LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 July 2021 8047

OFFICIAL RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS

Thursday, 8 July 2021

The Council continued to meet at Nine o'clock

MEMBERS PRESENT:

THE PRESIDENT THE HONOURABLE KWAN-YUEN, G.B.M., G.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE LAI-HIM, G.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE YU-YAN, G.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE KIN-FUNG, G.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE WONG TING-KWONG, G.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE WAI-KING, S.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE CHAN HAK-KAN, S.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE CHAN KIN-POR, G.B.S., J.P.

DR THE HONOURABLE MEI-FUN, S.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE MRS LAU SUK-YEE, G.B.M., G.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE CHI-MING, S.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE YIU SI-WING, S.B.S.

THE HONOURABLE MA FUNG-KWOK, G.B.S., J.P.

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THE HONOURABLE CHAN HAN-PAN, B.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE LEUNG CHE-CHEUNG, S.B.S., M.H., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE MEI-KUEN, B.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE WAH-FUNG, S.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE , B.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE MARTIN LIAO CHEUNG-KONG, G.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE POON SIU-PING, B.B.S., M.H.

THE HONOURABLE CHUNG KWOK-PAN

THE HONOURABLE JIMMY NG WING-KA, B.B.S., J.P.

DR THE HONOURABLE KWAN-YIU, J.P.

THE HONOURABLE HO-DING

THE HONOURABLE SHIU KA-FAI, J.P.

THE HONOURABLE CHONG-SHING, M.H.

THE HONOURABLE YUNG HOI-YAN, J.P.

THE HONOURABLE CHAN CHUN-YING, J.P.

THE HONOURABLE CHEUNG KWOK-KWAN, J.P.

THE HONOURABLE LUK CHUNG-HUNG, J.P.

THE HONOURABLE LAU KWOK-FAN, M.H., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE IP-KEUNG, B.B.S., M.H., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE WAI-CHUEN, B.B.S., J.P.

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MEMBERS ABSENT:

THE HONOURABLE WONG KWOK-KIN, G.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE WAI-CHUN, J.P.

THE HONOURABLE PUK-SUN, B.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE STEVEN HO CHUN-YIN, B.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE KWOK WAI-KEUNG, J.P.

DR THE HONOURABLE CHIANG LAI-WAN, S.B.S., J.P.

IR DR THE HONOURABLE LO WAI-KWOK, G.B.S., M.H., J.P.

DR THE HONOURABLE

DR THE HONOURABLE CHENG CHUNG-TAI

THE HONOURABLE VINCENT CHENG WING-SHUN, M.H., J.P.

PUBLIC OFFICER ATTENDING:

THE HONOURABLE TANG-WAH, G.B.S., J.P. SECRETARY FOR COMMERCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

CLERK IN ATTENDANCE:

MR MATTHEW LOO, ASSISTANT SECRETARY GENERAL

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MEMBERS' OTHER MOTIONS

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Member's motion with no legislative effect.

Mr Martin LIAO will move a motion on "Actively seizing the opportunities arising from the country's new development pattern featuring 'dual circulation' to revitalize the post-pandemic economy".

Members who wish to speak please press the "Request to speak" button.

I now call upon Mr Martin LIAO to speak and move the motion.

MOTION ON "ACTIVELY SEIZING THE OPPORTUNITIES ARISING FROM THE COUNTRY'S NEW DEVELOPMENT PATTERN FEATURING 'DUAL CIRCULATION' TO REVITALIZE THE POST-PANDEMIC ECONOMY"

MR MARTIN LIAO (in Cantonese): President, I am very grateful to Mr WONG Ting-kwong for proposing a motion yesterday, which enabled this Council to have an in-depth discussion on the opportunities brought by the 14th Five-Year Plan. My following motion also has an inextricable connection with the 14th Five-Year Plan because the guiding principles and strategic directions of the 14th Five-Year Plan are essentially about "dual circulation", i.e. accelerating the establishment of a new development pattern featuring domestic and international "dual circulation", which takes the domestic market as the mainstay while enabling domestic and foreign markets to interact positively with each other. The new development pattern of "dual circulation" spans beyond the medium and long-term strategies for the 14th Five-Year Plan period. Our country has made this strategic arrangement to seize the initiative for future development, taking into account the increasingly complicated international environment, and the development situation and stage of the Chinese economy.

