Since the sixth-term government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region took office, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu and his governing team have taken the lead in advancing the development of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). The HKSAR government announced the Northern Metropolis Action Agenda 2023 in October, in which an “industry-driven and infrastructure-led approach” was proposed as the strategic plan for Hong Kong to commit itself to promoting the development of the GBA.

Meanwhile, the central government is doing its part to step up Hong Kong’s involvement in the GBA development from the national development perspective. In December, the National Development and Reform Commission unveiled the “Overall Development Plan for the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone”, outlining a visionary road map for Qianhai, followed by a three-year action plan to foster a world-leading business environment in the GBA.

The Guangdong provincial authorities and the Shenzhen municipal government have also pitched in with campaigns to facilitate the strategic deployment of the central government. On Nov 21, the Guangdong government issued a three-year plan to digitalize the development of the GBA. Two days later, the Luohu district government announced it would release a three-year action plan for integrated development of Shenzhen and Hong Kong at its Investment Promotion Conference, proposing five major plans that include a “Bauhinia Island” that link up industries, a Luohu bridge to boost factor mobility, youth development campaigns, public services and regional integration, along with over 20 signature projects. The core business area of Hong Kong and Shenzhen will play a major role in enhancing the connectivity between Luohu and the Northern Metropolis.

Speaking at the 10th anniversary of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, urged the Hong Kong community to unite under a shared spirit of patriotism and a deep affection for Hong Kong as the city begins a new chapter of effective governance and greater prosperity, and called on everyone to channel their affection for Hong Kong into concrete actions, transform the strength of the “patriots administering Hong Kong” principle into good governance, and work together for a better Hong Kong.

Having made its commitment to artificial intelligence, big data, life and health technology, financial technology, new energy and materials, the HKSAR government has successfully attracted a number of I&T enterprises to establish a presence in Hong Kong. It is hoped that they will herald new growth points for Hong Kong’s economy

The year 2024 is the opportune moment for patriot groups from all quarters of society to channel their affection for the country and Hong Kong into concrete actions, for the HKSAR government to transform the strength of the “patriots administering Hong Kong” principle into good governance, and for everyone to work together for a better Hong Kong. One of the key routes is to steadily bring the GBA into fruition.

Hong Kong’s participation in the GBA development is invariably linked to integration and high-quality development, which are the fundamental requirements laid down by President Xi Jinping for regional development within the country. The GBA, in particular, will need to address the alignment of rules and mechanisms as regional integration continues, wherein Hong Kong encounters greater resistance and more hurdles than Macao and Guangdong province. Whereas Macao and Guangdong adopts civil law, Hong Kong practices common law. Macao and Zhuhai have imposed “collaborative inspective and joint clearance” at their checkpoints, but Hong Kong has yet to fully implement the co-location arrangement. Hong Kong is an international finance center with a more complex industrial structure and closer economic ties with the West than Macao has. Therefore, as Hong Kong integrates into regional development, it is bound to face more constraints from the West, particularly in the financial sector. To ride out the great challenge of aligning rules and systems between the two sides, it will take extraordinary commitment and fortitude from both Hong Kong and Guangdong.

Hong Kong’s high-quality development needs to include two key areas of focus.

First, the city should leverage the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone to further upgrade its modern service industry, with an emphasis on expanding producer services. While Hong Kong’s tourism is part of the modern service industry and deserves further government efforts to promote it, it falls under the consumer service category. Producer services, on the other hand, deserve more development efforts from the HKSAR government as producer services underpin Hong Kong’s high-quality development, i.e., innovation and technology-led development.

The second area of focus for Hong Kong is its innovation and technology (I&T) industry.

Hong Kong’s manufacturing industry largely migrated to the Pearl River Delta from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s. When the Chinese mainland had yet to develop its producer services industry, Hong Kong’s producer services industry continued to serve their Hong Kong clients across the boundary. But as the producer services industry on the mainland is becoming full-fledged, Hong Kong’s insufficient efforts for I&T development has seriously impeded the development of its producer services industry. The fact that Hong Kong’s port has been overtaken by Shenzhen’s port in terms of throughput is a case in point.

Moreover, there is a need for Hong Kong to reindustrialize, and the I&T industry should play a pivotal role in the process. Hong Kong and the whole GBA will be in a symbiotic relationship when both strive to develop an international I&T hub, which will not only entail research and development, but also the commercialization of scientific achievements.

Having made its commitment to artificial intelligence, big data, life and health technology, financial technology, new energy and materials, the HKSAR government has successfully attracted a number of I&T enterprises to establish a presence in Hong Kong. It is hoped that they will herald new growth points for Hong Kong’s economy.

The author is a senior research fellow of China Everbright Holdings.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.