Everything is on the move. President Xi Jinping concluded a round of skillful diplomacy at the G20 and APEC meetings earlier, and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu flew to Thailand to tell Asian leaders that Hong Kong is back to business as usual, and to seek their support for the city’s earliest accession to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
A magnificent national strategic blueprint has been unfolded for the Chinese people — strengthening connectivity with Asian countries and emerging economies in the wake of the post-pandemic era, especially with RCEP members.
The Russian-Ukrainian conflict has dragged the West into further economic recession. Asia-Pacific is widely regarded as the region able to achieve a moderate growth amid an uncertain global environment. There is no reason for Hong Kong, an important window and bridge connecting the Chinese mainland with the rest of the world, not to leverage its unique edge to develop the Asian markets for its own and the whole country’s good.
In fact, besides joining RCEP, Hong Kong’s excellent geographical location, international financial center status, good governance and rule of law as well as its unique advantage of “one country, two systems” have also given the city convenient access to other development platforms — the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and Belt and Road Initiative. These three platforms offer vast opportunities that will open a new horizon of development to Hong Kong for many years to come.
The significance of RCEP, GBA and BRI to Hong Kong’s future development is irrefutable. However, the COVID-19 pandemic put an end to normal cross-border travel between the mainland and Hong Kong; and to Hong Kong residents, most of the countries along the BRI routes are foreign, remote or a little mysterious, so they — especially the younger generation — have so far had a lukewarm response to both GBA and BRI projects.
Under such circumstances, RCEP may serve as a convenient entry for Hong Kong to break new ground as residents are more familiar with their Asian neighbors. Japan, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand have long been popular tourist destinations for many residents.
This is also the rationale behind John Lee’s effort to beef up Hong Kong’s connectivity with our ASEAN neighbors by leading a delegation of some 20 local business leaders to the 29th APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Bangkok late last month, telling the Asian business veterans that Hong Kong is back in business and ready for an early accession to RCEP.
In fact, with support from the central government, Hong Kong submitted its application for joining RCEP almost immediately after the trade pact formally came into effect in January. Since the city has already established individual free trade agreements with most of RCEP’s ASEAN signatories, its accession to the trade bloc should not be a problem. Hong Kong’s membership is expected to be confirmed around July next year.
In 2021, ASEAN was the second-largest market for Hong Kong’s goods, after the mainland. The city’s domestic exports to ASEAN amounted to HK$9.5 billion ($1.22 billion), accounting for 12.7 percent of the HKSAR’s total domestic exports in 2021. Moreover, Hong Kong is an important entrepot for merchandise trade between ASEAN and the mainland. Re-export trade between the two economies through Hong Kong amounted to HK$624.1 billion in 2021.
A number of advantages will flow to Hong Kong after it joins RCEP. The immediate benefit will be the expansion of trade with Japan and South Korea, both are RCEP members having no bilateral trade agreements with Hong Kong. After joining the RCEP, Hong Kong can take advantage of significant new trade and investment opportunities with the two countries.
Hong Kong has a good reputation in supply chain management, and accession to RCEP can help it enhance its supply chain system, consolidating its status as a global purchase and supply chain management center.
In fact, companies in the GBA always look for opportunities to develop business with Asian economies. Given Hong Kong’s strengths in finance, legal, accounting and other professional services, and its status as the most internationalized city in China, it is strongly positioned as a “superconnector and facilitator”, enabling GBA companies to further integrate into RCEP.
The central government has high hopes for Hong Kong, expecting the HKSAR to accomplish the national mission of integrating well with Macao and the other nine GBA cities, so that their composite advantages can help the city cluster develop into an international first-class bay area ideal for living, working and traveling.
The successful transformation of the GBA into an advanced economy will also serve as a springboard for Hong Kong to tap into the huge market of the BRI. Local legal professionals can play a proactive role in this particular aspect. Under “one country, two systems”, Hong Kong’s legal system is based on the common law supplemented by statute law, making it one of the most trusted legal systems in the world. As businesses expand among RCEP members and the GBA cities and BRI countries, there will certainly be a surge in legal services available for partnerships, intellectual property rights protection and other related dispute resolution services including arbitration, mediation and consultations. That will provide tremendous career opportunities for local lawyers and other professionals. In fact, the HKSAR government has been working hard over the years to enhance Hong Kong’s status as a leading center for international legal and dispute resolution services in the Asia-Pacific region.
All in all, local enterprises, entrepreneurs, professionals and university students should not miss out on the vast development opportunities presented by RCEP, GBA and BRI. While we may be moving faster for the ASEAN markets, we should also prepare for the further opening up of the GBA once the pandemic subsides. The BRI projects are also flourishing thanks to the country’s significant diplomatic achievements in recent years.
The authorities have invested heavily in transportation and infrastructure in the GBA, creating a one-hour living circle to facilitate the mobility of talent in the region. Some municipalities in the region, such as the Qianhai economic zone in Shenzhen and the Nansha district in Guangzhou, have also formulated housing and job-related incentives to attract investment and talent.
To encourage professionals in Hong Kong to bring their families to settle in the GBA, Leung Chun-ying, former chief executive of the HKSAR, has also founded a nonprofit school in Nansha, offering various curricula that fit the educational needs of Hong Kong families.
Meanwhile, the HKSAR government has also taken a more proactive approach to promote the GBA and the BRI. The chief executive’s 2022 Policy Address committed to establishing a Steering Group on Integration into National Development to help Hong Kong dovetail with national strategies, including active participation in GBA and BRI projects.
As President Xi said in July in a speech, the next five years will be crucial for Hong Kong to break new ground and launch a new takeoff; so all sectors in the community need to move faster and work together to prepare for the enormous development opportunities offered by RCEP, the GBA and the BRI. Hong Kong cannot afford to stand still while the rest of the world is scrambling for the huge Asian markets.
The author is a member of the Hong Kong Association of Media Veterans and a freelance writer.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.