Simply put, this new development pattern endeavours to unleash the domestic demand potential by generating new demand with innovation-driven development and high-quality supply. This will ensure the sustainable development of a gigantic domestic market, with domestic circulation serving as the main driving force to sustain the domestic economic development. At the same time, the country will pursue high-level opening up to the outside world to LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 July 2021 8051 provide more extensive market opportunities worldwide. This will strengthen the leading role of domestic circulation in "dual circulation", while attracting products, resources and materials from all over the world to China and giving our country new edges in international cooperation and competition, thereby creating a new win-win situation under the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, and driving the recovery of the global economy.

President, the establishment of the new development pattern of "dual circulation" is a systematic and deep-level reform concerning the overall situation of the country. How much do Hong Kong people know about this new national strategy? How should Hong Kong give play to our positioning in this new development, leverage the unique advantages under "one country, two systems", play an active part in establishing this new development pattern, and take this opportunity to break our development bottleneck? Can various industries and sectors of Hong Kong seize these major historic opportunities? How can we enable members of the public, especially young people, to find suitable development pathways by embracing these opportunities? All these very much depend on the SAR Government to assume a leading role by offering appropriate support and serving as a connector as well as a facilitator.

President, Hong Kong and the Motherland are closely related and mutually dependent. The future strategic positioning of Hong Kong also hinges on "dual circulation". The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly accelerated the changes in the international landscape and reinforced the trend of deglobalization, leading to the restructuring of the industrial chain and a plunge in international trade and investment. According to the figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the global foreign direct investment flows recorded a significant year-on-year decline of nearly 40% last year amid the pandemic, but China, one of the few major economies which bucked the trend and registered growth, overtook the United States as the top destination for foreign direct investment worldwide. Meanwhile, protectionism and unilateralism have emerged in some countries, and geopolitical risk is on the rise. In an attempt to suppress China, some countries even keep seeking excuses to blatantly interfere in China's internal affairs and impose "unilateral and long-arm sanctions" against the international laws. As Hong Kong cannot be spared from the current jockeying between great powers, "dual circulation" is the path to "open up new opportunities under the changing circumstances".

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"Dual circulation" is a diverse and multifaceted strategy. Moreover, expanding domestic demand is not only about boosting consumption, but also developing new form of consumption, digital consumption and green consumption, as well as education and training, medical and healthcare services, elderly and child care, culture, tourism, sports, service consumption, etc. Besides, it is also about promoting high-quality development, transforming traditional industries, developing strategic emerging industries, and accelerating the development of modern service industries. Considering the economic development pattern of all great powers, they all gradually shift their development focus from an externally oriented model to domestic circulation. Following many years of rapid export-driven growth, our country has entered a high-quality development phase. China boasts the world's largest industrial system, and a gigantic domestic sales market serving a 1.4 billion population which includes over 400 million middle-income individuals. It is undergoing a rapid development phase to achieve the new type of industrialization, informatization, urbanization, and agricultural modernization, offering huge potential for investment demand.

Given its highly dynamic economy and geographical proximity to Hong Kong, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area ("GBA") is undoubtedly the best entry point for our participation in the domestic circulation, which will cover the whole country. In this new chapter, all industries and sectors can realize their potential so long as they are capable and innovative. While Hong Kong's pillar industries will certainly thrive and prosper, our emerging sectors and innovation and technology industry will also hit a purple patch. They may support their GBA counterparts in the development of such industries as artificial intelligence and biomedical technology, thereby promoting economic transformation. Other industries and sectors such as cultural and creative industries, higher education, manpower training and medical services as well as Hong Kong's quality brands may also flourish in this huge market. Hong Kong is not only international financial, transportation and trade centres as well as a global offshore Renminbi business hub, but also the intersection point of domestic and international circulations under the "dual circulation" development pattern, thus connecting with regional economic communities such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, and the Belt and Road Initiative. We may strive to become a key hub for the "dual circulation" strategy by leveraging our advantages under "one LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 July 2021 8053 country, two systems". Of course, to play a part in establishing "dual circulation", we still have to make many plans, overcome various bottlenecks, and eliminate regulatory and institutional barriers.

One of the plans is to promote financial services to better serve the need of the real economy and improve the modern circulation system. By doing so, we may play the pivotal role of a capital market in facilitating the high-level circulation of technology, capital and the real economy. Hong Kong is one of the three leading financial centres in the world as well as China's international financial hub. Given our critical role in this respect, we may strengthen cooperation with the Mainland in areas such as innovative finance, Silk Road finance, people's livelihood finance, and green finance to facilitate the deep integration of innovative technology and innovative finance, drive the development of IPO (initial public offering), wealth management and offshore Renminbi market, and promote the internationalization of Renminbi. Under the new development pattern of "dual circulation", digital Renminbi will assume a more important strategic role. GBA has been designated as one of the places for conducting digital Renminbi trials. Hong Kong may even act as a pioneer in the internationalization of digital Renminbi, while promoting the digitalization of our financial services.

