China mapped out comprehensive strategies on national development for the next five years at the third plenum of the 20th Communist Party of China Central Committee held in Beijing last week.
Some Western media outlets have presented prejudiced views and claimed that the plenum did not come up with solid measures to boost the country’s economic development, ignoring the fact that comprehensive strategies were highlighted in the resolution adopted by the plenum, a sweeping blueprint that will guide China’s political and economic development for years to come. China has its distinctive path to pursue economic growth and modernization that have been conducive to global development. The reform tasks laid out in the resolution are to be completed by the time the People’s Republic of China celebrates its 80th anniversary in 2029. The resolution states that China will continue to deepen reforms on various fronts, including building a high-standard socialist market economy, fostering high-quality development, pursuing high-standard opening-up and others. The resolution mentioned Hong Kong’s status as an international hub for high-caliber talent and an international financial, shipping, and trade center, as well as its role in the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, which will become an engine of high-quality development.
As declared in the resolution, China will strive to finish building a high-standard socialist market economy by 2035. It will leverage the role of the market, foster a dynamic market environment, and lift restrictions on the market while ensuring effective regulation. In recent years, the central government has improved the business environment for private enterprises, and State-owned enterprises have enhanced their competitiveness. The government has taken steps to accelerate the establishment of a unified domestic market that is efficient, open, and injects vitality into domestic consumption amid uncertainties in a sluggish global economic environment and the threat of sanctions from the West. Based on the Ministry of Commerce’s figures, China’s economic growth has remained stable with GDP reaching a staggering 126 trillion yuan ($17.35 trillion) last year, up 5.2 percent over the previous year. With strong domestic consumption, China’s GDP grew 5 percent to reach 61.68 trillion yuan in the first half of this year.
The pursuit of high-quality development is another key task mentioned in the resolution. It calls for the development of new growth drivers and strengths, and fostering new quality productive forces in line with actualities. It also called for leveraging the country’s sizeable market, strong consumer demand and competitive edge in scientific research and development to make breakthroughs in technological innovations to boost economic growth. Over recent years, China has made strides in electric vehicles, solar panels, lithium batteries and renewable energy sectors, and has become one of the world’s leading players in artificial intelligence, aviation and aerospace, new energy, biomedicine, and quantum technology. China has made remarkable achievements in transitioning to green and high-tech industries from traditional manufacturing sectors. According to the General Administration of Customs’ figures, China’s exports of EVs soared 67 percent to 1.77 million last year, whereas the country’s export value of lithium batteries to countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative surged about 80 percent, to 35.3 billion yuan.
China has committed to the basic State policy of opening its market to the world. The resolution states that China will remove market access restrictions in the manufacturing sector, and promote wider openings in telecommunications, education, culture, medical services and other sectors. Foreign businesses and investors have played critical roles in boosting the country’s economic growth. Recently, the State Council issued a 24-point action plan to attract more foreign investment, with targeted measures including expanding market access in the high-tech and financial sectors, facilitating cross-border data flows and promoting international business travel. Foreign businesses have also been encouraged to set up R&D centers and take part in scientific research projects in China.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s role as an international hub for high-caliber talent was highlighted in the resolution. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has stressed that Hong Kong needs to firmly grasp the enormous opportunities arising from the country’s deepening reforms. Under the “one country, two systems” framework, Hong Kong can leverage its unique advantages to trawl for top-notch international talent that will help boost Hong Kong and the country’s development. The central government recently initiated a measure to issue five-year travel permits for non-Chinese Hong Kong permanent residents to travel to the Chinese mainland for tourism, doing business and visiting their families. Foreign chambers of commerce in Hong Kong have welcomed the move, stating it facilitates expatriates with permanent residency in the city, regardless of their nationalities, to travel to the mainland for personal and business trips. At the same time, the central government has implemented a 144-hour visa-free transit policy that covers 53 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, allowing foreign visitors to enjoy six days of travel in the country without having to apply for a visa. All these measures are conducive to luring more top-notch talent to Hong Kong and the mainland. Under Hong Kong’s Top Talent Pass Scheme and other initiatives, out of about 197,000 approved applications as of June, more than 130,000 professionals have already arrived in the city.
Furthermore, Hong Kong has long been a pivotal financial and trading hub in the region. With a common law system, a low taxation regime and free flow of capital, Hong Kong has served as a strategic gateway between the mainland and the rest of the world in trading. With its potential accession to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership with the central government’s staunch support, Hong Kong hopefully can forge closer economic and trading ties with RCEP members — which include 10 ASEAN countries, along with the mainland, South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand — in the future. Hong Kong can serve its role to support mainland enterprises to make investments in ASEAN and RCEP countries or vice versa. Based on the SAR government’s figures, Hong Kong and RCEP members have close trading ties, with bilateral trade in goods reaching almost $800 billion, accounting for 70 percent of the city’s trade in goods last year.
Above all, Hong Kong can further contribute to the development of the GBA with closer alignment of rules and mechanisms as called for in the resolution. Like other regions such as the Yangtze River Delta, the GBA will continue to perform its role as an engine of high-quality development.
With the rollout of the Northern Metropolis development project, innovative technological industries will be on the agenda for synergizing cooperation between Hong Kong and Shenzhen. Hong Kong will play a greater role in technological innovation in AI, life and health technology in the GBA.
President Xi Jinping highlighted in his explanatory remarks on the resolution in the plenum that China needs to deepen reform so that it can create sound institutions to prevent and defuse risks as well as foster new growth opportunities. A wide array of reform measures raised in the plenum are crucial to bolstering national development and achieving the target of becoming a high-standard socialist market economy by 2035. Hong Kong can make contributions and give full play to the country’s move to deepen reform and achieve modernization. By dovetailing its own development strategies with those of the GBA and national development, Hong Kong will unlock enormous potential for economic growth and development.
The author is a member of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, and founder and chairman of the One Country Two Systems Youth Forum.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
