Hong Kong and Shenzhen have to cross each other Says Carrie Lam
Carrie Lam: Don't mind being overtaken by Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Shenzhen have to cross each other
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone. The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Carrie Lam has served the people of Hong Kong for exactly 40 years. He is the well-known "Lin Tai" in Hong Kong. When Qin Yue, a reporter from Shenzhen Satellite TV & Direct News stationed in Hong Kong, began this interview, Mrs. Lin first talked about the Liantang-Xiangyuanwei Port, which was put into use more than a month ago.
This
was when she was the director of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Development Bureau. Leading an important project. The fate is wonderful, and
Lin Tai's administrative experience is inseparable from Shenzhen.
Shenzhen and Hong Kong are separated by a river
"Cross the river" is the key word throughout this interview. Shenzhen and Hong Kong are separated by a river. This river is the Shenzhen River that flows between Shenzhen and Hong Kong. A winding Shenzhen River has witnessed the common growth of Hong Kong and Shenzhen.
Today, the northern bank of the Shenzhen River is the bustling skyline of Futian District, Luohu District, Shenzhen, and the southern bank is the lush suburban mountains of the northern New Territories of Hong Kong.
The "extraordinary
introduction" of the Shenzhen-Hong Kong development policy in the Lok Ma
Chau Loop, the planned upgrade and expansion of the Huanggang Port, the
one-hour life circle between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, and the accelerating
cooperation between the two places are also seen by the quietly flowing
Shenzhen River.
In the future, how to link the two cities of special significance in China more closely will not be possible without the word "crossing the river". In the interview, Lin Tai talked about the "crossing the river" of funds and the "crossing the river" of talents.
She emphasized that there are "a lot of opportunities" for cooperation between the two places in the fields of new economy, science and innovation, medical care, and education.
This obviously echoes the major
favorable policies released by the Party Central Committee and the State
Council at the key node of the "Forty Time" in Shenzhen Special
Economic Zone.
Shenzhen overtakes Hong Kong in economic indicators such as GDP
Regarding the topic "Shenzhen overtakes Hong Kong in economic indicators such as GDP", which is enthusiastically discussed in the public,
Tai Lin does not shy away from it. She said that she didn't mind people always saying that Shenzhen's GDP has surpassed that of Hong Kong because she has confidence in Hong Kong's competitiveness and also has expectations for healthy competition and in-depth cooperation between the two places.
“There are things that Hong Kong and other cities in the Mainland have not been able to do. Can they be combined with Shenzhen first?”
She believes
that the central government’s policy of giving the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone
a trial and breakthrough innovation will enable the cooperation between Hong
Kong and Shenzhen. In a brand new step.
One country, 2 systems
"One country, two systems" is also a high-frequency keyword in this interview. Mrs. Lin admitted that “it is really difficult to do things in Hong Kong.” Such difficulties stem from a series of livelihood issues left over from Hong Kong during the colonial period, and also from the great changes that have not been seen in a century and the international environment brought to Hong Kong. Direct impact.
How Hong Kong faces the challenge, how to
get out of the predicament, and how the cooperation between Shenzhen and Hong
Kong can be an "antidote", Lin Tai speaks freely.
Moving from the west to the east
She specifically mentioned that affected by the epidemic, the global economy is changing. The trend of "moving from the west to the east" is obvious, and China's economic growth has recovered rapidly.
In
this context, the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation Corridor is highly attractive
and has great opportunities. As long as the time is hurry, Hong Kong will
"not lose opportunities."
Carrie Lam
It is now autumn, and the challenge of the resurgence of the
new crown epidemic cannot be ignored. Facing the public concern about
"when will Shenzhen and Hong Kong resume customs clearance", and even
more the public concern, Mrs. Lin gave her thoughts and answers.
"The small river flows southward and flows to the Xiangjiang River to take a look." The Shenzhen River has witnessed the magnificent history of the two "special zones". It is foreseeable that the development destiny of Hong Kong will become more closely connected with Shenzhen, which is separated by a river. together.