President, I am unable to go into the details today due to time constraints, but I hope that Hong Kong people, especially young people, can understand the importance of "dual circulation" to the future development of Hong Kong. They should also look beyond Hong Kong, and should not let misunderstanding and prejudice stand in the way of pursuing their dreams in the Mainland. China is a major driving force for global economic recovery. In order to revitalize the economy after the pandemic, Hong Kong should not only implement stringent epidemic control measures in a bid to reopen the borders as soon as possible, but also foster deeper integration into the overall development of the country, thereby paving the way for economic recovery in a more expeditious and stable manner.

President, I so submit.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mr Martin LIAO, please move your motion.

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MR MARTIN LIAO (in Cantonese): President, I move that the motion, as printed on the Agenda, be passed.

Mr Martin LIAO moved the following motion: (Translation)

"That this Council urges the SAR Government to lead various sectors in Hong Kong to actively seize the major historic opportunities arising from the country's accelerated establishment of a new development pattern featuring 'domestic and international dual circulation, which takes the domestic market as the mainstay while enabling domestic and foreign markets to interact positively with each other', and give play to the advantages of 'one country, two systems' in deeper integration into the overall development of our country, with a view to paving the way for Hong Kong's post-pandemic economic revitalization in a more expeditious and stable manner, and take the opportunity to promote and implement diversification of the economy as well as enhance Hong Kong's position as an international financial centre, thereby exploring more development pathways for young people and the general public and achieving mutual benefits with the Mainland."

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): I now propose the question to you and that is: That the motion moved by Mr Martin LIAO be passed.

SECRETARY FOR COMMERCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (in Cantonese): President, during the last motion debate yesterday, the Legislative Council focused on discussing the opportunities brought about by the "Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of the People's Republic of China and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035" ("the 14th Five-Year Plan") to various sectors of Hong Kong in the coming five years. This can be said to be in line with and correspond to the motion proposed by Mr Martin LIAO today. China is the second largest economy in the world with the largest population. According to the statistics of the World Economic Forum in 2019, China's GDP (Gross Domestic Product) accounts for around one-fifth of the world's GDP, and the size of the market is indisputable. The remarkable economic performance of the country, as well as its economic, trade and global development strategies are crucial to Hong Kong's function and status as the country's most liberal financial, trading, logistics and shipping centre.

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More importantly, the economic structure of the Mainland has made substantial improvements in the past, especially in the 40 years of reform and opening up. In the past, the country's economy was driven by reform and opening up as well as trade development, and as Mr LIAO has said earlier, it has shifted from externally-oriented to internally-oriented. In recent years, the share of individual consumption in its economy has been increasing. In other words, the country is getting rich gradually and generally, with the number of middle-class people increasing significantly. As shown in a recent think-tank study, the current middle-class population in the Mainland accounts for one-fifth of that in the world, which precisely proves the rapid growth of consumption in the Mainland, making it a huge and blooming market which draws global attention. The Mainland is now the world's third largest state of import of both goods and services.

The world economy has been hard hit by the pandemic, sparing no country or place. However, the country's efforts in disease control and prevention have been proper and effective, and have yielded remarkable results. Last year, the Mainland was one of the very few economies in the world which managed to maintain positive economic growth. As recently announced by the World Bank, the economic growth of the Mainland of China this year is predicted to be 8.5%, which is significantly higher than the global average; the growth in individual consumption also reaches 11.5%. In the context of global economic development, China is the "locomotive" and the main source of momentum for economic recovery.

The development strategies of the country aptly demonstrate the progress and needs of the economic development of China. Under the framework of the 14th Five-Year Plan, the country has proposed the "dual circulation" strategy. This together with the Belt and Road Initiative and the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area ("GBA") will create more favourable development conditions for the enterprises in the Mainland. On the one hand, these enterprises can "go global" to develop an international dimension to their business operations and attract investments from the rest of the world. On the other hand, they maintain their own, regional as well as global economic growth through enhancing their own strengths. The aforesaid series of liberalization measures, including the major economic and trade policies of opening up and reform, home-grown and indigenous innovation, as well as mutual access and integration, are not only a way for the country to further develop its wealth and strength, but also a positive and responsible response 8056 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 July 2021 which can be made by the country to the immense post-pandemic economic challenges faced by the world and the resurgence of protectionism. The development pattern featuring "dual circulation" highlighted in the 14th Five-Year Plan will further drive the growth of trade and consumption in the Mainland, providing greater and more business opportunities for enterprises. For this reason, I strongly agree with the proposal of Mr Martin LIAO that Hong Kong must seize the opportunities arising from the country's "dual circulation" to integrate into the overall development of the country more deeply, extensively and comprehensively, so that Hong Kong can both benefit from and contribute to it.

