Bernard Chan

Opinion | Beijing’s message to Hong Kong’s business community is clear and simple

It’s easy to overthink it but the message is this: embrace challenges, collaborate to seize chances to make profits and a positive impact

Reading Time:3 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, urged business leaders to be more proactive in a meeting in Shenzhen on November 8. Photo: Handout

Bernard Chan

Published: 9:30am, 29 Nov 2024

Hong Kong’s business community has long recognised the geopolitical and economic challenges we face daily, and I, along with many others, have frequently shared my perspectives on these.

In today’s fast-changing world, some industries will fare better than others. For example, the food and beverage sector might find it remarkably difficult to return to its dynamic past, as the city’s operating costs are very high compared to in Shenzhen. In contrast, the prospects for our financial and professional services remain good.

On this, Xia Baolong, Beijing’s top official on Hong Kong affairs, provided timely insight at the recent Hong Kong Business Leaders Symposium in Shenzhen, which was attended by around 50 business and government leaders.

Xia urged the business community to be more proactive in driving economic growth and diversification. He emphasised the importance of adapting to changing trends as Hong Kong enters a new phase of economic development, highlighting the community’s critical role in fostering change and boosting confidence in the city.

He also underscored the need to align with President Xi Jinping’s “new quality productive forces” growth model and leverage Hong Kong’s unique strengths to benefit the city, Greater Bay Area and nation.

As beneficiaries of China’s economic miracle and recipients of mainland support in times of crisis, we are being called upon to focus our efforts on innovation and development, and to leverage the advantages of “one country, two systems”. We are tasked with rebooting economic progress and evolving at a pace and scale to match, even surpass, our counterparts in Guangdong province.