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Hong Kong should work with mainland China to host ‘Belt and Road Games’
文章
2024 年 8 月 12 日
Keynote Speech by the Honourable Mrs. Regina Ip, GBM, GBS, JP At the SCMP “Re-defining Hong Kong” Conference
9 August 2024
CEO Catherine, Tammy, Jasmine, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I wish to thank SCMP for giving me the opportunity to talk about “Re-defining Hong Kong”, a subject very close to my heart. I have been thinking hard about it for a while, not just because central government officials have been urging Hong Kong to get a handle on change, implying a need for re-positioning and and re-invention, but also because the catalysts for change are all around us.
Hong Kong has in the past done well coping with change and, in the process, transformed itself. Hong Kong’s history is an admirable story of successful re-invention in the face of change. The city is now at a major inflection point. The changes it is facing are far more consequential than any it has seen.
At this juncture, the world is facing a great reversal of the forces for liberalisation and globalisation that have generated undreamed-of wealth for China and other emerging economies. The institutions created by the victors of the Second World War, supposedly built to bring lasting prosperity and peace, are weakening. Trade rules are being flouted with impunity. Export controls, subsidies and industrial policy aimed at building “homeland economy”, come what may, are upending the old market-based economic order.
On the geopolitical front, the so-called “rules-based order”, or “liberal international order”, championed by the US-led West, is facing growing scepticism about the interests they purport to serve. New geopolitical groupings, such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and BRICS, are gathering new members and growing in influence and economic clout.
Simply put, we are entering an era were unipolar domination by a single superpower is coming to an end. As this happens, the ruling power’s sense of insecurity, anxiety, and the urge to regain primacy are setting off tensions that will likely be a drag on growth for many years to come.
As a small but highly externally oriented economy, Hong Kong is at the forefront of collision with evolving external forces. Following China’s economic take-off after its accession to the World Trade Organisation, Hong Kong’s service economy soared. Hong Kong benefited from China’s vast demands for service in multiple areas. Hong Kong’s financial, business, professional, retail and tourism services had a field day. The city’s property market skyrocketed.
Now that China has embraced a different economic model based on “new quality productive force”, that is, growth driven by innovation and technology as opposed to high-speed growth, Hong Kong needs to re-calibrate its roles and re-position itself in the new geopolitical landscape.
Despite geopolitical tensions, Hong Kong should strengthen its “separate systems” characteristics, both in substance and in messaging, and mobilise its vast resources in and outside government to reach out to its traditional developed world partners in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.
The constant drumbeat of sanctions and twisted narratives on Hong Kong should not deter Hong Kong from engagement. Through fearless engagement - discussing, debating and arguing face-to-face - the real Hong Kong story will be powerfully told.
While it may be beyond difficult to move the mountain of Sinophobia and hostility in some quarters in the West, Hong Kong should fully utilise its knowledge of western culture, values and norms, and the extensive networks it has built up to help China build common ground with Western countries, and reduce misunderstandings.
Whereas Hong Kong had in the past prioritised doing business with the English-speaking world, it is high time for Hong Kong to re-orient itself to the diverse and multi-cultural non-English speaking sphere, whether in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, or elsewhere. It should start by broadening its language skills and cultural mindset, so that it can dive deep into building meaningful relationships with peoples and businesses from different parts of the world.
To this end, our motherland has provided Hong Kong with a convenient entry point - through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). To leverage our central location in the Belt and Road orbit, I have recommended to the Chief Executive that Hong Kong should work in conjunction with other cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) to host the first Belt and Road Games. Riding on its stunning achievements in the Paris Olympics, Hong Kong should take the lead in using mega events in sports to build friendship, strengthen connectivity, spur innovation and stimulate growth.
In regard to the Greater Bay Area, Hong Kong has played a pivotal role as an agent for modernisation. In the next stage of development of the GBA, which is marked by accelerating integration enabled by world-class transport infrastructure, Hong Kong will benefit from partnership with tech enterprises in the mainland. Hong Kong will need to move up the value ladder to provide higher value-added services to producers in GBA cities, in financial, legal and professional, educational and technology-related areas.
Hong Kong’s open markets, free flow of information, and cluster of internationally renowned schools and universities will enable it to become a magnet for global talents. Since the HKSAR Government introduced new schemes for the admission of global talents and streamlined procedures last year, the government has received 340,000 applications and approved 210,000. By the end of June, about 130,000 applicants have arrived. The enthusiastic response testifies to Hong Kong’s attractiveness as a talent hub. I warmly welcome these newcomers to our city. They will bring new ideas, fresh perspectives, and broaden our city’s skills base. They will help provide the skilled manpower we need for the industries of the future.
Where Hong Kong’s position as a global financial hub is concerned, the recent weakening of Hong Kong’s role as a fund-raising platform, owing to cyclical and geopolitical factors, has accelerated Hong Kong’s transformation into a financial innovation nerve centre.
Hong Kong maintains its traditional strengths in asset and wealth management, insurance and risk management, and has made significant progress in the issuance of green bonds and establishing its position as a family office hub. Since June last year, Hong Kong has become the only part of China that has introduced a regulatory regime for trading, investing and managing virtual assets. It has recently started consultation on the regulatory regime for fiat-referenced stable coin issuers. Hong Kong continues to innovate and enhance its financial infrastructure, introducing new pilot schemes for use of e-HKD for retail, cross-border QR payment with Thailand and setting standards for developing a tokenisation market.
Above all, Hong Kong remains the largest offshore RMB pool and plays a critical role in the internationalisation of the CNY, through various “connect” schemes, launch of more CNY-denominated products and pilot schemes for cross-border e-CNY payments. As jitters about the US’s abuse of its dollar dominance grows, Hong Kong does well in assisting China and other parts of the world to introduce electronic payment systems.
Many of China’s tech giants and manufacturing powerhouses have established a foothold overseas. But scores of other lesser ones are striving to globalise themselves by going outside China. China is committed to globalisation and Hong Kong is well positioned to assist Chinese enterprises to reach out to the world.
Let there be no doubt about Hong Kong’s identity. It has always been an inalienable part of China. Our favourite dim sum, king fu (martial arts), moon cakes, lion dance and Cantonese opera all came from China. Our boundary with Shenzhen is an artificial administrative partition. In terms of geography we are at one with southern China. But through more than 150 years of interaction with the West and the institutional guarantees in the Basic Law, Hong Kong is a DIFFERENT part of China, with strong rule of law based on the common law system, protection of fundamental rights and freedoms as provided in the Basic Law, and the most international environment throughout China.
Hong Kong contributes to the nation by being different, and to the world by proving the success of “One Country, Two Systems”. If Hong Kong needs any re-definition, it’s future lies in playing an even more robust role in pushing China’s modernisation and deepening reform. It won’t be a glide path forward, but we are ready.
Thank you for listening to me.
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