Starry Lee Wai-king, Hong Kong’s deputy to the National People’s Congress Standing Committee on Thursday announced her plans to propose during the upcoming two sessions measures facilitating biomedical products and capital flows between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland.
Lee will join 35 Hong Kong NPC deputies at their annual gathering in Beijing starting Wednesday, following the opening of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference National Committee, the top political advisory body, on Tuesday.
Lee’s motions focus on enhancing cross-boundary movement of people, cargo and money, especially within the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone located at the border area.
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The zone, spanning 3.02 square kilometers in Shenzhen and 0.87 sq km in Hong Kong, is designed to become a world-class scientific research hub for advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence, and biomedicine — areas defined as a driver for new quality productive forces under national blueprints.
Lee said she hopes the central authorities will help leverage the zone’s unique position under the “one country, two systems” principle.
A key proposal involves allowing human-blood products, such as plasma, to be transported to the Hong Kong park in the Hetao zone. Currently, such products face strict export restrictions from mainland drug authorities, while Hong Kong’s advanced life science research depends heavily on expensive international imports for such material.
Lee said she believes access to mainland medicinal products will not only boost research but also attract more international pharmaceutical companies to the zone.
With a reliable mainland supply, Hong Kong and mainland companies could jointly develop plasma-based products in the zone, and develop the innovative cluster into a high-end medical material supply base serving global markets, Lee added.
She also urged the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government to embrace innovative thinking to accelerate the zone’s growth, as the area is well positioned to drive both the city’s innovation and national productivity growth.
Lee cited a speech made by Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, during his inspection tour to the Hetao zone this month, in which he called on Hong Kong to “break through, reform, and resolve bottlenecks”.
“The central government hopes that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government will speed up efforts in this regard, especially in terms of transportation support and infrastructure,” she said.
The national legislator also advocates facilitating capital flows between the mainland and Hong Kong, specifically enabling mainland residents to purchase property in Hong Kong.
Recent talent immigration policies in Hong Kong have attracted hundreds of thousands of professionals to the city. However, some newcomers from the mainland face challenges buying homes because of the mainland’s limit on outward money transfers, potentially affecting long-term plans to stay in the city.
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Current policies limit mainland residents’ annual outward transfers to $50,000 for ordinary purposes, such as travel and education expenses. Transactions that exceed this limit require approval from the authorities.
Lee suggested creating a mechanism similar to the Stock Connect and Bond Connect financial connectivity programs, to facilitate the cross-border flow of funds for property investments while maintaining national financial security.
Lee, an accountant, was elected to the 175-member NPC Standing Committee, the permanent body of the NPC, in March 2023. She is also a member of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council and a district councilor.
