The State Council’s plan to build a Shenzhen-Hong Kong science and technology zone will bring together the two areas’ respective strengths, promote innovation and research, expand market opportunities and enhance international connections with policy support, experts said. “The plan will bring benefits to Hong Kong as it turns toward the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which is led by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and it will expand its market,” said Chi Fulin, President of the China Institute for Reform and Development. It is important not only to consider what Shenzhen-Hong Kong cooperation will bring, but also to look at the transformation of Hong Kong, the leveraging of Shenzhen’s technological advantages, and the strategic role the zone will play within the RCEP, Chi added.
The Chinese government released a plan to boost the high-quality development of the Chinese mainland part of the sci-tech innovation cooperation zone, which will be jointly developed by the technology hub of Shenzhen, Guangdong province, and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR). The development of both sections will be coordinated. The two will complement each other with their respective strengths, making the cooperation zone a key engine for the high-quality development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
Located at the border between Shenzhen’s Futian district and Hong Kong, the cooperation zone covers 3.02 square kilometers in Shenzhen in an area known as Hetao, and nearly nine-tenths of a square kilometer in Hong Kong. It is regarded as an attractive and suitable place due to its strategic location, established infrastructure, business-friendly environment and innovation ecosystem. The plan outlined four key tasks for the zone: working with Hong Kong to promote international scientific and technological innovation and to build a world-class scientific and technological platform; establishing industrial pilot bases to advance the new generation of information technology and biomedicine; creating an international mechanism for scientific and technological innovation to facilitate cross-border flows of personnel, capital and data; and constructing a global platform for science and technology cooperation and for strengthening international exchanges and talent training.
Both Hong Kong's Chief Executive John Lee and Zheng Hongbo, Party Secretary of Shenzhen’s Futian district, expressed their support for the zone. “Futian has already established various innovation and entrepreneurship bases to support young talent from Hong Kong and Macao to integrate into the national development agenda,” Zheng said, as reported by the China Daily.
