High-Level Meeting cum Signing Ceremony of Hong Kong/Jiangsu Co-operation Agreements held in Hong Kong (13.10.2023)
13.10.2023

The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, and the Secretary of the CPC Jiangsu Provincial Committee, Mr Xin Changxing, leading the delegations of the governments of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Jiangsu respectively, held the High-Level Meeting cum Signing Ceremony of Hong Kong/Jiangsu Co-operation Agreements in Hong Kong today (October 13). Mr Lee and Mr Xin jointly witnessed the signing of a number of co-operation agreements between Hong Kong and Jiangsu for promoting and deepening joint developments and strengthening complementarity and mutual benefits. Mr Lee said that both Hong Kong and Jiangsu are important to the country's high-quality development. Jiangsu is a major economic province of the country and plays an important role in the development strategies of integration of the Yangtze River Delta and the Yangtze River Economic Belt. Hong Kong is one of the core cities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and has the distinctive advantages of "one country, two systems" as well as enjoying strong support of the motherland and being closely connected to the world. Hong Kong's "eight centres" under the National 14th Five-Year Plan complements Jiangsu's development positioning of "one centre, one base, one hub". Deepening co-operation between the two places will surely create greater, more and better development opportunities. Hong Kong and Jiangsu reached consensus in 12 co-operation areas including: The "Belt and Road" Initiative ——————————————— Support and encourage Jiangsu enterprises to use Hong Kong as a platform for making overseas investments and setting up headquarters and capital management centres. Organise Jiangsu enterprises to participate in the "Belt and Road" Summit in Hong Kong and jointly organise activities such as the Belt and Road Salon with the Hong Kong Trade Development Council for jointly developing third-party markets and achieving mutual benefits through co-operation. Finance ———— Support the finance departments and financial institutions of both sides to forge ahead with personnel and business exchanges, and co-operation in respect of the "Belt and Road" initiative, green finance, digital finance, fintech, capital markets, etc. Encourage Jiangsu enterprises to use Hong Kong's financial market for listing, issuing bonds and financing in Hong Kong in order to promote the deep integration of Jiangsu's economy and Hong Kong's financial resources. Innovation and technology —————————————— Support Jiangsu in strengthening co-operation between the High-tech Industrial Development Zone, industrial technology research institute and enterprises in Jiangsu, and research and development organisations and innovation and technology platforms in Hong Kong, for exploring the setting up of joint scientific, research and innovation facilities, offshore innovation centres or innovation spaces. Support Hong Kong higher education institutions to set up innovation co-operation carriers in Jiangsu for technology incubation and transfer, etc. Organise Jiangsu enterprises to participate in activities such as InnoEX, Start-up Express, etc to facilitate the exchange, transformation and realisation of technology of both sides. Trade and industry —————————— Support Hong Kong-funded enterprises and Hong Kong head offices of multinational corporations to increase investment and set up regional head offices or functional organisations in Jiangsu. Support Hong Kong-funded enterprises to participate in the cultivation and construction of key clusters in Jiangsu for technological transformation, and encourage Hong Kong-funded enterprises to undergo artificial intelligence and digital transformation. Support the intellectual property related organisations, personnel and enterprises in Jiangsu and Hong Kong to participate in activities such as exchange sessions and forums in the two places for promoting intellectual property commercialisation and intellectual property trading. Construction and modern service industry ————————————————————— Strengthen the co-operation in constructing a barrier-free environment. Promote the co-operation and exchange between the governments, associations and enterprises of both sides in respect of talent, technology, management, etc in the construction industry. Take advantage of Jiangsu's focus on advanced manufacturing industries and Hong Kong's strength in globalised service industries to promote the complementarity of the "two industries" in the two places. Proactively explore and develop new business models for the service industry, and promote the migration of capital and operation to the high-end service industry. Legal services ——————— Support the implementation of the trial scheme on law firm partnership in Jiangsu under which the law firms in the two places can enter into partnerships and establish branches, and encourage Jiangsu's law firms to engage Hong Kong legal practitioners as legal advisers. Support Jiangsu mediation and arbitration institutions to connect and establish co-operative relations with Hong Kong mediation and arbitration institutions to provide professional and international commercial arbitration and mediation services for the enterprises in the two places. Education ————— Support the establishment of a co-operative alliance of Jiangsu, Hong Kong and Macao; encourage the higher education institutions to carry out educational exchange and co-operation; and strengthen personnel training, teacher exchanges, academic research, etc. Encourage secondary and primary schools in the two places to form sister school pairs for conducting diversified exchange activities. Support vocational schools and enterprises in the two places to carry out projects such as joint student training and school-enterprise co-operation. Culture and tourism —————————— Develop cultural exchange and co-operation projects of Jiangsu and Hong