China News Agency, Hong Kong, June 10, Qiu Tenghua, director of the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, said on the 10th that even if the United States takes any unilateral actions, the related uncertainties may cause some interference in the business atmosphere in the short term, but Hong Kong The economy is resilient and has a solid foundation. With its basic advantages, including the rule of law, judicial independence, free and open trade policies, and a fair competitive environment, it is sure to overcome challenges and the economy will continue to develop.
On the same day, Qiu Tenghua pointed out in a written reply to the questions of the members of the Legislative Council of the Special Administrative Region regarding the US policy on Hong Kong that the US side has obtained great benefits in the economic and trade exchanges between the two places. In 2019, the total volume of goods trade between Hong Kong and the United States was 517 billion yuan (HK$, the same below), accounting for 6.2% of the total value of Hong Kong’s trade in goods, and the total value of Hong Kong’s domestic products exported to the United States was 3.7 billion yuan, accounting for By 2%, the value of goods accounted for less than 0.1% of Hong Kong’s total exports of goods. On the contrary, the U.S. trade surplus with Hong Kong totaled approximately US$310 billion between 2010 and 2019, and it exceeded US$26 billion in 2019 alone, the highest among US trading partners.
Qiu Tenghua said that although the US side indicated that it would change its policy towards Hong Kong, the SAR government must review its substantive actions before assessing the specific situation.
He revealed that in recent years, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the business community have stepped up efforts to explore more markets, including focusing on the rapidly growing ASEAN (Asean) economy, which is Hong Kong’s second largest trading partner in general, and "All the way" countries along the route. In addition to the "Mainland and Hong Kong Arrangements for the Establishment of Closer Economic and Trade Relations", Hong Kong has signed seven free trade agreements (free trade agreements) with different economies, including New Zealand, European Free Trade Association countries, Chile, Macau, ASEAN, Georgia , And Australia. The scope of the "Special Fund for Brand Development, Upgrading, Transformation and Domestic Market Expansion" has expanded from the Mainland and ASEAN to cover other economies that have signed free trade agreements with Hong Kong from January 2020 to fund Hong Kong companies to expand the free trade agreement market. .
He pointed out that the SAR Government will continue to expand the FTA network in order to enable Hong Kong’s goods and services to enter other markets under better conditions.
Qiu Tenghua also talked about, in terms of strategic commodities, according to the statistics released by the Bureau of Industry and Security of the US Department of Commerce, the total number of exports subject to U.S. export control products exported to Hong Kong in 2016, 2017 and 2018 and exempted by the bureau in 2016, 2017 and 2018 About 400 million to 500 million US dollars, mainly for telecommunications and information security products and electronic products.
He said that according to the assessment of the Innovation and Technology Bureau of the SAR Government, although any policy changes may affect the relevant industries in the short term, the impact on the long-term development of Hong Kong's innovation and technology will be relatively limited. In recent years, stakeholders in various fields of innovation and technology in Hong Kong have sourced equipment and technology products from all over the world or developed related products or technologies locally. Therefore, any policies in individual regions will not have a great impact on the development of Hong Kong's innovation. (Finish)