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Zhou Yiren, director of the regional economy department of National Department and Reform Commission, spoke at "China Investment Policy Seminar" Tuesday in Hong Kong. (APD/Pan Jie).
Chinese mainland is now working progressively on building three experimental economic zones in Guangdong province, which will present many business opportunities for Hong Kong companies, particularly in the service sector, officials said at a seminar on Tuesday in Hong Kong.
Addressing the "China Investment Policy Seminar", Zhou Yiren, director of the regional economy department of National Department and Reform Commission,said that the central government will roll out further supportive policies and create favorable business environment in the three pilot zones, allowing them to play a leading role in the liberalization of service trade between the mainland and Hong Kong.
The three zones, Qianhai in Shenzhen, Nansha in Guangzhou, and Hengqin in Zhuhai, all located in Guangdong’s Pearl River Delta, have been cited in China's 12th Five Year Plan as playing a strategic and crucial role in promoting the cooperation between mainland, Hong Kong and Macau. Favorable policies including lower corporate taxes and tax-free trading will be implemented there.
Zhou said that of the three pilot economic zones, Qianhai, due to its relatively small area of 15 square kilometers and geographic proximity with Hong Kong, will mainly focus on modern service industries, including financial services, modern logistics, information services, technology services, professional services and public services.
The construction and development of Qianhai has now been in full swing, and policies that are “more special than special economic zones will be rolled out. Zhou said that out of the 22 supportive policy measures approved by the central government, 16 have been implemented, including cross-border RMB lending, lower corporate and individual income tax. The rest of the measures will be put in place by July this year, he added.
In attracting foreign investment to Qianhai, he said, priority will be given to Hong Kong companies in the modern service sector. “More measures will be put in force, and we hope to see the two cities, Shenzhen and Hong Kong, cooperate closely in driving the future development of Qianhai.
Sun Tong, deputy director-general of Department of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau Affairs, China's Commerce Ministry, pledged that the mainland will further open up its service trade sector, with priority given to Hong Kong and Macau and pilot schemes carried out in Guangdong province.
Thanks to the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) and its annually increased supplements, the mainland has opened 149, or 93.1% of the 160 service sectors catalogued by the WTO, to Hong Kong companies.
A total of 294 films have been jointly made by the two sides since the implementation of CEPA, including some big box office hits. Up to 15 Hong Kong local banks have established 8 independent subsidies and 15 branches in the mainland by the end of February this year, achieving a total profit of 1.35 billion yuan.
“Liberalization of trade in service has basically been in shape between the two sides, Sun said. “We will gradually expand the scope and roll out more policies to achieve the goal of basic liberalization of service trade by 2015.
Sun said liberalization of service trade would speed up the free flow of factors of production and allow Hong Kong and the mainland to demonstrate its own distinctive advantage, so as to achieve a win-win situation for both sides.
Hong Kong has been well known for its highly internationalized service industry, while the labor-abundant mainland boasts strong manufacturing sector and vast consumer market. "The mainland is likely to improve its service industry through cooperation with Hong Kong companies," Sun said.
Wang Tao, China’s vice minister of commerce also stressed the service sector as one of the most promising industries in the mainland. “We hope Hong Kong companies can leverage on their expertise in the service industry and make more investments in Qianhai, Nansha, and Hengqin economic zones.
