The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the San Francisco Bay Area in California have immense potential to deepen their partnership, particularly in addressing climate change and driving the green transformation, Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said.
Writing in a Sunday blog following his recent visit to the United States, Chan noted that as the two bay areas share similarities, they have distinct advantages, such as in talent, technology and capital.
He highlighted green development as a key area for collaboration. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region leads Asia in the issuance of green and sustainable bonds, bolstering the region’s green transition. California is promoting enterprises’ carbon emissions trading and decarbonization through various policies -- an area where Hong Kong can learn from -- he said.
California is also interested in studying Hong Kong’s urban development model that prioritizes public transportation, so as to reduce carbon emissions from private vehicles, Chan said
There’s also scope for California to learn from the HKSAR and the Chinese mainland, such as in new energy vehicle adoption. Last year, China registered 7.43 million new energy vehicles, accounting for more than 30 percent of all new vehicle registrations, while in California, new energy vehicles made up 25 percent of new registrations.
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California is also interested in studying Hong Kong’s urban development model that prioritizes public transportation, so as to reduce carbon emissions from private vehicles, Chan said. “The collaboration between the two bay areas is no accident -- it stems from their complementary strengths and unique characteristics.”
Both cities understand that they can unlock greater value and address the challenges ahead by fostering exchanges and joint innovation, he added.
While in the US, the Hong Kong delegation led by Chan participated in the “Bay to Bay Dialogue” with representatives from Guangdong province and the Macao SAR, focusing on green development, business cooperation, and cultural exchanges between the Greater Bay Area and the San Francisco Bay Area. They also took part in the US-China High-Level Event on Subnational Climate Action in Berkeley, California.
The Hong Kong team consisted of more than 20 members from the environment, commerce, logistics, finance and academia sectors.
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The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau, Hong Kong’s investment promotion agency InvestHK and the Institute for Climate and Carbon Neutrality of The University of Hong Kong signed three cooperation agreements with San Francisco organizations during the visit to enhance cooperation in sustainable finance, green development, investment promotion, and talent training.
Chan visited two technology firms in the Silicon Valley before returning to Hong Kong on Saturday morning. He spoke of the SAR’s initiatives to drive innovation and technology, as well as the city’s efforts to attract enterprises and professionals, and urged companies to set up research and development as well as production bases in Hong Kong and use them as a platform to expand their operations to the Chinese mainland and Asian markets.
