Chan Maobo: Hong Kong plays two major roles—industry collaboration and rule alignment

Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po wrote in his blog that, looking around the major bay area cities worldwide, only the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area possesses all three capabilities: cutting-edge artificial intelligence research and development, a complete high-end manufacturing chain, and an international financial hub. This triple advantage of “AI + manufacturing + finance” positions Hong Kong perfectly during the 14th Five-Year Plan period to focus on a strategic positioning and leverage two major functions: industrial collaboration and rule alignment, including serving as the “international interface” for emerging industries landing in the bay area, and as a “platform for exchange and conversion” where national standards and international standards reference each other.

He stated that cultivating innovative achievements to enable continuous growth requires ample space carriers. The authorities are actively promoting the construction of the Northern Metropolis, especially the Hong Kong Park in the Hetao Cooperation Zone and the New Tian Technology City, to accommodate more scientific research results conversion and industrial development. Industrial innovation cannot be separated from financial support. This year’s “Financial Budget” proposed the “Finance+” strategy, aimed at promoting better financial services for the real economy and the modernization of industrial systems, providing full-chain financing support for technology enterprises from startups, growth, listing, and subsequent stages, and better leveraging this force to accelerate comprehensive development in the Greater Bay Area.

He said that the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Financial Cooperation Committee, jointly established by Hong Kong and Shenzhen, will hold a meeting at the end of this month, focusing on issues such as interconnection of financial markets in the Greater Bay Area during the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, deepening cooperation in fintech and green finance, further enhancing the scale and overall competitiveness of the bay area’s financial markets.

Paul Chan Mo-po pointed out that Hong Kong, under the “One Country, Two Systems” framework, implements the common law system, a regulatory framework aligned with international standards, and a mature professional service system, making it an irreplaceable key player in the process of “rule alignment and mechanism docking” within the Greater Bay Area. This not only facilitates more convenient cross-border flow of innovation elements and improves resource allocation efficiency but also provides important support for the country’s advanced standards to go global.

He stated that the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao three places are promoting the formulation of “Bay Area Standards” for voluntary adoption by the industry to improve product and service quality, promote regional integration, and create favorable conditions for mainland products and services to connect with broader international markets. As of March this year, 270 standards have been announced, covering multiple fields such as electromechanical, transportation, medical care, and education.