Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said on Tuesday that a seminar regarding the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) will be held tomorrow to introduce new measures and arrangements.
This came as the SAR government and the Ministry of Commerce last year signed the Second Agreement Concerning Amendment to the CEPA Agreement on Trade in Services.
The seminar, co-organized with China’s Ministry of Commerce, will see over 10 representatives from central ministries introduce relevant measures and implementation arrangements to the concerned industries.
Lee told a press conference that since CEPA was first implemented in 2003, it has brought significant economic benefits to Hong Kong.
By the end of last year, the accumulated tariff concessions under CEPA exceeded 10.2 billion yuan. The total merchandise trade between the Mainland and Hong Kong last year surpassed 480 million yuan, more than three times that before the implementation of CEPA, with an average annual growth rate of 5.6 percent.
Lee believes that various sectors in Hong Kong have benefited from CEPA, successfully expanding their businesses in the Mainland, such as establishing sole proprietorship hospitals and clinics, construction companies, and insurance companies.
