Signing of document to further enhance opening-up

Paul Chan, financial secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government, speaks at a signing ceremony of a document on amending the service trade agreement under the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) in Hong Kong, South China, Oct 9, 2024. The Chinese mainland and the HKSAR have agreed to build closer ties in services trade, China's Ministry of Commerce said Wednesday. (Photo/Information Services Department of the Government of the HKSAR)

The Ministry of Commerce and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government on Wednesday signed amendments to further enhance the mainland's level of liberalization of trade in services with Hong Kong under the framework of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement.

The amendments, slated to take effect on March 1, gave finishing touches to a new round of revision consultations on the CEPA among the ministry, relevant departments and the HKSAR government that were initiated by the Ministry of Commerce last year and completed in July.

At the heart of the revision is a whole package of new opening-up measures making it easier for Hong Kong service suppliers and professionals to set up enterprises and develop businesses on the Chinese mainland, with most measures piloted in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to facilitate the regional institutional connectivity before putting it into practice across the nation.

Local sectors such as banking and securities, insurance, film, tourism, television, telecommunication, construction and related engineering are poised to benefit from the removal or relaxation of restrictions on equity shareholding and the scope of business in the establishment of enterprises, as well as the relaxation of qualification requirements for Hong Kong professionals.

"As one of the economic backbones of Hong Kong, the well-established professional services industry is where the city's impeccable strengths lie," Li Yongjie, deputy China international trade representative of the Ministry of Commerce, said at the signing ceremony in Hong Kong on Wednesday.

Li expressed hope that the new amendments would offer staunch support to Hong Kong's pursuit of fundraising and new development, underpin the deepening of bilateral economic and trade cooperation, and make Hong Kong more relevant than ever to the world's second-largest economy and play its due role.

"Since the signing of an amendment to expand the scope of the CEPA back in the challenging year of 2019, Hong Kong has made unremitting efforts to hook onto the next big story unfolding in the country," Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said at the signing ceremony, which was attended by Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu.

As the financial hub looks to better align with the nation's grand development plan, high-level integration and collaboration are the name of the game, and this is where the new amendments come in, Chan noted.

Chan highlighted the institutional innovation and collaboration enhancement as the "pioneering, forward-looking measures" that will help Hong Kong make a difference.

Chan also pointed out that the removal of a three-year period requirement for businesses to operate in Hong Kong "is not only a great boon to Hong Kong startups, but also has what it takes to make the GBA a magnate for promising firms worldwide and foreign investment in their quest for the next growth engine of the global economy."

Over the past two decades, the free trade deal, coupled with various supporting measures, have saved Hong Kong more than HK$19 billion ($2.4 billion) in customs duties, helping the city make inroads into the Chinese mainland market, Chan added.