Qiu Yinghua: "The 15th Five-Year Plan" Kickoff — Fully Strengthen and Elevate Hong Kong's Position as an International Trade Center

China News Service Beijing, March 22 — Title: Exclusive Interview with Qiu Yinghua: Starting the “14th Five-Year Plan” with Full Effort to Strengthen Hong Kong’s Position as an International Trade Center

Author: Zhang Xiaoxi, Li Zexuan

“In the new year, our key task is to consolidate Hong Kong’s status as an international trade center and enhance overall competitiveness,” said Qiu Yinghua, Director of the Hong Kong SAR Government’s Commerce and Economic Development Bureau (hereinafter referred to as “Commerce and Economic Bureau”), in an exclusive interview with China News Service in Beijing. “In the first year of the ‘14th Five-Year Plan,’ the bureau will focus on this main line to help Hong Kong better integrate into and serve the country’s development strategy.”

Building Professional Platforms to Support Mainland Enterprises Going Global

Qiu Yinghua stated that an important approach to strengthening Hong Kong’s position as an international trade center is to assist mainland enterprises in “going out.” In his view, this is a crucial support point for the country’s opening-up strategy and an important path for Hong Kong to expand its development space.

Qiu Yinghua pointed out that enterprise overseas expansion is closely related to the overall economic development of the country and Hong Kong’s own prosperity. Currently, Hong Kong has signed nine free trade agreements with 21 economies and 24 investment agreements with 33 overseas economies, forming a broad trade network that will be further expanded in the future.

On March 20, at the “Hong Kong Business Advantages Empower Mainland Enterprises Going Global” seminar in Beijing, Qiu Yinghua introduced that Hong Kong has built a one-stop professional service platform covering legal, financial, accounting, and certification fields.

He said that mainland enterprises can expand their international business by establishing regional headquarters in Hong Kong, engaging in offshore trade, setting up supply chain and financial management centers, and more. They can also use the Hong Kong market for financing and listing. “For mainland enterprises, leveraging Hong Kong’s platform to go abroad is very advantageous.”

On March 21, Qiu Yinghua, Director of the Hong Kong SAR Government’s Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, gave an exclusive interview to China News Service in Beijing, emphasizing that consolidating Hong Kong’s status as an international trade center is a key task for the new year. Photo by Xu Junjie

Deepening Greater Bay Area Integration and Strengthening the Role of “Super Connectors”

The “14th Five-Year Plan” emphasizes deepening the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. By integrating into and serving the development of the Greater Bay Area, Hong Kong can connect with international markets and better participate in national development.

Qiu Yinghua pointed out that under the framework of the “Mainland and Hong Kong Arrangements for Closer Economic and Trade Relations” (CEPA), 153 service sectors are open to Hong Kong, covering 95.6% of the 160 service sectors in the World Trade Organization, providing broad opportunities for enterprises to enter the mainland market.

He also mentioned that Hong Kong is exploring mechanisms such as “Hong Kong capital, Hong Kong law, Hong Kong arbitration” within the Greater Bay Area, attracting foreign-invested enterprises to settle in Hong Kong first, then enter mainland cities within the area, creating a virtuous cycle of “bringing in” and “going out.”

Optimizing Business Environment and Expanding Global Networks

In the context of complex and changing global geopolitical environments, Qiu Yinghua stated that Hong Kong’s common law system, free capital flow, and sound legal environment provide stable expectations for global enterprises and are key factors in attracting capital inflows. By 2025, the number of Hong Kong-based companies with parent companies in mainland China and overseas will increase to 11,070, up 1,110 from 2024, a year-on-year increase of 11%.

Qiu Yinghua also discussed that Hong Kong has previously achieved certain success in developing the Middle East market. In the future, the layout will be adjusted to extend the trade network to Central Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Africa, ensuring the stability of global supply chains and attracting more enterprises to invest in Hong Kong.

Finally, Qiu Yinghua outlined the key work focus for the new year: continuously expanding the global trade network, fully supporting mainland enterprises in going abroad, and building Hong Kong into a regional intellectual property trade center. “Only with these three aspects working well can Hong Kong’s overall economy be improved,” he emphasized. (End)