Beijing and Hong Kong explored ways to leverage their complementary resources for high-quality development and mutual benefits at a recent symposium.
During the Beijing-Hong Kong Economic Cooperation Symposium held both online and offline earlier this month, a series of activities were held, focusing on expanded opening-up in the service industry, financial cooperation and the Belt and Road Initiative.
Highlights of the two-day symposium included collaboration in technological innovation, information services, intellectual property protection, cultural creativity and health-care, as well as food and drug safety.
Beijing is advancing construction of the Integrated National Demonstration Zone for Expanding Opening Up the Service Sector and the China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone, which will provide enormous development opportunities for businesses, local officials said.
To weather the health crisis brought about by COVID-19 and promote its economic recovery, Hong Kong needs to give priority on its government agenda to getting the pandemic under control and integrating into the country's new "dual circulation" development pattern, said a senior official from the special administrative region.
The cooperation between Beijing and Hong Kong will bring new development opportunities for both sides, she said.
Government data show Hong Kong businesspeople invested a total of $8.34 billion in establishing 345 enterprises in Beijing during the first three quarters of this year.
Officials from Beijing's Tongzhou, Daxing, Shijingshan, Haidian and Xicheng districts, as well as the Tianzhu Comprehensive Bonded Zone, briefed the symposium's attendees on-site and online about local industries, business investment, favorable policies and investment opportunities.
Tongzhou's presentation centered on the district's role as Beijing's sub-center, the growth potential of local industries and public services, and the emphasis placed on an international business service community, part of the Integrated National Demonstration Zone for Opening Up the Service Sector.
Su Guobin, deputy chief of the district, said Tongzhou will provide vast development opportunities for businesses with its established facilities and considerate services.
Some 120 billion yuan ($18.25 billion) investment has so far been made in the city's sub-center this year, accounting for 17 percent of the Beijing's total, according to Su.
With a new group of construction projects in the pipeline for the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), the total investment in the sub-center is estimated to increase to around 800 billion yuan by then, he said.
Daxing is home to an economic zone centered on Beijing Daxing International Airport and a comprehensive bonded zone. Part of the district is also included in the Beijing FTZ.
Its deputy head Yang Beibei introduced the district's development plan and industries to the attendees. "Daxing is building an airport economic zone, a Sino-Japanese technological cooperation demonstration zone and an international hydrogen energy demonstration park, all of which offer valuable opportunities for businesspeople, including those from Hong Kong."
Zhou Xisong, deputy head of Shijingshan, said the district is creating a "financial Silicon Valley" on West Chang'an Avenue, where more than 200 modern financial institutions have a presence.
Beijing Banking& Insurance Business Park, co-developed by the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission and the Beijing municipal government, is the first national financial innovation demonstration park focused on the banking and insurance sectors, Zhou said.
In addition, Shijingshan has also sharpened an edge in the sports and cultural industries.
The official location for the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Shougang Industrial Park, which has evolved from an old steel production complex, has hosted nearly 200 national and international events.
The China Science Fiction Convention 2020, a gathering of fiction writers, movie producers and investors from around the world, was held at the park in early November.
The international park is expected to attract more high-tech, sports and creative businesses after a new group of construction projects are due to be completed next year, Zhou said.
(Source: China Daily)