Kong; support both sides to carry out culture and art exchange activities such as theatrical performances, intangible cultural heritage performances and art exhibitions; and motivate cultural organisations in the two places to conduct academic exchanges, exhibit exchanges and exhibition tours. Strengthen regional tourism exchanges and co-operation between Jiangsu and Hong Kong; support the promotion of cultural tourism in the two places and develop specific markets such as business exhibitions, leisure vacations, educational tours, etc. Health and hygiene —————————— Support medical personnel in the two places to conduct study exchanges; enhance academic and talent exchanges in Chinese medicine between the two places, and strengthen co-operation in the field of international standardisation of Chinese medicine. Support Hong Kong to conduct "Asia Summit on Global Health" and organise relevant units and enterprises to participate in the event. Strengthen co-operation and exchanges of both sides in respect of public health, infectious disease prevention and control, health emergency response, public hospital management and health promotion. Exchange of talent —————————— Encourage Hong Kong high-level talent to participate in Jiangsu's support scheme for high-level talent. Enable Hong Kong young talent engaging in innovative and entrepreneurial activities in Jiangsu to enjoy various talent policies stipulated by the country and Jiangsu, entrepreneurship project support, financing support, use of production and business premises, etc. Organise study activities in Jiangsu for the national studies programme for civil servants of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR Government) for sharing management experience in public services and professional knowledge. Youth development ———————— Support relevant organisations in Jiangsu and Hong Kong to deepen the exchanges and co-operation in various areas for youths in the two places. Support Hong Kong youths to start businesses in Jiangsu; and strengthen Jiangsu and Hong Kong (International) Innovation and Entrepreneurial Bases to build a professional platform of innovation and entrepreneurship for Hong Kong youths. The HKSAR Government supports a certain number of Hong Kong youths to go to Jiangsu each year for exchange and taking part in innovative and entrepreneurial activities under the Youth Development Fund or by mobilising social capital. Facilitation for Hong Kong people in the Mainland ———————————————————————— Jiangsu fully implements the policies and measures introduced by the relevant Central Government departments to facilitate the development of Hong Kong and Macao residents in the Mainland; supports the work of Hong Kong organisations in Jiangsu; and protects the rights of Hong Kong people in Jiangsu in respect of basic public services stipulated by the country and their place of residence. Signing ceremony of co-operation agreements —————————————————— At the meeting, the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, and Vice Governor of Jiangsu Provincial People's Government Mr Fang Wei signed the "Co-operation Agreement between the People’s Government of Jiangsu Province and the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administration Region on Deepening the Exchange of Jiangsu and Hong Kong". The document (Chinese only) is at Annex 1. In addition, five co-operation agreements were signed by government departments and organisations of the two places: "Memorandum of Understanding between the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Education and the Education Bureau of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region"; "Memorandum of Understanding between Jiangsu Youth Federation and the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on Jointly Deepening Youth Exchange and Development Co-operation"; "Memorandum of Understanding between Jiangsu Provincial Department of Science and Technology and the Innovation and Technology Commission of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on Launching Innovation and Technology Co-operation."; "Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of Commerce of Jiangsu Province and Invest Hong Kong of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region"; and "Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of Commerce of Jiangsu Province and Hong Kong Trade Development Council on Deepening Economic and Trade Co-operation". The "Memorandum of Understanding between the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Education and the Education Bureau of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region", "Memorandum of Understanding between Jiangsu Youth Federation and the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on Jointly Deepening Youth Exchange and Development Co-operation", "Memorandum of Understanding between Jiangsu Provincial Department of Science and Technology and the Innovation and Technology Commission of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on Launching Innovation and Technology Co-operation", and "Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of Commerce of Jiangsu Province and Invest Hong Kong of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region" (Chinese only) signed by the HKSAR Government bureaux and departments and Jiangsu are at Annex 2 , Annex 3, Annex 4 and Annex 5 respectively. Officials of the HKSAR Government accompanying the Chief Executive to attend the signing ceremony include the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki; the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Erick Tsang Kwok-wai; the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Algernon Yau; the Secretary for Education, Dr Choi Yuk-lin; the Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, Professor Sun Dong; the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Miss Alice Mak; and the Director of the Chief Executive's Office, Ms Carol Yip, etc. Ends/Friday, October 13, 2023 Issued at HKT 20:41 NNNN