China News Service, Hong Kong, March 1 (Reporter Wei Huadu) It has been 4 years since the "Outline of the Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area" was released. Great achievements have been made in terms of interconnection and interoperability.
People from all walks of life in Hong Kong expressed their expectation that Hong Kong and mainland cities in the Greater Bay Area will continue to integrate, further break through "obstacles", and facilitate the interconnection between the two places.
Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao work together to create a highland for innovation and technology
Building an international science and technology innovation center is one of the goals of the Greater Bay Area.
According to the Global Innovation Index released by the World Intellectual Property Organization, the "Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou" innovation cluster has ranked second in the world for three consecutive years.
The Dawan District International Science and Technology Innovation Center is mainly based on "two corridors and two points", namely Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong, Guangzhou-Zhuhai-Macao Science and Technology Innovation Corridor (two corridors) and Shenzhen Hetao and Zhuhai Hengqin Innovation Pole (two points). cooperate.
According to the "2022 Mid-2022 Global Unicorn List" released by the Hurun Research Institute, as of June 2022, China ranks second in the world with 312 "unicorn" companies, of which there are 62 in the Greater Bay Area. There are 3 companies ranked in the top ten in China.
Li Shengpo, deputy to the National People's Congress of the Hong Kong District, said in an interview with a reporter from China News Agency: "The Greater Bay Area should be a whole, regardless of each other, each city has its own advantages, and there are unlimited business opportunities. I believe it will become the world's number one in the future." Bay Area."
"Soft" and "hard" to help interconnection and interoperability
Tsang Wai-hung, a member of the Hong Kong National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and former director of the Hong Kong Police Force, told reporters that the free flow of people is critical to the success of the development of the Greater Bay Area. When the flow of people is opened up, the flow of logistics and capital will also be active.
In recent years, the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, and the Liantang/Heung Yuen Wai Port have been opened one after another, forming a "one-hour living circle" between Hong Kong and mainland cities in the Greater Bay Area.
With the full "customs clearance" of the two places, it is expected that personnel exchanges will gradually resume to pre-epidemic levels.
Shi Ronghuai, a member of the Hong Kong National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and the chairman of the Hong Kong Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said that the exchange of talents is the most important of all exchanges. I hope that young people in Hong Kong can take this opportunity to go to the mainland to learn more about the country's development. to help Hong Kong integrate into the overall development of the country.
In addition to infrastructure "hard connectivity", "soft connectivity" is equally important.
In September 2021, the "Cross-Border Wealth Management Connect" in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area was officially launched, allowing residents of mainland cities in the Greater Bay Area and residents of Hong Kong and Macau to invest in wealth management products sold by the other bank through the closed-loop capital channels established by their respective banking systems.
As one of the important plans for the interconnection mechanism between the mainland and Hong Kong and Macau capital markets, the list of pilot banks for the "Cross-Border Wealth Management Connect" has increased to 31 in the Mainland.
Outlook: Breaking down "barriers" and continuing to promote integration
Hong Kong is planning to build a northern metropolitan area in the northern part of the New Territories adjacent to Shenzhen, forming a "two cities and three circles" with Shenzhen, and forming a synergistic effect with mainland cities in the Greater Bay Area.
Recently, officials from the two places held the first meeting in Shenzhen on the "Development Strategies of the Northern Metropolitan Area" meeting to exchange views on the construction of the northern metropolitan area.
Li Shengpo believes that the northern metropolitan area is the center of Hong Kong and Shenzhen and has great potential, but we should not only focus on the hardware infrastructure of the northern metropolitan area, because the innovation and technology industry values investment policies and financing environments.
In addition, some professional qualifications in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao have not yet been mutually recognized.
Li Huiqiong, a representative of the Hong Kong National People's Congress and chairman of the Hong Kong Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong, told reporters that due to the different examination modes of professional accountants in the two places and the fact that there are not many people who have the qualifications in both places, it is recommended to relax the threshold to open up the flow of professional talents in the two places.
She also hopes to promote the convergence of tax systems in Hong Kong and the Mainland, which she believes is extremely important for the flow of talents between the two places.
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