Whether it is Shenzhen, a
special economic zone in 40, or Hong Kong, a special administrative region in
his early 20s, it is the time of youth to endeavor.
"Sing your enthusiasm, stretch out your hands, let me
embrace your dream, let me have your sincere face, let our smiles be full of
youthful pride, let us look forward to a better tomorrow."
The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative
Region Carrie Lam accepts an exclusive interview with Qin Yue, a reporter from
Shenzhen TV & Direct News in Hong Kong
Interview summary
On Hong Kong’s GDP being overtaken by Shenzhen: have
confidence in Hong Kong and look forward to a new level of cooperation between
Shenzhen and Hong Kong
I don't mind that people always say that Shenzhen's GDP has
climbed to the top of Hong Kong, because Shenzhen has a richer population and
land than us. However, in the future development, we also hope that the central
government will continue to give the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone some
first-plan, breakthrough, and innovative policies, so that the cooperation
between Hong Kong and Shenzhen can be carried out on a brand-new platform.
I have confidence in people and companies in Hong Kong. Their competitiveness is strong and their adaptability is not bad. It is just that the current development of Hong Kong is somewhat constrained.
As I said
earlier, land is a big constraint. On the other hand, of course, our political
environment is more complicated, far more complicated than Shenzhen. And we are
very affected by the outside environment.
Hong Kong's advantage is derived from "one country, two
systems", and the central government is unwavering in its policy of
"one country, two systems." Therefore, under "one country, two
systems", Hong Kong and Shenzhen should find opportunities that can enrich
the "one country, two systems" and make Shenzhen better develop. I
think these opportunities exist.
Talking about the Lok Ma Chau Loop: Shenzhen has given great support
It took a long time for the Lok Ma Chau Loop to find a plan to make good use of this piece of land, which is probably no more than one square kilometer, and it is not very large, one square kilometer.
Here I am also very grateful to the leaders of Shenzhen for their extraordinary thinking, which has made a breakthrough in the long-stayed and unresolved issue of Hong Kong and Shenzhen.
This leader is now the Governor of Guangdong Province, Mr. Ma Xingrui, when he was the Secretary of the Shenzhen Municipal Party Committee.
He agreed to hand over land and title to Hong Kong for development.
But everyone agrees that this project should benefit both places. So what is
being built is a Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park.
Talk about the post-epidemic global economy: China's economic
growth is good, Shenzhen-Hong Kong innovation cooperation is attractive
The global economy may be changing now, and many of them are moving from west to east, because everyone has seen that when everyone is affected by the epidemic, the only place that has such good economic growth is our country.
Hong Kong-Shenzhen innovation corridor is beneficial to both Hong Kong and Shenzhen
Therefore, when these scientific research institutions want to settle down in the Asian region, in fact, to do it in the Hong Kong-Shenzhen innovation corridor is beneficial to both Hong Kong and Shenzhen.
How can we strengthen the attractiveness of Hong Kong and Shenzhen in scientific research?
Time is of the essence.
Talking about the policy address and revitalizing Hong Kong's
economy: strengthening cooperation between Shenzhen and Hong Kong to create an
international science and technology center
After more than half a year of the epidemic, all walks of life have been hit hard. Hong Kong's economy is expected to shrink by 6% to 8% this year. Therefore, the first thing to restore is confidence in Hong Kong's economic prospects, that is, our economy can rebound.
To be honest, economic
recovery is inseparable from integration with the mainland. I am confident that
through our joint cooperation with Shenzhen, our goal in the next phase is to
become an international technology center.
Talking about youth work: Let our younger generation master "One Country, Two Systems"
In recent years, there has been a trend in Hong Kong that overemphasizes local culture, and some people exclude the mainland and people from the mainland, but I think these are a small number of people.
However, the behavior of these small groups of people is often expanded through social media or reports, which makes people in the mainland a little uncomfortable. That is why everyone is in the same country.
