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CEPA's further liberalizations open doors for HK
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Regina Ip says residents must work hard and innovate to tap into mainland's vast services market
On Oct 9, when a financial frenzy gripped Hong Kong's roller-coaster stock market, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government brought happy tidings of long-lasting impact to the real economy. The good news was that the Ministry of Commerce had agreed to make further amendments to Hong Kong's trade-in-services agreement with the Chinese mainland. The amendments would bring real benefits to Hong Kong's service industries through further opening-up of a number of important mainland service sectors to Hong Kong.
The Second Agreement Concerning Amendment to the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) Agreement on Trade in Services, as it is formally called, was signed on Oct 9, witnessed by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu and senior central government officials.
The CEPA is a free trade agreement concluded between the mainland and Hong Kong in June 2003, as part of the mainland's effort to boost the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's then-sagging, post-epidemic economy. Under this agreement, access to 18 service sectors on the mainland was liberalized.
As Hong Kong is a predominantly service-oriented economy, greater benefits would accrue from opening up more mainland service sectors. The HKSAR sought a trade-in-services arrangement with the mainland, which was signed in November 2015, and implemented in June 2016.
In response to continued requests from Hong Kong for more liberalization, agreement was reached in 2019 to amend the trade-in-services agreement and add new liberalization measures. On the 20th anniversary of the signing of the CEPA in June 2023, the mainland had fully or partially opened up 153, or 96 percent, of its 160 service sectors to Hong Kong.
In spite of such progress, Hong Kong's service providers have complained that "the big door has opened; but small doors haven't". By that, they mean restrictions continued to apply in many sectors, such as construction and related-engineering services, which require service providers to have acquired three years of operating experience before they could commence service provision.
Another example is the film and TV industries, where Hong Kong has an early lead and considerable international recognition. Entry into the mainland's market was hampered by restrictions on investment and the number of Hong Kong-origin actors or creative personnel allowed to take part in the production.
The latest set of amendments removed restrictions in a number of service sectors where Hong Kong has a competitive edge — namely, construction and related engineering services, film services, television services, tourism services, financial services, and telecommunication services.
The three-year local operating requirement for construction and related engineering services will be removed when the amendments enter into force on March 1, 2025.
Hong Kong's film industry will be able to invest in enterprises engaged in film production on the mainland; and qualified film service providers will be able to distribute imported buyout Hong Kong movies on the mainland. As for the television industry, the quantitative restriction on Hong Kong residents participating as principal creative personnel in online television dramas, a fast-growing industry on the mainland, will be removed.
The market access improvements in the tourism and financial services sectors are significant. To promote multidestination tourism in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, measures will be introduced to facilitate the entry of foreign group tours to the whole of Guangdong province through more control points in Hong Kong. Mainland visitors participating in international cruise itineraries will be able to make permit-free transit in Hong Kong. This will enable more cruise ships operating from mainland ports-of-call to call at Hong Kong.
The measures facilitating the entry of Hong Kong's financial services into the mainland market have been long sought after. The $2 billion requirement for Hong Kong financial institutions investing in shares of insurance companies will be removed. Foreign bank branches established in Hong Kong will be able to conduct bank card services on the mainland. Consideration will be given to extending the scope of eligible products under the "mutual market access" program by including new products such as real estate investment trusts. Continuous improvements will be made to various mainland-Hong Kong "Connect" schemes to enhance connectivity of the capital markets of the mainland and Hong Kong, and to reinforce Hong Kong's status as a global financial center and offshore renminbi business center.
Hong Kong's telecommunication service providers will also get a slice of the mainland market. They will be allowed to distribute in the mainland telephone service cards that can be used globally but cannot be activated on the mainland.
In addition to expanding market access, the amendments bring an innovative breakthrough in allowing Hong Kong-invested enterprises on the mainland to adopt Hong Kong law and to choose Hong Kong or Macao as the seat of arbitration should such need arise. Such unprecedented measures will promote the adoption of the common law in commercial areas on the mainland, and enhance Hong Kong's importance as a regional arbitration center.
