Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu plans to hold more than 30 consultation sessions to canvass opinion from all walks of life for his upcoming Policy Address. These consultation sessions should focus on how to resolve the city’s deep-seated issues.

Public housing supply should be a top priority. Since taking office, the new-term Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government has ramped up efforts to boost public housing supply. But the initiatives adopted so far have faced obstacles because of a conflict of interest. This suggests extensive public consultation should be conducted during the Policy Address consultation period in the hope that feasible solutions are formulated and included in the new policy blueprint. To that end, it is advisable that the government brings together different interest groups or stakeholders for brainstorming, besides consulting them individually.

Elderly care is another urgent issue that needs to be tackled. More and more Hong Kong residents are choosing to retire to Guangdong province, giving rise to questions such as whether cross-boundary healthcare is convenient for the elderly. The consultation sessions could be helpful in finding answers.

Hong Kong’s low birthrate is another problem. For many young people, their reluctance to have a child is not only a matter of values but also one of affordability in terms of housing, education, and medical care. It is, therefore, crucial to solicit young people’s views for producing workable solutions.

Among other pain points that Hong Kong has faced over the years, there are at least two that cannot be overlooked any longer.

The first one is the lack of national education. Since its reunification with the motherland, Hong Kong has not undergone a serious decolonization process. The lack of national education at schools has contributed to a weak sense of national identity among the post-reunification generation, which was glaringly apparent during the black-clad riots in 2019.

The ongoing public consultation on national education has gathered sensible suggestions including setting up an Anti-Japanese Memorial Hall, a museum on the history of the Communist Party of China, and national archives, as well as mandatory calligraphy classes for primary and secondary students. The government is advised to proactively engage with patriotic groups for suggestions on enhancing national education.

Both the central government and Hong Kong society expect the SAR government to identify the crux of the social problems as well as the targeted solutions through extensive public consultation. This will help the authorities achieve the desired results

The other major pain point is Hong Kong’s development lag in innovation and technology (I&T). As a modern metropolis that attracts global talent and an international financial center that could efficiently raise funds for all kinds of I&T projects, Hong Kong has all the conditions for developing a full-fledged I&T industry. Nonetheless, the development of Cyberport, which was initially proposed by the first SAR administration, has been derailed for various reasons, resulting in the loss of opportunities and first-mover advantage. Had everything gone as smoothly as planned, Hong Kong would have reaped the benefits of being a “free port + cyberport”, with its economic development advancing to a higher level.

The US’ recent move to restrict technology investments in China has made Hong Kong’s I&T development even more difficult. The SAR government should gather inputs from experts in various fields for its policies on promoting I&T development.

A slowdown in economic growth — from 2.7 percent in the first quarter to 1.5 percent in the second — has prompted the SAR government to revise its real GDP growth forecast for the whole year to 4 to 5 percent from 3.5 to 5.5 percent. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said recently that Hong Kong will rely on inbound tourism and consumption to boost economic growth in the second half of the year.

But the number of mainland visitors in the first half of the year has not returned to pre-pandemic levels, indicating a declining interest in visiting Hong Kong. Meanwhile, mainland visitors accounted for about 80 percent of all the inbound tourists, suggesting that Hong Kong has failed to attract tourists from other parts of the world since all COVID-19 travel restrictions were lifted.

Consumption is also not looking good. As the pandemic tapered off, the SAR government introduced various initiatives to boost local consumption, including consumption vouchers and the Happy Hong Kong campaign. However, many Hong Kong residents have opted to shop on the mainland because of a weakening yuan and higher cost performance on the other side of the boundary.

Devising more campaigns to attract mainland tourists, telling the “Hong Kong story” well to foreign visitors, and persuading local residents to spend here to boost domestic consumption are the growth areas the SAR government should try to boost by taking into consideration public views. 

In the second quarter, a decline in exports, caused by fluctuations in international markets, and a slowdown in investments, triggered by factors such as US interest rate hikes, have curbed Hong Kong’s economic growth. The public consultation sessions should explore areas of potential growth and breakthrough points in a quest to expand the city’s development space.

While Hong Kong’s economic growth slowed in the second quarter, the mainland economy grew by 6.3 percent in the same period and 4.5 percent in the first half of the year, making it the winner among the world’s major economies. Hong Kong, therefore, should look to the Chinese mainland for growth potential. Through extensive consultations with enterprise operators and experts, the SAR government will hopefully come up with good strategies to tap new markets.

As the Sino-US rivalry intensifies, the resulting trade war and technology embargo will inevitably affect Hong Kong. To cope with the shockwaves, the city will need to diversify its economic and trade ties to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Middle East. While Hong Kong is well-placed to do so, the question is: How can it turn those ideas into real solutions?

During his inspection tour of Hong Kong in April, Xia Baolong, who leads the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office under the Communist Party of China Central Committee, had interactive exchanges with representatives from the business, education, science and technology sectors as well as ordinary residents and students. Hong Kong’s pain points, and areas of growth potential were among the topics discussed, and Xia said he had high hopes for the SAR government.

Both the central government and Hong Kong society expect the SAR government to identify the crux of the social problems as well as the targeted solutions through extensive public consultation. This will help the authorities achieve the desired results.

The author is vice-chairman of the Committee on Liaison with Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Overseas Chinese of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and chairman of the Hong Kong New Era Development Thinktank.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.