When they travel (Hong Kong), they will be
treated impolitely. I believe that slowly passing time can be reversed. Of
course, the main job is here in Hong Kong. We need to stabilize the situation,
and then through public education and school education, let our younger
generation master the "one country, two systems" and know more about
what is best for their own development.
The following is the full text of the interview
Qin Yue: Mrs. Lin, you joined the government in 1980, and it
has been 40 years now. On August 26, you attended the ceremony at the
Liantang-Xiangyuanwei Port. At that time, we were standing at the Hong Kong
Port for an interview. Did you take charge of this project as the Hong Kong
team leader when you were the Secretary for Development?
Carrie Lam: In the past ten years, I have cooperated very closely with Shenzhen. When I served as Director of the Special Administrative Region Development Bureau from 2007 to 2012, one of the most important tasks was the development of the Hong Kong-Shenzhen border area.
There are at least a
few big projects, one of course is a port. At that time, it was hoped to build
a new port connecting Shenzhen and eastern Hong Kong. At that time, the east
port had been built for a long time, and the service facilities were not very
good, so everyone wanted to build a new port, which is the current
Liantang-Xiangyuanwei port.
Another project is of course the Lok Ma Chau Loop that many people talk about now is such a historically valuable piece of land. After several years of discussions, at the end of 2016, it was decided to hand over to Hong Kong to build a Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park.
The third project is less talked about, that is, everyone will work together to manage the Shenzhen River. Because we are a city with two banks of one river, whether the Shenzhen River has pollution or drainage problems, it will affect the cities and citizens on both sides of the river.
Therefore, we have been doing the governance of the Shenzhen River since before the reunification. We did it in stages and stages. Up to now, we have basically completed the governance of the Shenzhen River.
These projects were all undertaken by the
Development Bureau at that time, so the cooperation between Shenzhen and I in
infrastructure construction was very close.
During my tenure as Chief Secretary for Administration, we had a high-level Shenzhen-Hong Kong cooperation meeting. I directly served as the chairman of the Hong Kong side in this high-level cooperation.
My
counterpart was the mayor of Shenzhen. , Business, and even culture, creative
industries, education, and medical care that I am particularly concerned about
are discussed in high-level meetings.
Of course, I am now the Chief Executive, especially in the Guangdong-Hong
Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. I believe Hong Kong-Shenzhen cooperation is even
more promising.
Qin Yue: Actually looking at both sides of the Shenzhen River, the high-rise buildings on the Shenzhen side, such as the Futian CBD, have developed very well, but the Hong Kong side of the Shenzhen River has always been relatively barren.
As the chief executive of the special zone, would you consider the future?
What is the development blueprint for the
northern part of the New Territories?
Carrie Lam: There are historical reasons for the current land use situation. In the past, Hong Kong mainly referred to Hong Kong Island, which started from the urban area.
The northern part of Hong Kong is a remote place, so these places have not been developed, and some facilities that are not very popular in the urban area are even placed in the northern district. Shenzhen was just the opposite.
When Shenzhen was reforming and opening up, it
was just as close to Hong Kong as it was. Therefore, its development started
from the north of Shenzhen River, so it has formed such a big gap now.
But I think that over time, there will be a change in this development. Because Hong Kong needs more land now, most of the development projects we are currently doing are in the North District of the New Territories. Whether it is Fanling, Sheung Shui, Kwu Tung, and Ta Kwu Ling, these are all in the North District of the New Territories.
Therefore, in the
future, we should gradually see that in the Hong Kong area south of the Shenzhen
River, more and more citizens will live here and there will be commercial
activities.
But there is a place that I think the Hong Kong and Shenzhen
governments should cherish and protect, that is wetlands. There is a protected
international-class wetland in Hong Kong, and there are mangrove forests in
Shenzhen. Therefore, I think the two governments should pay attention to
conservation during the period of simultaneous development.
