Hong Kong and Nansha district can find “immense opportunities” at the intersection of global innovation and regional integration of the Greater Bay Area, a former chief executive has said, highlighting the city’s role as a superconnector in the region.
During the Post’s annual China Conference in Nansha on Wednesday, Leung Chun-ying said the concessionary tax rates for enterprises offered in the municipal district of Guangzhou promoted collaborations in the region.
The South China Morning Post has become the first Hong Kong media company to organise a bay area conference in one of the scheme’s cities. The one-day conference has attracted more than 300 attendants, two-thirds of them from outside mainland China.
Leung, vice-chairman of the country’s top political advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, said the bay area development blueprint offered a “much bigger and more diverse playfield” for Hong Kong, increasing the financial hub’s geographical and sectoral diversification.
“Hong Kong serves as the superconnector that brings the world to the region,” Leung said in his keynote address.
“By maintaining and leveraging the unique advantages under the ‘one country two systems’ arrangement, Hong Kong integrates with other cities in the Greater Bay Area for mutual benefits.”
“The bay area innovation centres, including Hong Kong and Nansha, will find immense opportunities at the intersection of global innovation and regional integration,”