City Beat | Hongkongers may have survived 2020, but they deserve more than just being ‘alive’ in 2021
- Gone are the days when Hong Kong could easily leverage on markets in mainland China and the US
- The city’s coming budget is a test of whether the government can put it on the right track in 2021
“What lies ahead in 2021 we have yet to know, but we must have done great if we’re still alive when 2020 ends!”
With just 10 days to go before we usher in a new year, this seems to be the general sentiment across the city as it battles a fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic with no end in sight, while global geopolitical uncertainties keep growing.
No one has a crystal ball to predict the future, but any responsible government should rethink, reassess, and plan ahead strategically, for better or worse.
After a three-day, high-level conference, the top Beijing leadership last week outlined eight major tasks to ensure future economic growth with a clear “no policy U-turn” pledge.
Major initiatives included kicking off a comprehensive antitrust campaign to prevent “disorderly expansion of capital”, strengthening core technology development, ensuring more self-controlled supply chains, and safeguarding grain supplies.
China, by now, is the first country to see its economy picking up after the devastating Covid-19 outbreak due to its strict, top-down, pandemic-control measures. But it will take a while to conclude whether that signals an economic rebound or a definite recovery, taking into consideration the much-deteriorated Sino-US relations.