Being the closest economic partner of the Mainland, Hong Kong has been closely following the development of the Mainland and exploring win-win business opportunities therein. Also, the SAR Government has been providing support and assistance through concrete measures at the policy level. In each of the policy addresses and budgets prepared by the current-term Government over the past four years, there were always new policies, actions and support measures to strengthen cooperation with the Mainland in different areas with an aim of creating the best conditions for Hong Kong enterprises to develop business opportunities in the Mainland as well as internationally.

Some of these policies and concrete measures were proposed at a time of economic prosperity. For example, in 2017 and 2018, we proposed the positioning, role and contribution of Hong Kong in the Belt and Road Initiative for market expansion. These measures were also proposed in the midst of an imminent United States-China trade war, so that enterprises and the Mainland could jointly cope with the increasingly hostile trade environment. These measures include exploring and deepening the domestic circulation market, as well as exploring economic and trade ties between neighbouring regions and the Mainland more proactively. It is hoped that these measures can turn risks into opportunities, facilitate a rebound, and help enterprises tide over the difficult time and continue to "go global" amid the rampant global epidemic which has brought tremendous blows and adversities. Most importantly, these measures will enable us to seize the business opportunities offered by the country and created jointly by Hong Kong and the country. On the one hand, we have continued to strengthen Hong Kong's role as the country's key gateway, assisting enterprises in "going global" and "attracting" foreign capital. On the other hand, we have reinforced Hong Kong's status as an international trade and investment hub and LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 July 2021 8057 the preferred platform for developing markets along the Belt and Road through signing free trade, investment and avoidance of double taxation agreements with more overseas economies, as well as promotion and publicity.

In the meantime, we have taken advantage of the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) to seek more liberalization measures from the country to facilitate Hong Kong enterprises to continue to venture into the Mainland market. These measures cover professional services, trade in goods, and various industries including tourism, production of films and television programme, and publishing. Besides, the current-term Government has also repeatedly enhanced various measures for supporting enterprises. Taking the Dedicated Fund on Branding, Upgrading and Domestic Sales (the BUD Fund) and the SME Export Marketing Fund under the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau ("CEDB") as examples, we have injected a substantial amount of over $7 billion to help enterprises upgrade and restructure, expand and promote their businesses. The development of GBA is also the focus of work of the current-term Government. Since the signing of the framework for cooperation between the Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao governments and the National Development and Reform Commission in 2017, we have proposed some targeted measures in each policy address and budget to support Hong Kong enterprises in tapping into this market of over 70 million people, and then using GBA as the entry point to venture into the Mainland's even larger market of 1.4 billion people. This year, we have also provided additional funding subsidizing the Hong Kong Trade Development Council ("HKTDC") to launch the one-stop digital "GoGBA" platform in June and establish the HKTDC Greater Bay Area Centre in Shenzhen to provide comprehensive support to Hong Kong enterprises. These are some of the many concrete examples.

We can see that the aforesaid measures cannot be done overnight or behind closed doors. I clearly remember from my actual experience that many concrete policies were the result of repeated discussions and joint planning with the industry. The Legislative Council has also thought over it before being implemented with the extensive support of the Legislative Council and resources support. As I have also roughly calculated, over the past four years, together with the two motions proposed today and yesterday, CEDB has participated in not less than five motion debates on related issues, answered 25 Members' questions and submitted 33 papers to the Legislative Council's panels or subcommittees to discuss various issues on seizing business opportunities in the Mainland. I believe Members have a very in-depth understanding of the 8058 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 July 2021

Government's work, so I am not going to repeat here. However, I will listen attentively to the views expressed by Members later and provide a response after the debate. Thank you, President.

MR CHAN CHUN-YING (in Cantonese): President, the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China has explicitly proposed "accelerating the establishment of a new development pattern featuring 'dual circulation' which takes the domestic market as the mainstay while enabling domestic and foreign markets to interact positively with each other". I thank Mr Martin LIAO for proposing the motion on "Actively seizing the opportunities arising from the country's new development pattern featuring 'dual circulation' to revitalize the post-pandemic economy", which allows this Council to, through debate, urge the SAR Government to lead various sectors in Hong Kong to actively seize the major historic opportunities to achieve mutual benefits with the Mainland.