Qin Yue: This year marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone. You mentioned earlier that there are different developments in Shenzhen-Hong Kong cooperation at different stages.
If you look at the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone from the perspective of Hong Kong, what do you think of the cooperation in different stages?
An
impressive event?
Carrie Lam: I think in the early days, the state established the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone because it saw that Shenzhen was close to Hong Kong. Hong Kong has developed well in the 1970s and 1980s, but the development of Hong Kong at that time was already facing the bottleneck of land and manpower.
Therefore, the basis of mutual benefit between Shenzhen and Hong Kong is very large. The early cooperation between Hong Kong and Shenzhen was mainly for Hong Kong businessmen to invest in Shenzhen, because Shenzhen had a large supply of land and manpower.
In the later stage, Shenzhen developed very well, with financial industry and advanced manufacturing industry. Today, Shenzhen has become a world-renowned science and innovation city. So I think that in the next stage, Hong Kong-Shenzhen cooperation should be towards the "new economy".
The direction of development includes the development
of innovative technology, creative culture, and design. Because Shenzhen is
also the "design capital", Hong Kong has also been vigorously
promoting the design industry in recent years by the SAR government.
Qin Yue: The country has issued a policy to strongly support
the development of Shenzhen, and Shenzhen’s GDP has surpassed that of Hong
Kong. Some people say whether Shenzhen will replace Hong Kong. What do you
think of these remarks?
Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor: Hong Kong's advantage stems from "one country, two systems", and the central government is unwavering in its policy of "one country, two systems". Therefore, under "One Country, Two Systems", Hong Kong and Shenzhen should find opportunities that can enrich the "One Country, Two Systems" and make Shenzhen better develop.
I think these opportunities exist. For example, because Hong Kong is under the protection of the Basic Law, we have the freedom of capital in and out, the freedom of currency exchange, the legal system in line with international standards, and a large number of professional service personnel.
These can be matched with Shenzhen's current technological innovation capabilities and advanced manufacturing.
So I feel that there may not be a direct competition between Hong Kong and Shenzhen. But sometimes when it comes to certain specific jobs, will there be some competition between companies?
Or will there be competition among professionals? I think these are
inevitable and even healthy. I also don’t expect all Hong Kong companies or
professionals to work in Shenzhen with special discounts, because everyone is
developing their own businesses in a fair competitive environment.
But I have confidence in people and companies in Hong Kong. They are very competitive and have good adaptability. It is just that the current development of Hong Kong is somewhat constrained.
As I said earlier, land is a big constraint. On the other hand, of course, our political environment is more complicated, far more complicated than Shenzhen. And we are very affected by the outside environment.
Therefore, in this respect, if there
is more and broader development space for some individuals, enterprises,
especially young people, if they are willing to go to a market with greater
potential for development, our SAR government must welcome this.
Qin Yue: Now Shenzhen also has a land bottleneck problem. Everyone also looks forward to what messages the leaders' important speeches will bring out after they arrive in Shenzhen.
In your opinion, what are the
state's support policies for Shenzhen that Hong Kong would like to see, which
can promote the development of Hong Kong and Shenzhen each other, and even the
development of the entire Greater Bay Area?
Carrie Lam: First of all, in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Hong Kong and Shenzhen are the two closest cities. On the one hand, we have been in good contact in history, and on the other hand, we have close humanities exchanges.
Many Hong Kong people now live in Shenzhen and work in Hong Kong. Thirdly, to date, Hong Kong is still the largest source of foreign investment in Shenzhen, with more than 80,000 Hong Kong companies developing in Shenzhen.
Therefore, in the Guangdong-Hong Kong Greater Bay Area, which has a population of 70 million and its economic growth is very vigorous, it should be the two cities that can play their respective potentials together to expand our economy.
So I don’t mind people always saying that Shenzhen’s GDP
has climbed to the top of Hong Kong, because after all, Shenzhen has a richer
population and land than us.
