Li Jiachao: Innovation technology, financial trade, and infrastructure connectivity are advancing simultaneously to jointly build a world-class bay area.

The Chief Executive of Hong Kong, John Lee Ka-chiu, stated in his speech at the 2025 Greater Bay Area Summit that Hong Kong will continue to work closely with cities in the Bay Area to explore business opportunities everywhere and build a more competitive and livable world-class Bay Area city together. The Hong Kong SAR government fully leverages the dual advantage of national and international opportunities under "one country, two systems" to drive the development of the BAY AREA. First, the convergence of innovative elements must break through technological boundaries. In the "Global Innovation Index" released last month, the "Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou" cluster ranked first globally for the first time, demonstrating the leading position of the Greater Bay Area in the field of innovation and technology worldwide. The Hexa-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone is one of the major cooperation platforms within the Greater Bay Area under the national "14th Five-Year Plan", with development potential crossing geographical boundaries. The first three buildings in the Hexa Hong Kong Park have been completed, with tenants gradually moving in. By the end of this year, the park will officially enter the operational phase. The Hong Kong government has established a multi-departmental approval team for the Hexa Hong Kong Park to accelerate its construction, and has released the selected site for the remaining land of the first phase of the park for private development plans. It will consider providing workspaces flexibly to enterprises according to market demand using the "construction-as-you-go, occupancy-as-you-go" model. Hong Kong will strive to complete the second phase of development scale and industry distribution planning within this year, as well as the overall layout of the park. Second, deepening financial connectivity and uniting to seize opportunities in overseas markets. In the "Global Financial Center Index" report released last month, Hong Kong continued to rank third globally, narrowing the gap in scores with New York and London, which ranked first and second, respectively, to 2 points and 1 point. At the end of last year, the total value of Hong Kong's asset and wealth management business exceeded HK$35 trillion, a year-on-year increase of 13%, equivalent to 11 times the local GDP. Many international opinions believe that in the next few years, Hong Kong will become the world's largest cross-border wealth management center. Hong Kong will cooperate to optimize mechanisms and introduce more overseas funds into the mainland private equity market with the advantage of Hong Kong's international financial center to serve the fund flows within the Greater Bay Area. Hong Kong is the largest offshore Renminbi business hub globally, providing diversified Renminbi products and services. Since 2021, the Shenzhen Municipal Government has issued local government bonds in Hong Kong every year, with a cumulative total reaching 26 billion yuan Renminbi to date. Last year, the Guangdong Provincial Government issued bonds in Hong Kong for the first time, and the provincial government will soon issue a new batch of bonds in Hong Kong. Apart from attracting international funds through financial services, Hong Kong will also make good use of the advantages of internal and external communication networks to serve more mainland enterprises interested in entering overseas markets, including companies from cities in the Greater Bay Area going overseas together. The Hong Kong government has officially established a special team for mainland enterprises to go overseas this month, integrating the Investment Promotion Agency, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, and Hong Kong's offices in the mainland to cooperate with various public organizations, professional associations, chambers of commerce, and commercial institutions to serve mainland enterprises going overseas. Third, interweaving infrastructure networks to unlock the value chain of capital, logistics, and value. For many residents who like to travel north, the most popular cross-border connectivity measure recently is the "Cross-Border Payment Link" launched in June this year. The "Cross-Border Payment Link" provides safe, efficient, and convenient instant small-scale cross-border payment services for residents and institutions of the two regions, facilitating economic and trade activities and personnel exchanges. With the full support of Guangdong and Hong Kong, the "Hong Kong Vehicle Northbound" has been implemented for over two years, well received by the public, with a continuous increase in flow of people and vehicles, with more than 100,000 Hong Kong private cars participating so far. As for traveling south, the Hong Kong government just announced that the "Guangdong Vehicle Southbound" plan will be implemented as early as next month, starting with a small-scale daily quota of 100 names for entry into the city area, allowing each Guangdong vehicle to stay in Hong Kong for up to three days. It is believed that the new plan will promote orderly personnel exchanges between Guangdong and Hong Kong and further achieve bidirectional travel. Hong Kong's transportation advantage is reflected in shipping and aviation as well. Hong Kong is the aviation hub with the most mature international airport in the Greater Bay Area. To strengthen the synergy between Hong Kong International Airport and other airports in the Greater Bay Area, the Hong Kong Airport Authority signed a cooperation agreement with the Zhuhai Airport last year and enhanced direct passenger services between the two airports through the "via Zhuhai Port Fly" service, optimizing land connections and expanding services to more cities in the mainland. In addition, Hong Kong and Dongguan are jointly promoting "sea-air cargo intermodal transport", enabling mainland goods to undergo on-site security checks and directly deliver to Hong Kong by waterway, significantly reducing time and costs. The first phase of the permanent facilities at the Hong Kong International Airport Dongguan Air Cargo Center will be completed in stages starting at the end of this year, with the preliminary study for the second phase beginning this year to maximize the value of this innovative model.