Since the reform and opening up of the Mainland, the "international circulation" pattern which "puts both ends of the production process on the world market and takes forward the strategy of 'large-volume import and export'" has achieved huge success. However, there are also flaws in this pattern, as it is not conducive to restructuring industries into medium-to-high-end industries, and is prone to stir up conflicts with other countries. In order to realize high-quality development, China must pursue innovation to achieve high-quality growth driven by domestic demand. This means that the previous models, dynamics, methods and paths for driving economic development will have to be adjusted and changed accordingly.

Being hard hit by the COVID-19 epidemic, the international economy has declined significantly and revived slowly, with global demand slumping severely. At present, international economic circulation is facing the risk of uncertainty and instability, and the industrial and supply chains are being restructured. In recent years, we have seen the rise of unilateralism and protectionism and the fall of globalization. The United States has not only waged trade wars and technology wars against China, but has also formed cliques and used many tricks like sanctions to elevate the risk of a decoupling of China and the United States. This highlights the fact that it is insecure for both the Mainland and Hong Kong to rely on international circulation alone.

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In the face of the new challenges and new opportunities arising from the profound changes in domestic and international landscape, Hong Kong, as one of the most free and open economies in the world, can play a key role and actively participate in a higher-level "dual circulation" interaction. For example, for the construction of 18 free trade zones and 1 free trade port in the Mainland, Hong Kong can provide its free port development experience of over a century, and provide concrete and feasible policy recommendations in terms of the free trade, free enterprise management, free currency circulation, free movement of people, free flow of information, legal system construction and world-class business construction, and assist them in achieving their goals as soon as possible.

Regarding financial opening, as Mr Martin LIAO has said earlier, Hong Kong as one of the three leading international financial centres in the world, can strengthen cooperation with the Mainland in areas such as innovative finance, silk road finance, people's livelihood finance, and green finance to accelerate the development of the capital market, the wealth management market and the offshore Renminbi market. While promoting a broader financial opening in the Mainland, Hong Kong can further enhance its status as an international financial centre.

Hong Kong is the intersection point of domestic and international circulations, playing a "participant" role in domestic circulation and a "facilitator" role in international circulation. Local enterprises should properly plan their future strategies of restructuring and upgrading, and participate more in the huge economic construction in the Mainland by, among others, (1) directly participating in the new infrastructure and new urbanization initiatives, as well as major transportation and water conservancy projects or their up- and downstream projects; (2) shifting the market focus to the Mainland; and (3) supporting the development of the relevant industries in the Mainland through capital contribution.

Most importantly, Hong Kong must better integrate into the overall development of the country, further deepen its economic and trade cooperation with the Mainland, support and complement the country's establishment of a new development pattern featuring "dual circulation", and particularly play a more significant role in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Belt and Road Initiative. Only in this way can Hong Kong, under the reform of a century genuinely, break through the economic development bottleneck and get out of the predicament brought about by the COVID-19 epidemic to chalk up even greater achievements.

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President, I support the motion of Mr Martin LIAO, and hope that the Government can actively consider adjusting the work practice and directions of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices in the Mainland and in overseas, so as to seize the opportunities brought to Hong Kong by the new development pattern featuring "dual circulation".

I so submit. Thank you, President.

MR CHAN KIN-POR (in Cantonese): President, the COVID-19 epidemic has dealt a heavy blow to the economy of Hong Kong and at the same time highlighted the shortcomings of the Hong Kong economy. Under the epidemic, while many grass roots, frontline workers and SME owners have had a very hard time, some individual industries are making handsome gains and most middle-class people are safe and sound. This scenario precisely reflects the seriously lopsided development of Hong Kong's economic industries, the significant deterioration of its overall competitiveness, and the problem of disparity between the rich and the poor. Now that the economy is gradually recovering, the Government must seriously consider the directions for Hong Kong's economy in future.

I am very thankful to Mr Martin LIAO for proposing today's motion, which allows Members to discuss Hong Kong's economic development from the perspective of the country's economic policy of "dual circulation". In recent years, western countries have been suppressing the rise of China by introducing various unreasonable suppression measures and even waging trade wars, and the country has taken many measures in response, including the "dual circulation" economy under discussion today. The "dual circulation" advocated by the country means taking the domestic market as the mainstay while enabling domestic and foreign markets to interact positively with each other. In fact, domestic circulation means striving for the expansion of the country's domestic demand and the development of the domestic market, so as to avoid over reliance on the international market. As for enabling domestic and foreign markets to interact positively with each other, it means that the international market will not be given up so that the two forms of market activities can develop jointly under "dual circulation".

