LCQ11: Hong Kong's efforts to integrate itself into overall development of the country
26.4.2023

Following is a question by the Hon Carmen Kan and a written reply by the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Erick Tsang Kwok-wai, in the Legislative Council today (April 26): Question: Regarding Hong Kong's efforts to better integrate itself into the overall development of the country and to dovetail itself with national development strategies, will the Government inform this Council: (1) given that the Government has, in the 2022 Policy Address, announced the establishment of the Steering Group on Integration into National Development and pointed out that the work of the Steering Group would cover four major areas, whilst the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau has earlier indicated that with three sets of strategies as guiding directions, the Steering Group has set up working subgroups led respectively by the three Secretaries of Departments, of the details and latest progress of the work carried out by the Government in respect of the four major areas and the three sets of strategies; (2) of the details and latest progress of the work on the 13 Guangdong-Hong Kong task forces and the 19 Shenzhen-Hong Kong task forces set up by the Hong Kong SAR Government with the Guangdong Provincial Government and the Shenzhen Municipal Government respectively; and (3) of the mechanism for regularly reporting to the Legislative Council on the work carried out by the Government in relation to integration with national strategies such as the National 14th Five-Year Plan, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area development and the Belt and Road Initiative? Reply: President, In order to enable Hong Kong to better utilise the advantages of enjoying strong support of the Motherland and being closely connected to the world, the Chief Executive announced in the 2022 Policy Address the establishment of the Steering Group on Integration into National Development ("the Steering Group"). "The Steering Group" strengthens top-level overall leadership, promotes and supervises work on integrating into the overall national development from a macro perspective. It also dovetails with national strategies and injects continuous impetus to the growth of Hong Kong. Regarding the Hon Carmen Kan's question, after consultation with the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, our consolidated reply is as follows: (1) "The Steering Group" is chaired by the Chief Executive, with three Secretaries of Departments as deputies, enhancing the top-level leadership from "1" to "1+3". "The Steering Group" holistically co-ordinates and provides steer for the initiatives of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on integration into the overall national development from a strategic, macro and high-level perspective, so as to actively dovetail with national strategies such as the National 14th Five-Year Plan, development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and high quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative, and strengthen co-operation with different regions in the Mainland. According to the steer of the Chief Executive, in promoting Hong Kong's integration into the country's overall development, the HKSAR Government needs to play a role in making achievements and best take forward three aspects of work in particular. Firstly, all policy bureaux should spare no effort in conducting research, including consultation with relevant trades and stakeholders. Secondly, it is about planning and co-ordination and leading Principal Officials should play an active role. Thirdly, targets should be set and the progress should be closely monitored to ensure the attainment of the targets. "The Steering Group" has convened two plenary meetings thus far. It has discussed the key and priority policies and initiatives in dovetailing with national strategies, and reviewed the relevant work progress, future key initiatives and work plans. Besides, the three Secretaries of Departments have led the relevant working groups and reported to the Chief Executive. Under the principles of being proactive and pragmatic and achieving mutual benefits, "the Steering Group" will continue to formulate and implement policy measures to facilitate Hong Kong's active integration into overall national development, thereby seizing the unlimited opportunities brought about by the country's overall development and strengthening impetus to the growth of the HKSAR. (2) In order to further enhance the all-round cooperation between Guangdong and Hong Kong, and between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, as well as to promote the high quality development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, 13 and 19 task forces have been established after discussion and upon agreement with Guangdong and Shenzhen respectively. The coverage of the task forces include innovation and technology, finance, commerce and trade, youth employment, entrepreneurship and internship, promotion of legal and dispute resolution services, the Northern Metropolis, maritime and aviation, logistics, etc. At present, the task forces have started interfacing in order to actively and pragmatically take forward the related work. (3) As regards reporting the work progress on relevant national strategies to the Legislative Council (LegCo), the Chief Executive has set out in the 2022 Policy Address the relevant measures and plans of the HKSAR for promoting national strategies such as the National 14th Five-Year Plan, development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Belt and Road Initiative, and the purviews of various policy bureaux involved. The policy bureaux also submitted papers to various panels of the LegCo for discussion after the Policy Address, explaining in detail the progress and future plans of the relevant initiatives. Moreover, the policy bureaux and departments also reported to and consulted relevant panels of the LegCo the progress of individual initiatives from time to time. For example, in June 2021, a number of policy bureaux of the HKSAR Government jointly reported to the then LegCo Panel on Commerce and Industry in respect of the National 14th Five-Year Plan. For the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the LegCo House Committee also established the Subcommittee on Promoting Development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (the Subcommittee) in April 2022 to explore various strategies for facilitating Hong Kong's participation in the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The Subcommittee has convened eight meetings thus far. The discussion topics include legal services development, portable welfare benefits and elderly services, medical services development, arts and culture collaboration, sports collaboration and exchange, tourism development, financial services development, transport and logistics development, innovation and technology development, education, talents co-operation and employment support, commerce and trade development, etc. At the Subcommittee meetings, the relevant policy bureaux reported on various policy areas related to the development of the Greater Bay Area, and fully listened to Members' views. The HKSAR Government will continue to report to the LegCo the work progress related to HKSAR's integration into the overall national development from time to time, and respond to questions from Members.