportunity that Hong Kong cannot afford to miss,” he said. “Hong Kong can’t wait nor afford to wait. It can’t let the historic opportunity slip into historic regret.”
Hong Kong was largely absent from Xi’s prescription for regional greatness when he delivered his address at a ceremony marking the 40th anniversary of the founding of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone on October 14.
He also assigned the mainland city new responsibilities such as “enriching” new practices in the implementation of “one country, two systems”, the governing principle under which Hong Kong is part of China but promised a high degree of autonomy.
Political commentator Johnny Lau Yui-siu said Luo’s remarks indicated Beijing wanted Hong Kong to maintain its competitiveness to boost the development of the Greater Bay Area and the whole country.
“Beijing is also eager to woo talent and capital from Hong Kong to develop the bay area,” Lau said.
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Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor sought on Tuesday to reassert Hong Kong’s role in the nation’s future, a week after she was widely criticised for stating she was unbothered by the city’s economy being overtaken by Shenzhen’s.
Hong Kong would serve as one of the “dual engines”, alongside Shenzhen, in fuelling the bay area plan, she said. When she made her comment about the city being overtaken to a mainland broadcaster last week, Lam noted that although Hong Kong’s gross domestic product was surpassed by Shenzhen’s two years ago, the financial hub still had a higher GDP per capita despite its neighbour having more developable land.