In fact, "dual circulation" is of great importance to Hong Kong because Hong Kong is the intersection point of "dual circulation". If Hong Kong can participate in the development of "dual circulation", it will be able to fully enjoy LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 July 2021 8061 the benefits brought about by the "dual circulation" between China and the rest of the world. As for international circulation, with its unique advantage of "one country, two systems", Hong Kong has been playing an important role between the country and the rest of the world. Particularly, Hong Kong has done a lot in the areas of international financial, trading and professional services. As the game between China and the United States intensifies, Hong Kong's role as a liaison may become more important in the future. What Hong Kong needs to do now is to reinforce its status as an international financial and centre and maintain its internationalization, so that we will be able to make contributions and gain benefits when the country needs us in the future.

As for domestic circulation, many analyses have pointed out that the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area ("GBA") is the best entry point. There is a huge market in GBA and its future has become even more promising after the country decided to make the domestic market bigger and stronger. As the Financial Secretary has said, the number of middle-class people in the Mainland will increase from 400 million at present to 800 million 10 years later. As domestic demand continues to expand, Hong Kong will be able to integrate into the development of GBA in the areas of financial, trading and logistics, innovation and technology, professional services and so on. Therefore, I hope that the Government can expedite the implementation of the various proposals in the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, so as to open up the GBA market as soon as possible.

President, I wish to talk about the insurance industry. I believe the insurance industry will also become a beneficiary of domestic and international circulation. On international circulation, with the support of the Government, it has been planned in recent years that Hong Kong will be gradually developed into an international insurance hub, and the major businesses include marine insurance, specialty insurance, insurance-linked securities and reinsurance. It is expected that enterprises from all over the world will be attracted to participate in the relevant businesses. Hong Kong's insurance industry should be able to contribute to the country's promotion of international circulation. As for domestic circulation, the insurance industry is also striving to integrate into GBA. We are awaiting the country's formal approval for the establishment of after-sales service centres, and will then strive to sell Hong Kong insurance products in GBA. Given that Hong Kong's insurance products have all along been popular among Mainland residents, the industry believes if it can successfully tap into the Mainland market, it will be able to enjoy the benefits brought about by an 8062 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 July 2021 expansion of the Mainland market and introduce the characteristics of Hong Kong products to the Mainland residents. Therefore, the industry is ready to welcome this huge market.

In fact, the national policy of "dual circulation" will bring opportunities to Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong Government should be well prepared to lead various sectors to embrace the new era. Thank you, President.

MR YIU SI-WING (in Cantonese): President, in the light of the pandemic and changing international landscape, the Central Government proposed for the first time in May last year, to establish a new development pattern featuring domestic and international "dual circulation", which enables domestic and foreign markets to interact positively with each other. On the one hand, this aims to boost the vitality of the domestic circulation through the huge consumption market in the Mainland in order to facilitate economic development and expand domestic demand. On the other hand, given the competitive edge in China's products, innovation and technology, international circulation can further increase its revenues and influence at the international economic level. I am grateful to Mr Martin LIAO for proposing the motion, which enables us to discuss Hong Kong's integration into the overall development of the country with respect to our areas of concern.

Hong Kong is an externally oriented economy and relies heavily on the service industries. In particular, the four pillars of the economy are our priority industries. If we are able to contain the epidemic and enter the post-pandemic period under the planning for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area ("GBA"), the "dual circulation" strategy will offer the four pillar industries of Hong Kong greater room for development. The Government needs to seize the various opportunities brought by the "dual circulation" so that our economy can regain its growth momentum.

President, as the Mainland manages to contain the epidemic, its tourism industry is recovering steadily. According to the national Ministry of Culture and Tourism, China saw a total of 230 million domestic tourist trips during the May Day holiday this year, generating over RMB110 billion in revenue and is 77% of the corresponding pre-pandemic level. In neighbouring Macao, visitor arrivals totalled 3.4 million between January and May this year, with most of them from the Mainland. Although the number falls short of the level during normal times, its tourism industry has shown signs of recovery. The tourism LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 July 2021 8063 industry as one of the four pillars of Hong Kong, however, pales in comparison. Under the development pattern of "dual circulation" among the three places, tourism is still facing the most difficulties and will be the last industry to recover. Our inbound and outbound tourism remained frozen between January and May this year, with only 27 000 inbound visitors, representing a significant year-on-year decline of 99.2%. Given that there are still many uncertainties about the epidemic situation, the Government needs to continue to keep in view and offer assistance.

