As Hong Kong strategises for success, it should celebrate its uniqueness

Reform featured prominently in Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s recent policy address. Amid the challenging economic headwinds and intensifying geopolitical competition between China and the West, the acknowledgement that Hong Kong must change its strategy is very welcome.

Bold transformation requires an understanding of our city’s unique strengths and weaknesses. To paraphrase Lee, we can always learn from others’ experiences but a wholesale replication would be ineffective, even counterproductive.

The key to reform lies in an understanding that, while being a part of “one country” grants us immense market access and strategic heft internationally, it is the distinctions between the “two systems” that render us truly competitive.

These distinctions include the free flow of information, capital and personnel long instrumental to our success, but also the more robust freedoms of speech, rule of law and academic debate that shed light on the pluralism and nuances of the Chinese political system.

Not only must these contrasts be preserved – they must be sharpened and celebrated.

We should begin with our financial sector. The pledge to boost yuan-denominated investment products highlights our role in expediting yuan internationalisation, through meeting the demands of countries increasingly seeking to hedge against US dollar hegemony.