Beijing, HK to work on pragmatic co-op mechanism

Officials from Beijing and Hong Kong on Monday pledged to make renewed efforts to strengthen cooperation between the two cities in areas such as finance, services, culture and innovation.

"Closer cooperation between Beijing and Hong Kong will help open a new chapter in the economic and trade ties between the two sides, and will be beneficial to both," Wang Anshun, acting mayor of Beijing, told the two-day 16th Beijing-Hong Kong Economic Cooperation Symposium, which opened on Monday in Hong Kong.

The Beijing municipal government will continue to work closely with the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to improve the cooperation mechanism and to develop a pragmatic cooperative relationship between the two cities, the mayor said.

Over the past 15 years, cooperation between cities has strengthened as economic and trade ties became closer, Wang noted.

By the end of September, Hong Kong businesses had set up 11,957 companies in Beijing, with an actual cumulative investment of $24 billion.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, gave a similar assurance at the forum, boosting economic and trade ties between the cities.

"I believe cooperation between Hong Kong and Beijing will increasingly strengthen," Leung said.

One major area for closer cooperation is for Hong Kong to perfect its platform to facilitate Beijing businesses' "going out" strategy.

"The Hong Kong government will formulate more comprehensive policies and economic strategies to take advantage of the opportunities brought about by the rapid economic development on the mainland," Leung said.

"We hope more Beijing enterprises will make use of Hong Kong as a 'going-out' platform."

The Beijing municipal government will continue to encourage companies there to "go global", Wang said.

Wang added that Beijing companies should conduct international investment together with Hong Kong enterprises and take advantage of their comprehensive understanding of international market rules.

The two cities are also seeking further cooperation in the finance, services, technology, human resources and medical sectors.

In their latest efforts to promote closer economic ties, Beijing officials and businesses are seeking investment from Hong Kong investors at the two-day symposium for 269 major projects in 16 sectors including finance, professional services, information technology, tourism and logistics.

To facilitate Hong Kong investment in Beijing, Wang held a dialogue with Hong Kong business leaders on Monday.

Raymond Chien Kuo-fung, chairman of MTR Corporation, suggested Beijing should increase its investment in subway constructions, pointing out that this mode of transport is environmentally friendly and offers high economic returns.

Beijing plans to operate a subway network of 600 kilometers by the end of the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15), according to Wang.

But Chien suggested that Beijing might need a subway network of 1,000 kilometers as the subway is a better mode of transportation for the city, given the drastic changes in its weather.

Beijing can also tap the experience of Hong Kong and Tokyo in subway network development, he said.