But for future development, we also hope that the central government will continue to give the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone some pilot, breakthrough, and innovative policies so that the cooperation between Hong Kong and Shenzhen can be carried out on a brand-new platform.
There are some things that Hong Kong and other provinces and cities in the Mainland have not been able to do. Can they be combined with Shenzhen first?
Then the scope is very
broad, including financial, business or legal services, and even some of our
professionals, hoping to exempt them from needing to be reassessed to provide
services (restrictions). I hope that these can be in Shenzhen, including
Qianhai, Because Qianhai is a modern service industry area, it can be done.
Qin Yue: If we talk about the integration of Shenzhen and
Hong Kong specifically, such as the "one-hour living circle" and
other livelihood services we talked about before, what other aspects can be
further deepened in the future based on the current situation?
Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor: Hong Kong and Shenzhen can already achieve the "one-hour living circle", and it is fast now, especially with the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong high-speed rail. Of course, due to the epidemic, this good high-speed rail has been suspended for a while.
But I
believe that such an important infrastructure can last forever. Now Hong Kong
is closer to Futian and Shenzhen North than Hong Kong Island to the New
Territories.
So in terms of infrastructure, the focus now is that we hope to optimize the ports. As I mentioned earlier, with the opening of the Liantang Xiangyuanwei Port, we are very willing to cooperate with Shenzhen’s east-in and east-out, west-in and west-out layout, so we will allocate some freight to the east and west ports so that the middle port can be used in the past few years can be improved and optimized. I know that Shenzhen is already actively promoting the reconstruction of Huanggang Port, and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government is also willing to participate.
With good infrastructure, can there be policies to make people flow more convenient?
Of
course, we will reconsider this, especially now that there are so many
technologies that can work together to make it easier for the people of the two
places to travel.
Just now you mentioned education. If you want to do a good job in innovation and technology, education is actually a very important support. In this respect, let me say that the advantage lies in Hong Kong.
We have very good universities, of which four or five are among the top 100 universities in the world, and several of them have strong scientific research capabilities, especially some basic research. But what is lacking is how to transform these basic research in laboratories and universities into commercial services and commercial products that are beneficial to people's livelihood and the economy. This requires a city like Shenzhen capable of advanced manufacturing.
So combining these two together, I think Hong Kong and Shenzhen to build an international-level innovation and technology center is really just around the corner. But of course there must be central policies.
For example,
we said that we really want to do biotechnology research and R&D, but the
two places have two different sets of registration policies and laws, so how
can we use an innovative method to allow everyone to do biotechnology and
medical care under their respective laws and policies? Innovative people can
work more closely together. This is something we need to explore further.
But in any case, at least in Shenzhen, or even other mainland cities in the Greater Bay Area, I encourage higher education institutions in Hong Kong to consider setting up campuses. This can give us more opportunities to take advantage of Hong Kong’s superior education, Research capabilities are developed in Shenzhen and the Greater Bay Area.
Now the Chinese University of Hong Kong has a branch in Shenzhen, and this campus was also started by Secretary Wang Yang and I. In just seven or eight years, as far as I know, it has become a mainland university that mainland college entrance examination students are eager to enter.
Therefore, it would be very helpful if more of
these Hong Kong universities can set up branch campuses in the Greater Bay
Area.
On the other hand, the University of Hong Kong has a hospital in Shenzhen. Whether this hospital in Shenzhen can further become a teaching hospital that supports the University of Hong Kong School of Medicine is something that everyone can discuss. I know that the University of Hong Kong is also studying related aspects.
Therefore, there are actually plenty of
opportunities for cooperation between Shenzhen and Hong Kong in terms of
education, scientific innovation, or the transformation of scientific research.
Qin Yue: The Lok Ma Chau Loop is expected to be completed in
six years. The Loop is also one of the projects when you were the director of
the Development Bureau. Do you think the development efficiency is okay? What
are the practical benefits for Hong Kong and Shenzhen?
Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor: This Lok Ma Chau Loop is a solution that everyone found after a long period of time. It can make good use of this piece of land, which is less than one square kilometer, and it is not very large, one square kilometer. Here I am very grateful to the leaders of Shenzhen for their extraordinary thinking, which has made a breakthrough in the Hong Kong-Shenzhen issue, which has been stagnated for a long time and has been negotiable.
This
leader is the current governor of Guangdong Province, Mr. Ma Xingrui. He was
the secretary of the Shenzhen Municipal Party Committee at the time. He agreed
to hand over the land and title to Hong Kong for development by Hong Kong, but
everyone agreed that this project should be affordable for both places. Well,
so what we are building is a Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park.
In fact, Hong Kong’s engineering efficiency is very high, but we have a lot of preliminary work, including a lot of planning work, and a lot of environmental protection assessment work, especially because this piece of land is the loop of the Shenzhen River, so the preliminary work was spent time.
Now we estimate that we hope to hand over the first batch of land to build buildings in two years, so we can move in in two years. Of course, I also hope that it can be faster, because there are many scientific research institutions or companies that are interested in the innovation and technology park in the Lok Ma Chau Loop, but it will take a few years before there is a place for them.
So if during this period, there is a park in Shenzhen where they can settle down first, it will be very advantageous, and we will not lose the opportunity, because now the global economy may be changing, and many are moving from the west to the east.
Everyone has seen that when the world is
affected by the epidemic, the only place with such good economic growth is our
country. So when these scientific research institutions want to come to Asia,
especially our country, if they choose to do it in the Hong Kong-Shenzhen
innovation corridor, it will be beneficial to both Hong Kong and Shenzhen.
So how can we enhance the attractiveness of Hong Kong and Shenzhen in scientific research?
Time is short. So I will also study this topic
together with Shenzhen.
On August 31, 2017, Carrie Lam led a team to inspect Qianhai
and planted a red-flowered bauhinia tree with Wang Weizhong, secretary of the
Shenzhen Municipal Party Committee, as a symbol of cooperation between Shenzhen
and Hong Kong to create prosperity.
Qin Yue: If you want to attract more world companies or young potential companies to move into this park, are there any further preferential policies here in Hong Kong? Can you disclose it first?
Carrie Lam: In recent years, we have actually introduced a lot of policies and invested a lot of resources in innovation and technology. In terms of policy, we have an entry policy specifically for the introduction of talents in science and technology. It is a bit more relaxed than other foreigners entering Hong Kong to work, and the procedures are also very streamlined. It encourages companies that want to introduce talents from home and abroad.
We apply for a quota, and then these companies can find people
according to the conditions, and then if they invite people to Hong Kong, we
will issue them work visas. This is a policy.
On the other hand, there are many policies in our science park to assist in the incubation of start-ups. There are many scientific research projects in universities, some outstanding scholarship projects, and we are also funding some science and technology enterprises, which can hire postdoctoral students to participate in the work.
However, I hope that I can
"cross the river" in the future for this huge burden. In other words,
Hong Kong should not only have these preferential policies. These preferential
policies can also be effective in the Guangshen Innovation Corridor.
Not to mention the resources. Since I took office three years ago, I have pledged to invest up to 100 billion Hong Kong dollars in science and technology resources.
Therefore, given the money and policies, the most lacking now is talents. In Hong Kong, there is still some lack of land. Well, Hong Kong and Shenzhen will join hands to combine everyone’s policies to jointly promote and jointly attract talents from overseas or other provinces and cities in the Mainland.
I think it is very attractive to gather in this area. I
am also in Shenzhen now. City explored.
Qin Yue: Hong Kong’s talents are highly competitive, but Mrs.
Lin has just mentioned that Hong Kong’s society has been relatively turbulent
in recent years, and its politics is far more complicated than Shenzhen. Will
political and economic factors affect Hong Kong and other cities in the Greater
Bay Area? Fusion creates some resistance?
Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor: There has been a trend in Hong Kong in recent years that emphasizes local culture too much, and some people reject the mainland and people from the mainland, but I think these are a small number of people. However, the behavior of these small groups of people is often expanded through social media or reports, which makes people in the mainland a little uncomfortable. That is why everyone is in the same country.
When they travel (Hong Kong), they will be treated impolitely. I believe that slowly passing time can be reversed. Of course, the main job is here in Hong Kong. We need to stabilize the situation, and then through public education and school education, let our younger generation master the "one country, two systems" and know more about what is best for their own development.
We also need to do more publicity and promotion to citizens in the Mainland. In fact, Hong Kong is still a hospitable capital and still welcomes friends from the Mainland. So I also asked us to have five offices in the Mainland. Shenzhen is not an office, but a contact point, but we have a large office in Guangzhou.
We have offices in Shanghai, Chengdu, Wuhan, and Beijing. In the days to come,
more promotion work will be done so that the people in the Mainland can
understand the situation in Hong Kong.
But the most effective way to get these young people who are still unwilling to enter the mainland is to let them try. Therefore, we have never given up, and we have never reduced our opportunities for young people to go to the mainland for internships, exchanges, work and even entrepreneurship just because a small group of people have a mentality to exclude the mainland.
Through our youth development fund in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay
Area, we will fund the establishment of a number of entrepreneurial bases.
Cities all over the Greater Bay Area are very supportive. They have provided
some office buildings and some venues, and also gave Hong Kong young people
some preferential policies that local young people can enjoy; sometimes it will
be even better, such as talent apartments.
So over time, when these young people see opportunities for their own career development, they can reduce their sense of resistance. After the opening of the Liantang Port, I also went to Futian to visit an entrepreneurial area.
There were also many Hong Kong teams, all of whom were very young graduates from various universities in Hong Kong, together with their professors. From these young people, you can't see the phenomenon you just mentioned or the phenomenon I just mentioned.
They really see that there
are many opportunities for development here, and the living environment is not
bad at all. Some even married and had children locally and lived in Shenzhen.
Therefore, the integration of the two places is the general trend. As the SAR
government, of course we have to make some co-ordination with policies, and we
must also put more effort in publicity and education.
Qin Yue: Mr. Lin, you just shared your visit to the
entrepreneurial zone. At that time, you had contact with the young people and
professors in Hong Kong. Are they satisfied with the entrepreneurial
environment in Shenzhen?
Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor: I visited that day and at least chatted with five or six teams. They are very positive and positive, and feel that working there and looking for opportunities are quite satisfactory to them. Of course, they will also ask if there is any policy in Hong Kong to help them who develop in Shenzhen.
As I said earlier, our next step is to make the cooperation between Hong Kong and Shenzhen more seamless. There is still a sense of distance. You are in Hong Kong and Shenzhen is over there; Hong Kong funds are used in Hong Kong, and Shenzhen funds cannot "cross the river".
How
can the flow of people, logistics, capital, and information be more unimpeded
and able to walk around the two places? I think this is the direction of our
future work.
Qin Yue: You just said that you hope the two cities will
cooperate seamlessly in the future, but in fact, for example, we talked about
voting in the Greater Bay Area a few days ago, and some people immediately
bounced back.
Carrie Lam: (laughs) It is really difficult to do things in Hong Kong, right? Every time I go to Shenzhen, the leaders of Shenzhen care about me and even sympathize with me.
This is because if you do things inside, you can do it. In Hong Kong, you really need to face difficulties and overcome all difficulties to do one thing. But as long as it is good for Hong Kong and the people of Hong Kong, especially for the next generation of Hong Kong, these tasks are worth doing, and we will continue to listen to the voice of society.
For example, you just mentioned that Hong Kong registered voters in the Mainland can vote. This is the demand of the society, and this is the voice heard from the society. In addition to the development of Hong Kong’s integration into the Mainland, many policies also encourage Hong Kong people to live in the Mainland for a period of time or to study.