Tourism is one of Hong Kong's pillar industries, and our tourism sector has played a pivotal role in various aspects of tourism in GBA over the years. If there had not been the pandemic, Hong Kong would definitely have played a bigger role in the new development pattern of "dual circulation". Unfortunately, Hong Kong is still unable to resume cross-boundary travel with the Mainland and Macao. The Hong Kong-Singapore Air Travel Bubble has been postponed twice, with no date set for resumption. In view of the unprecedented plight, it is difficult for Hong Kong to play the intended role in the "dual circulation" pattern for the time being. Therefore, the industry and I have all along hoped that the Hong Kong Government will negotiate with the Mainland and Macao authorities for a border reopening mechanism to accommodate the post-pandemic new normal and resume cross-boundary travel as soon as possible. Only with the resumption of cross-boundary travel can various industries of Hong Kong, especially tourism, recover and have a chance to participate in the development of GBA or even China's domestic circulation, and then progressively take part in international circulation in the light of the overseas epidemic situation.

President, this year's Budget has earmarked $765 million for the Hong Kong Tourism Board ("HKTB"), with a short-term goal of boosting local consumption, a medium-term goal of bringing back visitors and a long-term goal of reinventing Hong Kong's tourism brand. However, given that a quarter of the current financial year has elapsed and no timetable has been set for the resumption of cross-boundary travel, there is arguably limited room for bringing back visitors and reinventing our tourism brand. Therefore, I hope that the resources will be mainly devoted to boosting local consumption. Recently, HKTB has introduced a range of activities under the "Free Tour" programme and they are well-received by consumers as well as the retail, catering and tourism sectors. HKTB should further increase the funding for the programme to benefit more sectors and members of the public, and enhance its overseas publicity work in the light of the actual situation.

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President, in view of the increasingly rapid economic development in the Mainland, Hong Kong's participation in the country's new development pattern of "dual circulation" will definitely do all good and no harm. The Government should make all sorts of preparations for active participation.

With these remarks, I support Mr Martin LIAO's motion.

MR FRANKIE YICK (in Cantonese): President, in May last year, our country put forward a new concept of economic development pattern, that is, to establish a new development pattern featuring domestic and international "dual circulation", which takes the domestic market as the mainstay while enabling domestic and foreign markets to interact positively with each other. The Liberal Party believes this is an opportunity for Hong Kong to boost its economic development after the epidemic, and that the SAR Government must lead Hong Kong to integrate into the new development pattern of the country.

As the country has been committed to build a moderately prosperous society, the income of Mainland residents has grown sustainably and boosted consumption power. Coupled with the rapid development of the Internet and the popularity of online shopping in the Mainland, the consumption power of Mainland residents has been further stimulated. Due to a rising living standard, the demand of Mainland residents for goods has increased both in terms of quality and diversity, which has in turn created a strong demand for international logistics services. As the southern gateway to the Mainland, nearly 60% of Hong Kong's re-exports involve the Mainland, so whether the Mainland promotes internal or external circulation, or even "dual circulation", Hong Kong's transport and logistics industry will certainly benefit.

To play a good intermediary role in the "dual circulation", Hong Kong should further enhance its status as a shipping and logistics centre and an international aviation hub, and ensure that there are sound transport infrastructures between Hong Kong and the Mainland, especially the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area which is the intersection of the Mainland and the international community, so as to achieve mutual access between the two places.

As I mentioned earlier, nearly 60% of Hong Kong's re-exports involve the Mainland, and we rely on river trade vessels and cross-boundary goods vehicles to carry these goods. To enhance the efficiency of logistics and transportation LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 July 2021 8065 between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, the Shenzhen Municipal Government has proposed a cross-boundary logistics pattern of "East in East out, West in West out". With the commissioning of the Liantang/Heung Yuen Wai Boundary Control Point on 26 August last year, the new pattern is gradually formed. At present, goods vehicles from the east will use the Liantang Port, whereas those from the west will use the Shenzhen Bay Port.

However, the industry has reflected that compared to the Shenzhen Bay Port, the Liantang/Heung Yuen Wai Boundary Control Point is small in scale with inadequate supporting facilities, and long queues of goods vehicles can be seen all the time. Once cargo inspection is completely ceased at Huanggang and Man Kam To control points, it will be difficult for Liantang/Heung Yuen Wai ports to cope with goods vehicles diverted from Huanggang and Man Kam To control points. It is hoped that the Government and the relevant Mainland authorities will expeditiously rationalize the arrangements of the control points, for example, the authorities should consider whether the Man Kam To Control Point can continue to perform the function of cargo clearance for non-fresh food.