The business community warmly welcomed these improvement measures. Immediate action was taken by many foreign chambers of commerce to include details in their websites or newsletters.
In 2022, trade in services between the mainland and Hong Kong amounted to HK$306.2 billion ($39.41 billion), accounting for 28 percent of Hong Kong's trade-in-services trade. The amendments will not only be beneficial to both mainland companies and Hong Kong enterprises, but also represent another step up in the modernization of mainland China's service industries, drawing on Hong Kong's experience.
To bolster Hong Kong's sluggish economy, many in Hong Kong have pressed for quick fixes like increasing the amount of duty-free goods that mainland visitors can bring home, or allowing those entering under the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme to spend more on property.
Quick fixes have been implemented before, the most prominent being the rapid expansion of the Individual Visit Scheme, which opened the floodgates for mass tourism from mainland China. Such programs did help Hong Kong achieve a fast turnaround, but they skewed the local market, and took away Hong Kong service providers' incentives to innovate and diversify. Now, many Hong Kong service providers face a rude awakening that they are being left behind.
The amendments provide a framework for Hong Kong service providers to achieve greater access to the mainland's market. But nothing is a given. Hong Kong people must work hard and innovate to ride the next wave of ascendance of the Chinese mainland's vast services market. Or they will be left behind.
The market access improvements in the tourism and financial services sectors are significant. To promote multidestination tourism in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, measures will be introduced to facilitate the entry of foreign group tours to the whole of Guangdong province through more control points in Hong Kong.
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香港特別行政區立法會議員、行政會議召集人
10月9日香港股市大升，勢如過山車，金融市場頓時掀起一場狂熱。當日，同樣令人矚目的是，特區政府帶來重大利好消息，在行政長官李家超和中央官員的見證下，香港與內地簽訂《〈內地與香港關於建立更緊密經貿關系的安排〉(CEPA) 服務貿易協議》的第二份修訂協議。
眾所周知，服務業是香港經濟的龍頭，商務部首肯修訂香港與內地的服務貿易協議，確保內地多個重要服務行業進一步對港開放，惠利香港實體經濟，必然帶來更多實實在在的收益。
早在2003年6月，為了提振SARS重創後的香港經濟，作為CEPA協議一部分，國家允許18個服務行業率先對港開放，此舉隨即成為搞活本港經濟的重要環節。
2015年11月，在CEPA的框架下，兩地又簽署了一份獨立的有關服務貿易的子協議，並於2016年6月實施，內地對香港的開放幅度隨之進一步擴大。
近年來，香港業界對深化開放內地市場的呼聲與日俱增，終於在 2019年6月，雙方就新增開放措施簽署了第一份修訂協議。及至2023年6月CEPA協議簽訂20周年之際，在內地160個服務行業中，已有96%（即153個行業）已經全面或局部對香港開放。
雖然內地開放市場進展良好，但是港商仍舊感到“大門開小門不開”，許多行業仍然存在準入限制，例如，建築和相關工程等行業明確規定港商必須具備三年營運經驗才能在內地提供服務。
電影、電視行業亦然。以往，香港在這兩個領域曾處於領先地位，並獲得相當的國際認可，但業界進入內地市場時卻受到投資額的限制，即便項目獲準港人參與制作，香港演員和創作團隊的人數也有嚴格的限制。
最新簽署的修訂則對這類具備優勢的產業進入內地市場取消了限制，並於2025 年 3 月 1 日生效，屆時，對於建造業及相關工程服務、影視業、旅遊業、金融服務業和電訊服務，內地都將取消行之已久的三年本地營運要求。
