By Tu Haiming

At a symposium held last Friday, Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, urged Hong Kong entrepreneurs to take “concrete action” to assist the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government to build a better Hong Kong and further contribute to national rejuvenation.

He specifically exhorted entrepreneurs to support the SAR government in implementing its long-term development plan for expanding the city’s growth potential, and to fulfill their corporate social responsibility by contributing more to improving people’s well-being.

Xia’s remarks reflect the central authorities’ earnest expectations that Hong Kong entrepreneurs have a broader vision, an insight into the overall global situation, and a strong sense of social responsibility.

Only with a long-term vision and an insight into the overall global situation can Hong Kong entrepreneurs recognize the general trends in both national and global development, which is crucial to their own business development. These trends include China’s rising international standing and economic strength, the emergence of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area as a world-class “innovation pole” and “growth pole“, the center of economic gravity’s shift from West to East, and the fact that emerging economies led by China are growing much faster than developed countries’ economies. For example, BRICS accounted for a third of global GDP in 2023 in purchasing power parity terms, while the share of Group of Seven economies fell to 29 percent.

Against the backdrop of such major national and global developments, the central authorities hope that the Hong Kong business community will plan its own business development from a broader perspective under the context of overall national development and Hong Kong’s long-term development strategy. This requires Hong Kong entrepreneurs to look beyond short-term and narrow interests, and shift their focus to the long-term and broader interests of the city. After all, economic development is not a zero-sum game but a win-win one for all stakeholders: A bigger economic pie will benefit the entrepreneurs as well.

Since the establishment of the SAR, successive administrations have formulated numerous development blueprints for the city. Yet, many of the proposed initiatives have failed, and the city’s development in many areas — such as innovation and technology, and GDP growth and size — has fallen well behind its neighbor Shenzhen. Hindrance by vested interests is partly to blame. In this sense, Xia’s exhortation to Hong Kong entrepreneurs — “to firmly support the SAR government in implementing its long-term development plan…(and) put the overall interests of Hong Kong first” — hit the nail on the head.

Xia specifically mentioned the Northern Metropolis project, which is crucial to Hong Kong’s development over the next few decades. The faster the metropolis is built, the better for both the city’s and Hong Kong entrepreneurs’ future development. The immediate problem is that a large part of the land within the planned area is being hoarded by a few property companies, which have their own ideas about how to use their land resources. Development of the new town will be delayed should those landowners insist on their own ideas and not cooperate with the government according to the master plan. Thus, it is hoped that those landowners change their strategies to support the development of the Northern Metropolis by releasing their land resources for housing and industrial development, rather than hoarding the land to reap price appreciation.

At a pivotal juncture in Hong Kong’s development, Xia’s exhortation for Hong Kong entrepreneurs is extremely relevant, and should be heeded by the business community

Of course, the conflict between overall interests and narrow interests is not confined to land hoarding. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu came up with many proposals and initiatives for economic development and livelihood improvement in his latest Policy Address, which cannot be achieved without the strong support of the business community. Understandably, Xia expressed his hope that those in the Hong Kong business community would “fulfill their corporate social responsibility and contribute more to the improvement of people’s well-being”.

Take the city’s “housing crunch” — its biggest livelihood problem — for example. The sixth-term SAR government has made considerable progress by introducing numerous measures to boost the supply of public and private housing. However, the issue is still far from being resolved. The support of the business community is crucial to ultimately tackling it.

Additionally, the SAR government is trying to reduce the cost of living. But many livelihood-related sectors such as electricity, fuel, gas and transportation are under the control of private enterprises. It needs a consensus between the government, enterprises and the public to set reasonable prices. Relevant enterprises should strike a balance between corporate profits and social common good.

Traditionally, the Hong Kong business community has adhered to their corporate social responsibility and contributed to the betterment of people’s livelihoods, winning recognition from the central government and praise from the SAR government and Hong Kong residents. The new generation of entrepreneurs should continue this good tradition of their predecessors.  

At a pivotal juncture in Hong Kong’s development, Xia’s exhortation for Hong Kong entrepreneurs is extremely relevant, and should be heeded by the business community.

The author is vice-chairman of the Committee on Liaison with Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Overseas Chinese of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, and chairman of the Hong Kong New Era Development Thinktank.The views do not necessarily reflect those of Bauhinia Magazine.