How can these Hong Kong people who
cannot vote in some elections vote? This is a very real problem that needs to
be explored. Especially after this epidemic, no one can think of it. It's close
at hand, but it really can't come back. So this is a question that should be
actually explored.
Qin Yue: Speaking of the epidemic, Hong Kong's health code is ready. We say that many Hong Kong people live in Shenzhen and commute to work.
Is there a specific date for customs clearance or a list of exemptions for
customs clearance personnel? Do you have any relevant details to disclose?
Carrie Lam: I now hope that more people from the two places can go back and forth. At present, it is mainly subject to the 14-day compulsory quarantine requirement. You can imagine that someone can come now, but he will have to be quarantined in Hong Kong for 14 days when he comes, and he will have to be quarantined for 14 days when he returns.
These 28 days have
become the difficulty of being unable to return and travel normally.
There are some prerequisites to ensure that both sides are under the prerequisite of epidemic prevention and anti-epidemic, and they can safely exempt the 14 days. First, the epidemic situation in the two places must be stable. Shenzhen is very stable. There have been no local cases in the Mainland for more than ten days.
Unfortunately, Hong Kong has experienced the third wave
of the epidemic for nearly two months, and there have been signs of a rebound
in the last two or three days. This is because we need to better control the
epidemic.
In addition, in terms of testing, even if there is no quarantine, there must be nucleic acid testing for insurance. In this regard, we have greatly improved our testing capabilities in the past few months, but the problem is that the price is not popular enough, and everyone thinks it is still very expensive, so we still have to do this work.
On the contrary, the technical development of the (health code) has already been completed, so for Hong Kong, as long as someone applies for this process, there is a quota that can enter the mainland. With the quota, he went to find a laboratory and performed a nucleic acid test.
The negative result of the nucleic acid test
must be put on his mobile phone by our health authorities, then he can show it
out as a certificate when he passes the customs. We have already done this,
but we have to wait until the conditions mentioned just now are ripe before we
can launch it.
Qin Yue: This year's policy address will be announced soon.
How can we help Hong Kong society to increase confidence in the future? What
are your own future work goals?
Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor: After more than half a year of the epidemic, all walks of life have been hit hard. Hong Kong's economy is expected to shrink by 6% to 8% this year. Therefore, the first thing to restore is confidence in Hong Kong's economic prospects, in other words ours.
The economy can rebound. To be honest, Hong Kong’s economic recovery is inseparable from integration with the Mainland. With the support of the central government's policy, we must return to what we just said that personnel exchanges and commercial activities between the two places can be resumed, and the possibility of our economic recovery is high. So in this regard, I am also striving for the policies of the central government.
I also hope that the Hong
Kong society will take advantage of this time to enhance some of its abilities,
especially its ability to adapt after the epidemic. Because after the outbreak,
there have been some changes to some of the service models that we are used to.
Now we rarely meet face-to-face, all of which are video meetings. Even in
teaching, there is a lot of e-learning. Therefore, to adapt to this new normal,
both companies and individuals need to make some adjustments. The SAR
government will cooperate with these related tasks in terms of resources.
Looking back at history, Hong Kong has experienced many
economic crises, and each time it has been able to turn danger into a breeze,
and will do better in the future, thus becoming the world's international financial
center and commercial center. I am confident that through our joint cooperation
with Shenzhen, Hong Kong's goal in the next phase is to become an international
technological innovation center.
Carrie Lam Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region: The Shenzhen Special Administrative Region is a pilot zone for the country's reform, opening up, and modernization. In the past 40 years, through the support of the central government and the bold innovation and dare to experiment by Shenzhen leaders, a world-class economic miracle has been created.
This year is the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone. I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to all my colleagues in Shenzhen. It can be said that Hong Kong is an active participant in the development of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone.
Of
course, we are also contributors and beneficiaries. I hope that in the future
development of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, Hong Kong and Shenzhen can
continue to work together to reach a new level.