屆時，香港電影業將獲準可向國內電影制作企業投資，合資格的電影公司可在內地發行進口買斷的港產片。電視方面，對於時下非常流行、發展迅猛的網絡電視劇，港人參與主要制作的人數限制也會不覆存在。
另外,旅遊業和金融業的市場準入情況也將顯著改善。為推廣粵港澳大灣區“一程多站”旅遊，當局將推出措施，方便外國旅行團經由香港進入廣東全省；參加國際郵輪旅行的內地旅客亦可在香港免簽過境。此舉可讓更多內地郵輪公司在國際航線中加入香港作為中途停靠站。
香港的金融業一直積極爭取政策打入內地市場。一直以來，香港金融機構入股內地保險公司時，投資額須不少於20億美元。新安排取消了這一規定。而且，在香港經營的外資銀行還獲準在內地經營銀行卡業務。此外，內地與香港資本市場的互聯互通機制也在不斷擴大，新增了房地產投資信托基金等新產品，由此，香港國際金融中心和離岸人民幣業務中心的地位必將進一步得以鞏固、加強。
在新安排下，香港的電訊服務供貨商也能在內地市場分一杯羹，電訊公司可以在內地分銷全球通電話卡（只要該不在內地啟動）。
除了擴大市場準入外，新修訂還帶來了制度上的創新和突破，允許在內地的港資企業沿用香港法律，並在必要時選擇以香港或澳門作為仲裁地。這些措施前所未見，它鼓勵內地商界在商業領域采用普通法，從而提升香港作為區域仲裁中心的地位。
商界對這些措施聞風而動、舉手歡迎。許多外國商會立即采取行動，將詳細信息上載到其官網上。
2022年，香港與內地的服務貿易達3062 億港元（394.1億美元），占香港服務貿易的28%。是次修訂不僅惠利兩地企業，也是內地服務業汲取香港經驗、邁向現代化的又一次提升。
為了提振香港疲弱經濟，許多人提議優先落實一些能夠實時見效的方案，例如增加內地旅客可在港購買的免稅商品的金額，或允許透過“資本投資者入境計劃”來港的人士購置物業等。
此前，這類立竿見影的方案也曾實施過。最成功的先例莫過於擴大自由行計劃，為香港招徠大量內地旅客，助力香港經濟快速轉型。不過，國內遊客湧入香港也令本地市場失衡，讓服務業失去動力求新求變，甚至無心發展多元化。如今，商界已幡然醒悟，若非奮力向前，必然不進則退。
本次的新修訂提供了新框架，讓香港服務業更容易打入內地。然而，成功非必然，港人必須努力不懈、不甘落後、不斷創新，才能在內地龐大的服務業市場中積極進取、乘勢而上。
Regina Ip says residents must work hard and innovate to tap into mainland's vast services market
On Oct 9, when a financial frenzy gripped Hong Kong's roller-coaster stock market, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government brought happy tidings of long-lasting impact to the real economy. The good news was that the Ministry of Commerce had agreed to make further amendments to Hong Kong's trade-in-services agreement with the Chinese mainland. The amendments would bring real benefits to Hong Kong's service industries through further opening-up of a number of important mainland service sectors to Hong Kong.
The Second Agreement Concerning Amendment to the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) Agreement on Trade in Services, as it is formally called, was signed on Oct 9, witnessed by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu and senior central government officials.
The CEPA is a free trade agreement concluded between the mainland and Hong Kong in June 2003, as part of the mainland's effort to boost the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's then-sagging, post-epidemic economy. Under this agreement, access to 18 service sectors on the mainland was liberalized.
As Hong Kong is a predominantly service-oriented economy, greater benefits would accrue from opening up more mainland service sectors. The HKSAR sought a trade-in-services arrangement with the mainland, which was signed in November 2015, and implemented in June 2016.
In response to continued requests from Hong Kong for more liberalization, agreement was reached in 2019 to amend the trade-in-services agreement and add new liberalization measures. On the 20th anniversary of the signing of the CEPA in June 2023, the mainland had fully or partially opened up 153, or 96 percent, of its 160 service sectors to Hong Kong.
