More than a decade ago, Hong Kong began to attach importance to strengthening economic ties with the Chinese mainland and offered to join the national five-year plans. The central government initially had some doubts about this. On the one hand, it was concerned about some people in Hong Kong and overseas taking Hong Kong to task for its administration to be “planned by the central government”. The central government also had qualms about the ability of Hong Kong, being a freewheeling capitalist society and unfamiliar with, even averse to, economic and social planning, to participate effectively in the national five-year plans.
Nevertheless, given the sluggish economic growth of Hong Kong, the difficulty in transforming its industrial structure in the high-technology and high-value-added direction, and the increasingly grave and overlapping deep-seated political, social and livelihood issues, the central government has finally and somewhat “reluctantly” decided that it is necessary to facilitate Hong Kong’s integration into the overall development of the country so that it can obtain a steady stream of development momentum from the mainland, and hence solve its difficult problems through development. At the same time, the central government also expects Hong Kong to give full play to its unique advantages under “one country, two systems” (OCTS) to contribute to the modernization of the country. For these reasons, we are witnessing that in the new era of development and under the new situation, the central government has been playing an increasingly active and leading role in guiding Hong Kong’s integration into the overall national development.
In both the 12th and the 13th national five-year plans (2011-15 and 2016-20 respectively), the separate section on Hong Kong occupies a prominent place. However, its content mainly reflected the requirements and suggestions put forward by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government but did not constitute an integral part of the overall development of the country. There was thus no clear organic and systemic linkage with the needs of national development. Moreover, there was no clear implementation timetable, and no serious accountability mechanism was established. What was even more regrettable was that the HKSAR government generally did not have strong intentions and the required ability to implement the Hong Kong part of these two five-year plans fully and seriously. It was therefore no surprise that the results of the implementation were not satisfactory.
Since 2012, hostile forces at home and abroad have been instigating turmoil in Hong Kong endlessly. In 2019-20, they used the uproar ignited by the amendment to the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance by the HKSAR government to detonate large-scale and prolonged riots in Hong Kong, causing mammoth damage to Hong Kong’s prosperity, stability and development and undermining national security. To restore stability and order in Hong Kong, safeguard national security, and ensure the successful practice of OCTS, the central government had no alternative but to intervene powerfully. By taking measures to eradicate both the symptoms and the root causes of the turmoil in Hong Kong, the central government has succeeded not only in quelling the riots but also bringing OCTS back on the right track. Consequently, a solid foundation has been laid for the long-term stability and development of the city.
For the sake of the long-term development of Hong Kong, the central government is determined for the first time to take the initiative in leading and guiding the development of the city. The central government not only takes steps to speed up the integration of Hong Kong into the overall development of the country but also ensures that the development of Hong Kong will closely fit into the overall development of the country. The close coordination and synchronization of the developments in Hong Kong and on the mainland are expected to achieve the goal of mutual advancement. To this end, the central government has openly put forward its concrete views and suggestions for the future development of Hong Kong. Not surprisingly, the advice of the central government has been warmly received by various sectors of Hong Kong and has been deliberately and studiously incorporated into the policy blueprint of the HKSAR government.
In the decision of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) adopted on Oct 31, 2019, the CPC clearly stated that it would strengthen the mechanisms and processes for Hong Kong to integrate Hong Kong into the overall development of the country, complementing its advantages with those of the mainland, and enabling Hong Kong to develop with the mainland in a coordinated manner. It would promote Hong Kong’s participation in the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, bolster its economic development, improve people’s livelihood there, and focus on resolving its deep-seated contradictions and problems that have for a long time adversely impacted its social stability and economic growth. The central government’s leading and guidance role in Hong Kong’s long-term development is even more visible in the 14th national Five-Year Plan (2021-25). In this blueprint, the central government vows to assist Hong Kong to consolidate and enhance its competitive advantages in many fields, fortify the city’s status as an international financial, shipping and trade center and an international aviation hub, and strengthen the city’s status as the primary offshore renminbi business hub, as well as an international center for asset and risk management. The central government pledges to support Hong Kong in building an international innovation and technology center, an international legal and dispute resolution services center in the Asia-Pacific region, and a regional intellectual property trading center. It also promises to support the development of Hong Kong’s service industry in the direction of high-end and high value-added, and help Hong Kong to develop into a cultural and artistic exchange center between China and foreign countries.
