Chinese Online Class - How to keep Hong Kong's cutting edge

Opinion / Zou Hanru

How to keep Hong Kong's cutting edge
By Zou Hanru (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-04-14 06:34

A debate has been raging in Hong Kong over whether it will be
marginalized by the rapid development of mainland cities. The debate
became intense when Hong Kong's Chief Secretary for Administration Rafael
Hui expressed these fears when China's 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10) was
unveiled.

Hui's fears were aimed more at urging the people in the Special
Administrative Region (SAR) to strive for excellence to maintain the
city's edge as an international financial and logistics hub. In fact, his
fears are not unfounded, for complacency could cost Hong Kong dearly.

Hong Kong has a world-class infrastructure, as do many mainland cities.
Hong Kong is an international port; so are Shanghai and Shenzhen. So the
only real possible advantage Hong Kong enjoys over mainland cities is as
an international financial centre. To maintain that edge, Hong Kong has
to have a workforce that is not only highly educated and well trained,
but also proficient in English. And to all intents and purposes, it is
not going to lose that advantage to any of the mainland cities any time
soon.

That, for all we know, is just one side of the coin.

Now consider this. Hong Kong received more than 23 million visitors in
2005. And more than half of them, or 12.5 million to be precise, came
from the mainland.

Tourism is one of Hong Kong's pillar industries.

Now let's shift to the financial sector. The Ministry of Finance granted
permission to 258 mainland companies last year to invest in Hong Kong, a
58 per cent increase over 2004. The growing investment from the mainland
shows Hong Kong's increasingly important role as the springboard for
companies to expand out of China, Investment Promotion Director-General
Mike Rowse said at the annual spring reception for business leaders of
Hong Kong-based Chinese enterprises. The mainland was one of the biggest
contributors to Hong Kong's direct investment inflow in 2004 with HK$62
billion (US$8.1 billion), a 63 per cent rise over 2003, he said.

What Rowse perhaps left unsaid is that Hong Kong is now more dependent on
the mainland than ever before.

SAR Financial Secretary Henry Tang's 2006-07 budget speech bears that
out. Talking on "Directions for Development," Tang said: "With its rapid
growth and development, the mainland has become the economic engine of
the Asia-Pacific region. Hong Kong is poised to leverage on the strengths
of 'one country, two systems'. "

Furthermore: "For several decades, Hong Kong's economy has been
undergoing structural changes ... our financial markets have ... evolved
into the predominant fund-raising platform for mainland enterprises."

And: "The signing and implementation of the Closer Economic Partnership
Arrangement (CEPA) with the mainland has been the most significant
development in furthering our economic co-operation ... Hong Kong needs a
vast hinterland market ... The implementation of the Pan-Pearl River
Delta (Pan-PRD) Regional Co-operation Framework Agreement has greatly
broadened the scope of our co-operation with the mainland provinces and
regions."

The presence of the mainland in Hong Kong's life is only going to
increase with the passage of time. The people of Hong Kong have made
great contributions and have adjusted themselves well to many changes
over the years and their proficiency in English is one of them.

Since this superiority in English is far from being threatened now,
shouldn't Hongkongers pay more attention to putonghua? For apart from
Hong Kong now being a part (although special) of China, isn't it also
true that it's the mainland where most of Hong Kong's business interests
lie?

Email: zouhr@chinadaily.com.hk

(China Daily 04/14/2006 page4)

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