Xie Xiaohua: Hong Kong will continue to deepen and strengthen collaboration with Guangdong Province to promote technological innovation cooperation in the Greater Bay Area.

On September 21, Xie Xiaohua, Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs of Hong Kong, said in her opening remarks at a press conference on green transformation and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area development related to the "First Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (2026-2030)" (the "Hong Kong First Five-Year Plan") and the "Chief Executive's 2026 Policy Address" that this year marks the opening year of the national 15th Five-Year Plan, and the SAR government has formulated its first five-year plan, which is a major measure and breakthrough in the SAR government's adherence to and improvement of executive-led governance and enhancement of governance effectiveness. It also reflects our strategic need to proactively align with national development strategies and better integrate into and serve the overall national development. Hong Kong proactively aligns with the overall development layout of the national 15th Five-Year Plan, accurately bases itself on what the country needs and what Hong Kong excels at, and identifies its own position in the overall national development and the international competitive landscape. Hong Kong's development has always been closely linked with the country's development. The country's enormous economic scale, complete industrial system, strong innovation capacity and super-large market have brought Hong Kong a vast stage. Hong Kong, in turn, can rely on its unique advantages under "one country, two systems" - the common law system, an internationalized business environment, a free port, the free flow of capital and talent, and highly internationalized professional services - to become an important bridge and platform for two-way connectivity between the country and the world. The "Hong Kong First Five-Year Plan" includes a dedicated chapter on the Greater Bay Area, clearly stating that Hong Kong will participate in the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and help it become a world-class bay area and world-class city cluster with global influence. Hong Kong will further strengthen close alignment and interaction with the nine Greater Bay Area cities in Guangdong Province and the Macao SAR, make good use of their respective advantages, and jointly promote the high-quality development of the Greater Bay Area. When preparing the "Hong Kong First Five-Year Plan," we already visited the nine Greater Bay Area cities in Guangdong Province and Macao to study and discuss with them how to align and better serve the country's important strategy of developing the Greater Bay Area, and also drew on their experience in preparing five-year plans in the past. Xie Xiaohua continued that regarding the direction of Hong Kong's promotion of coordinated development in the Greater Bay Area, the "Hong Kong First Five-Year Plan" puts forward five priorities, including strengthening cooperation in technological innovation. We will continue to deepen and strengthen collaboration with Guangdong Province to promote technological innovation cooperation in the Greater Bay Area, deepen the two-way integration of the innovation chain and the industrial chain, focus on the Hong Kong park of the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone, further strengthen strategic alignment with other Greater Bay Area cities, promote the cross-boundary flow of innovation and technology factors, and drive the transformation and application of research outcomes in other Greater Bay Area cities. This also echoes what we mentioned in Part Three of the "Hong Kong First Five-Year Plan," namely that the Northern Metropolis should be built into Hong Kong's main platform for deeply participating in the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and proactively integrating into and serving the overall national development. Among this, technology is an important element. We will also actively advance the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Western Railway and the Northern Link spur line projects, build a Greater Bay Area on rails, and strengthen the construction of new infrastructure across Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, promote 6G network development, and accelerate the layout of ultra-large-scale intelligent computing clusters. This is the hard connectivity of infrastructure. In terms of soft connectivity, we will promote mutual recognition of professional qualifications in the Greater Bay Area; promote the training and flow of legal talent within the Greater Bay Area; align with the development of a Healthy Greater Bay Area, deepen medical and health cooperation, and expand and promote Greater Bay Area standards and Greater Bay Area certification, including common standards for technical levels in the construction industry; and enhance the facilitation of cross-boundary flow of factors, including improving port clearance efficiency and promoting cross-boundary logistics development. In addition to hard connectivity and soft connectivity, we also hope to achieve heart connectivity among residents of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao. We will optimize and expand the interface for cross-boundary elderly care services, strengthen cross-boundary medical collaboration, support Hong Kong tertiary institutions in deeply integrating into the Greater Bay Area, expand the space for young people's development in the Greater Bay Area, and promote the integrated development of culture, sports and tourism, so as to build a humanistic bay area that is livable, workable and travelable. We will also actively promote the development of major cooperation platforms in the Greater Bay Area, including supporting the Qianhai Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone in playing a pioneering and pilot role, promoting Hong Kong's modern service industry to establish a foothold in Qianhai and expand into the mainland market; promoting mutually beneficial industrial chain cooperation and giving play to its role as a high-level gateway for opening up; participating in infrastructure development in Nansha, promoting mutually beneficial industrial chain cooperation, coordinating the development and construction of the Hetao area across both banks of the river and the two parks in one zone, and jointly building Hetao into an important pole of the Greater Bay Area International Science and Technology Innovation Center; and strengthening collaboration with Macao and encouraging industry players to actively participate in the development of Hengqin. Xie Xiaohua said that the SAR government will align with the requirements of the national 15th Five-Year Plan for Greater Bay Area development, continue to actively maintain close contact with relevant central ministries and commissions, the Guangdong Provincial Government and the Macao SAR government, and further seek policy innovation and breakthroughs. We will give play to our advantages as an international city, promote exchanges through regional and global conferences and forums, and tell the Greater Bay Area story well. We will continue to strengthen publicity about the opportunities in the Greater Bay Area and Hong Kong's advantages within it through officials' overseas visits, the international connections of overseas economic and trade offices and various partner institutions, large-scale international exhibitions held in Hong Kong, and joint overseas promotion with the Guangdong Provincial Government and the Macao SAR government.