After three years of "separation," the three delegations from the
province of Guangdong and the special administrative regions of
Hong Kong and Macao have been "reunited" at the Beijing Hotel this
year during the fifth sessions of the
Ninth National
People's Congress and Ninth National Committee of
Chinese People's
Political Consultative Conference.
A
staff member of the election liaison committee of the People's
Congress from Guangdong Province said: "For some reason, the
Guangdong delegation was shifted from the Five Continent Hotel to
Beijing Hotel."
Before their return, Hong Kong and Macao both had been part of the
delegation group of Guangdong Province for accent and customs
reasons more than geographic reason. At that earlier time, the
three delegations "ate together, lived together, worked together"
and went out together after a day's meeting at the Congress.
And now? How will the three delegations get along with each other?
Close together at the Beijing Hotel, one thing they can talk about
is the free-trade zone topic.
At
the urgings of local industrial and business groups who are in a
down period, Hong Kong SAR administration is making every effort to
promote integrated economic corporation with the mainland. Many
Hong Kong business men in the latter half of last year began to
advocate a free-trade zone with the mainland. So Guangdong Province
got caught up in the pace after Hong Kong's report to the central
government, hoping the zone might first be implemented in the Pearl
River delta.
Questions that will be the focus of concern among the three
delegations: Whether the zone should be setup between Hong Kong and
mainland or between Hong Kong, Macao and Guangdong Province and how
to get the permission from the central government. The topic is
very sensitive for it relates to the unbalanced development already
existing among inland regions.
Facing China's entry into the World Trade Organization, the three
regions are more eager than ever corporate with each other. But the
rising competition not only between nations but also between inland
regions makes the situation more complex. Under the policy of
"taking the overall situation in the country into account," they
have more troubles to deal with.
For instance, Governor of Guangdong Province Lu Ruihua recently
emphasized the flow of goods and materials at a local people's
congress session. Data shows that 68 percent of foreign trade
container processing in Hong Kong comes from the Pearl River delta,
which indicates the significance of Hong Kong for the development
of inland areas in this field. About 100 Hong Kong logistic
investors had invested in mainland by early this year, most in
Guangdong and Shanghai. The current problem confronting the sector
is not how much money should be invested, but where to invest.
In
the financial sector, the policy research department of Shenzhen
and the Shenzhen branch of the
recently issued a new strategy to cope with challenges from China's
entry into WTO. A significant policy involved attracting small and
medium-sized Hong Kong banks to develop in Shenzheng, which is not
a good news for Hong Kong. Hong Kong Monetary Authority now is
seeking a win-win solution.
Confronted by national interests and regional interests, the three
regions face no easy way to solve these problems. Being an
export-oriented economy and plagued by recession in western
markets, Hong Kong is urgently in need of support from Guangdong
Province which is at its heyday. The free-trade zoo is a way out.
On the part of Guangdong, such a free-trade zone can "add flowers
to the brocade."
(GD--HK Information Daily
03/04/2002, translated by Li Liangdu for china.org.cn)