HK should stick with China amid incoming Trump storm - Sun

Henry Siu

The best way for Hong Kong to cope with US president-elect Donald Trump's expected technology restrictions against China is to integrate into national development, says Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry Sun Dong.

Sun also said Hong Kong - which would be affected by restrictions on China - should enhance its infrastructure and leverage its advantage of being highly internationalized to ensure sustainable IT development.

One such infrastructure, Sun added, is the city's section of the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone, which is projected to be a world-class research, academic and industry platform.

Sun made his comments yesterday after the government promulgated a development outline on the Hong Kong park last week.

"The Hetao area is less than four square kilometers and is not suitable for large-scale manufacturing. But it can integrate the advantages of Hong Kong and the mainland to create a world-class industry, academic and research [platform] and a cluster for pilot production and transformation," Sun said.

"Two different socio-economic and judicial systems integrating in one place. If it is successfully established, it has to be a great practice and a successful example of one country, two systems.

"I am confident that the park can be a crucial source of new quality productive forces for the country."

Sun recalled his friends from Shanghai did not understand how developing the Northern Metropolis and Hetao zone benefits Hong Kong.

"I told them today's Northern Metropolis is like Shanghai's Pudong district in the old days, and that the Hetao zone is similar to Pudong's Oriental Pearl Tower," Sun said. "They immediately understood that Hetao is an essential part of Hong Kong's future development."

As for how to facilitate the flow of people, materials, capital and data between the two places, Sun said it depends on the place's arrangement. The current plan is to set up a whitelist system for Hong Kong visitors from Shenzhen, with preregistration to simplify customs clearance.

Sun also said the occupancy rate of Science Park is at 95 percent and the government should continue to supply land for innovation purposes.

He said the innovation sector in the city has been attracting funds from different places around the world and appealed to the sector to procure products from various markets instead of relying on a single market.

Sun said Hong Kong must strive for more funds and understand the interaction between the introduction of funds and industrial development, while the government should also speed up the construction of an IT ecosystem to improve Hong Kong's attractiveness.

The government has achieved good results in introducing enterprises to Hong Kong, especially targeting IT enterprises in the past two years.

"I hope I will not only participate in the signing ceremony of introducing enterprises but also the groundbreaking ceremony," he said.

henry.siu@singtaonewscorp.com