The central government also decided to improve the capacity of Hong Kong to contribute to the country’s efforts to further open up and build a modern economic system. It would work jointly with Hong Kong to set up a functional platform for the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative, deepen the cooperation between the mainland and Hong Kong in economics and trade, science and technology, strengthen and expand the interconnection between the financial markets of the mainland and Hong Kong, build the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area with high-quality development, intensify the cooperation between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao and the Pan-Pearl River Delta region, and promote the construction of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao cooperation platforms such as Shenzhen Qianhai, Zhuhai Hengqin, Guangzhou Nansha, and the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Loop.
The leading and guiding role of the central government is even more prominent in President Xi Jinping’s speech in Hong Kong on July 1, 2022. As pointed out by President Xi, “The central government has always handled Hong Kong affairs from a strategic and overall perspective, taking into consideration the fundamental and long-term interests of Hong Kong and the country as a whole. … Hong Kong’s close connection with the world market and strong support from the motherland is its distinctive advantages. … On the country’s journey toward building a modern socialist country in all respects and realizing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, the central government believes that Hong Kong will make great contributions.”
In his work report to the 20th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping stresses that the successful practice of OCTS in Hong Kong is closely related to the cause of the CPC’s Chinese-style modernization to comprehensively realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. In Xi’s words, “With this, our compatriots in Hong Kong and Macao will share both the historic responsibility of national rejuvenation and the pride of a strong and prosperous China.”
Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, makes it very clear when explaining the part about Hong Kong and Macao in General Secretary Xi’s work report to the 20th Party Congress: “The CPC will look at the drastic changes in the world, bear in mind the overall requirements of the country’s modernization drive, leverage the advantages of Hong Kong and Macao to meet the needs of the country, strengthen strategic planning and top-level design for the economic and social development of Hong Kong and Macao, and promote Hong Kong and Macao to better serve the overall development of the national cause. We must guide the governments of the special administrative regions to accurately recognize changes, respond scientifically, actively seek changes, and identify the direction and focuses of the development of Hong Kong and Macao. … (The CPC) will support the governments of the special administrative regions to continuously optimize the business environment, actively introduce innovative elements such as high-end talents and advanced technology, continuously enhance the status of Hong Kong and Macao as international metropolises, and unremittingly increase their attractiveness and radiating power. It is necessary to endlessly innovate the institutions and mechanisms of Hong Kong and Macao, support the special administrative regions to connect with the 14th national Five-Year Plan more deeply, construct the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative, etc. It’s especially important for Hong Kong and Macao to actively develop the Greater Bay Area, make good use of the Greater Bay Area, and achieve better and greater development in the process of integrating into the overall national development.”
A closer look at some of the main development strategies for Chinese-style modernization in General Secretary Xi Jinping’s report to the 20th Party Congress clearly shows that they are highly consistent with the central government’s initiatives to lead, guide and support Hong Kong’s future development through the 14th national Five-Year Plan. They will allow Hong Kong to maximally use its advantages to serve the needs of the country. The development strategies in the report especially relevant to Hong Kong include the internationalization of the renminbi and the related reform and opening-up of the financial system, promoting coordinated regional development, talent training, promoting domestic and international scientific and technological exchanges, accelerating the implementation of innovation-driven development strategies, continuously enhancing national cultural soft power and Chinese cultural influence, as well as strengthening China’s influence on international communications. In all these areas, Hong Kong enjoys advantages under OCTS, particularly its multiple statuses as an international financial center, an international service center capable of providing various kinds of high-end professional and legal services, a place where encounters between Chinese and Western cultures constantly occur, the cultural hub of overseas Chinese, a city with fine universities and training institutions, and an international communication and transportation hub.
In short, if Hong Kong can successfully implement the tasks entrusted to it by the central government via the 14th national Five-Year Plan, the city can not only make unique contributions to the modernization of the country but also inject a strong development impetus into itself.
The author is a professor emeritus of sociology, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and vice-president of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.