In spite of such progress, Hong Kong's service providers have complained that "the big door has opened; but small doors haven't". By that, they mean restrictions continued to apply in many sectors, such as construction and related-engineering services, which require service providers to have acquired three years of operating experience before they could commence service provision.
Another example is the film and TV industries, where Hong Kong has an early lead and considerable international recognition. Entry into the mainland's market was hampered by restrictions on investment and the number of Hong Kong-origin actors or creative personnel allowed to take part in the production.
The latest set of amendments removed restrictions in a number of service sectors where Hong Kong has a competitive edge — namely, construction and related engineering services, film services, television services, tourism services, financial services, and telecommunication services.
The three-year local operating requirement for construction and related engineering services will be removed when the amendments enter into force on March 1, 2025.
Hong Kong's film industry will be able to invest in enterprises engaged in film production on the mainland; and qualified film service providers will be able to distribute imported buyout Hong Kong movies on the mainland. As for the television industry, the quantitative restriction on Hong Kong residents participating as principal creative personnel in online television dramas, a fast-growing industry on the mainland, will be removed.
The market access improvements in the tourism and financial services sectors are significant. To promote multidestination tourism in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, measures will be introduced to facilitate the entry of foreign group tours to the whole of Guangdong province through more control points in Hong Kong. Mainland visitors participating in international cruise itineraries will be able to make permit-free transit in Hong Kong. This will enable more cruise ships operating from mainland ports-of-call to call at Hong Kong.
The measures facilitating the entry of Hong Kong's financial services into the mainland market have been long sought after. The $2 billion requirement for Hong Kong financial institutions investing in shares of insurance companies will be removed. Foreign bank branches established in Hong Kong will be able to conduct bank card services on the mainland. Consideration will be given to extending the scope of eligible products under the "mutual market access" program by including new products such as real estate investment trusts. Continuous improvements will be made to various mainland-Hong Kong "Connect" schemes to enhance connectivity of the capital markets of the mainland and Hong Kong, and to reinforce Hong Kong's status as a global financial center and offshore renminbi business center.
Hong Kong's telecommunication service providers will also get a slice of the mainland market. They will be allowed to distribute in the mainland telephone service cards that can be used globally but cannot be activated on the mainland.
In addition to expanding market access, the amendments bring an innovative breakthrough in allowing Hong Kong-invested enterprises on the mainland to adopt Hong Kong law and to choose Hong Kong or Macao as the seat of arbitration should such need arise. Such unprecedented measures will promote the adoption of the common law in commercial areas on the mainland, and enhance Hong Kong's importance as a regional arbitration center.
The business community warmly welcomed these improvement measures. Immediate action was taken by many foreign chambers of commerce to include details in their websites or newsletters.
In 2022, trade in services between the mainland and Hong Kong amounted to HK$306.2 billion ($39.41 billion), accounting for 28 percent of Hong Kong's trade-in-services trade. The amendments will not only be beneficial to both mainland companies and Hong Kong enterprises, but also represent another step up in the modernization of mainland China's service industries, drawing on Hong Kong's experience.
To bolster Hong Kong's sluggish economy, many in Hong Kong have pressed for quick fixes like increasing the amount of duty-free goods that mainland visitors can bring home, or allowing those entering under the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme to spend more on property.
Quick fixes have been implemented before, the most prominent being the rapid expansion of the Individual Visit Scheme, which opened the floodgates for mass tourism from mainland China. Such programs did help Hong Kong achieve a fast turnaround, but they skewed the local market, and took away Hong Kong service providers' incentives to innovate and diversify. Now, many Hong Kong service providers face a rude awakening that they are being left behind.
The amendments provide a framework for Hong Kong service providers to achieve greater access to the mainland's market. But nothing is a given. Hong Kong people must work hard and innovate to ride the next wave of ascendance of the Chinese mainland's vast services market. Or they will be left behind.
The market access improvements in the tourism and financial services sectors are significant. To promote multidestination tourism in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, measures will be introduced to facilitate the entry of foreign group tours to the whole of Guangdong province through more control points in Hong Kong.
