BEIJING: National political advisers from the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions said the SARs will play a crucial role in building new systems for the nation’s higher-level opening-up by linking the Chinese mainland with the world.
Hong Kong, while adhering to the principle of “one country”, can also give full play to the advantages of “two systems”, said Pansy Ho Chiu-king, a member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the nation’s top political advisory body.
The city should capitalize on its institutional strengths in finance, trade, law and patents to act as a “super-connector” and a “super value-adder” to promote the further alignment of the mainland with the world, Ho said at a meeting during the annual gathering of the CPPCC National Committee, which closed in Beijing on Sunday. For decades, Hong Kong’s status as a global financial hub has made it a prime offshore fundraising hub for Chinese mainland firms.
More than 1,400 mainland enterprises had raised HK$8.3 trillion ($1 trillion) in the city by the middle of last year, according to Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, the local bourse operator. Today, their combined market value accounts for around three-quarters of total market capitalization. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