7月17日，新民黨會見行政長官李家超，遞交《施政報告》建議書，我特別向行政長官提議，特區政府應向中央政府爭取，讓香港聯同其他粵港澳大灣區城市，在大灣區舉辦「一帶一路」運動會。我認為這建議對國家、對大灣區，以至對香港，都有多方面好處，非常值得特區政府推進。
「一帶一路」倡議是中國提出的，2013年9月和10月，國家主席習近平先後在哈薩克及印尼宣布推動「絲綢之路經濟帶」及「二十一世紀海上絲綢之路」。推進發展11年，除了興建基建、發展產業、提振經濟、鞏固法律等方面，開拓體育發展亦是必要的。
國家在2019年發布的《體育強國建設綱要》中已強調，要「構建體育對外交往新格局，共建『一帶一路』體育發展行動計劃」；今年7月，「三中全會」《中共中央關於進一步全面深化改革 推進中國式現代化的決定》更提出要「完善推進高質量共建『一帶一路』機制」、「完善陸海天網一體化布局，構建『一帶一路』立體互聯互通網絡。」我認為舉辦「一帶一路」運動會能加強「一帶一路」列國之間的交流，促進世界大同，是對上述戰略目標的有效實踐。
香港一直推動體育「五化」，包括普及化、精英化、盛事化、專業化和產業化，「一帶一路」運動會當然是體壇盛事，並且能為體育產業化作出巨大貢獻。須知道體育競技不單止有運動員，還有專項教練、體能教練、心理輔導、體育醫療、器材及用品、服裝品牌，以至法律與訟裁等等，舉辦大型運動會能壯大運動產業的發展，讓年輕人看到更多出路，經濟效益也會隨之而至。
提到經濟效益，相信沒有人會漠視體育經濟的創收。美國NBA在2022/23年賽季的贊助收入高達16.6億美元歷史新高。在內地，國家隊多位金牌運動員在巴黎奧運後推出的廣告代言和雜誌封面多不勝數。孫穎莎代言的品牌護膚品在開售十分鐘便突破千萬人民幣銷售額，勝過內娛頂流。即使不是簽約代言，與他們有關的周邊商品也會賣個盆滿缽滿，淘寶在8月份發布了《2024巴黎奧運同款帶貨力榜》，全紅嬋、鄭欽文及孫穎莎便分列「運動員帶貨力」的頭3位。
香港過去舉辦的體壇盛事也帶來門票、廣告，以至旅遊、餐飲、酒吧等周邊豐厚的經濟效益。例如每年的香港國際七人欖球賽便吸引數以萬計的海外球迷來港，平均每年帶來約4億元收入。今年3月在香港舉辦的LIV Golf職業巡迴賽的總賽事獎金2500萬美元（約1.95億港元），為特區政府帶來3000萬元稅收。巴奧期間有不少熱門賽事在黃金時間舉行，香港的酒吧生意增加約兩成。
可以預料，若香港舉辦「一帶一路」運動會，會吸引大量相關人員及遊客來港，屆時特區政府可推出一系列運動旅遊路線、餐飲及周邊產品，大力推動體育旅遊，擴闊經濟收益。這也是國家在2017年推出的《「一帶一路」體育旅遊發展行動方案》所強調「外引內聯」、「盤活體育資源」的實踐目標。
當然，要舉辦規模這麼大的綜合型運動會，籌備必然經年，不會一蹴而就。目前看來，2025年有全運會、2026年有亞運會，未必是理想年份；2027年或者是適合的契機。再者，若短期內未能舉辦整全的「一帶一路」運動會，也可以在香港舉辦個別運動項目的「一帶一路」聯賽，例如劍擊、馬術等，來個先行先試。
總結而言，在大灣區舉辦「一帶一路」運動會，能提升「一帶一路」的形象，提高大灣區的國際知名度，開拓香港體育旅遊經濟新格局，一舉多得，特區政府應盡快主動向中央政府爭取，以得先機。