With the Mainland's proactive implementation of the domestic demand policy, the demand for cross-boundary logistics services has become increasingly strong. And yet, there is a shortage of cross-boundary drivers in the market, especially after the outbreak of the epidemic. The highly stringent epidemic prevention measures implemented by the Mainland have caused a serious loss of cross-boundary drivers, and discouraged the entry of new blood into the industry. In case the situation persists and the number of cross-boundary drivers continues to drop, this will not only undermine the cross-boundary freight business, but will also affect Hong Kong's cargo transhipment, not to mention making contribution to the "dual circulation" of the Mainland.

Therefore, the Liberal Party hopes that the SAR Government will actively strive for the Mainland's recognition of Hong Kong's driving licences of heavy vehicle drivers, just like the case of private vehicles, so that the holder of a valid driving licence of Hong Kong can apply for a Mainland driving licence of the type of vehicle concerned to ensure an abundant supply of cross-boundary drivers in the market. In addition, in order to reduce logistics costs, as I said in my speech on the previous motion, the Liberal Party hopes that the Government will strive to simplify the regulation of cross-boundary transportation, so that Hong Kong's cross-boundary drivers will not be required to obtain driving licences of both places as well as undergo two annual inspections and take out two insurances of both places.

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President, the "dual circulation" proposed by the country is tantamount to blood circulation of our body. If the blood circulation system is good, blood flow will be smooth and there will naturally be good health. The key to success of "dual circulation" lies in the smooth logistics and transport. I hope that the SAR Government and the Mainland will fight for favourable cross-boundary freight transport measures, so as to enable Hong Kong to truly integrate into the new development pattern of the country.

The above speech is mainly related to the Transport and Housing Bureau, so I hope that the Bureau will follow up on it.

President, with these remarks, I support the original motion.

MRS REGINA IP (in Cantonese): President, I speak in support of Mr Martin LIAO's motion.

Hong Kong should really actively seize the opportunities arising from the Mainland's development strategy of "dual circulation" to boost our economy. As a small and service-oriented economy, Hong Kong is vulnerable to sudden global or regional events. Over the past two years, Hong Kong's economy has been affected by the "black-clad violence" and our GDP decreased by 1.2% in 2019. In 2020, it fell further by 6.5% as a result of the epidemic. Even before Hong Kong's economy was hit by the "black-clad violence" and the epidemic, a former Financial Secretary had already pointed out that Hong Kong was a mature economy with slow economic growth, and he predicted that Hong Kong would face structural deficit.

However, Hong Kong is very fortunate to have the backing of our Motherland, which has a population of 1.4 billion and is the second largest economy in the world and a very large trading body as well. Not only can Hong Kong benefit from the internal circulation of the whole country, the Greater Bay Area ("GBA") alone can significantly increase our economic opportunities if we fully leverage our edges. For example, if we look at the results of this year's population census, the demographic structure of the Guangdong Province shows that 87.6% of the population aged 0 to 59. Hong Kong's population is ageing, but the birth rate of the Guangdong Province is still relatively high with a petty young population. Young people have very strong productivity and purchasing power, which provides a strong stimulus to the economy.

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Moreover, if we look at GBA, the total economic volume of the "nine plus two" cities within GBA alone has reached about US$1,700 billion, which is several times more than the US$346 billion economic volume of Hong Kong. Even if Hong Kong can enter the GBA market only, it will bring about enormous development opportunities for our young people both in terms of employment and industries.

What is more, as many colleagues have pointed out just now, China has proposed new development strategies. One of the new development strategies in the Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan is the new type of urbanization, which aims to have permanent urban resident reaching the goal of 65% of the population by 2025, and this is very soon. This new urbanization strategy is people-oriented, meaning that the permanent population of these towns and villages can help increase labour productivity and consumption power. In addition, the cities will be better managed with the provision of a wide variety of services for the residents. Hong Kong does have edges in all these areas, such as urban management, the provision of professional services, or medical or social security services mentioned by many colleagues earlier. Hong Kong enjoys great advantages in the services industries. We will have unlimited opportunities if we can complement the internal circulation development of the Mainland. As long as young people are willing to go to GBA, cooperate with Mainland enterprises or work there, they will have enormous opportunities for development.

In addition to internal circulation, I notice that China has also achieved great success in external development. For example, in fashion, it has a global fashion brand. According to a recent report in Bloomberg Businessweek, although China's cross-border e-commerce company called Shein is only seven years old, it has recently overtaken Amazon as the most downloaded app. While many of the production bases of this fashion brand kingdom are located in Guangdong, it has also required its suppliers to set up factories within a few miles. Therefore, both the internal and external circulation of the Mainland (The buzzer sounded) … are favourable to Hong Kong's economic development.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mrs Regina IP, please stop speaking.

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MR JEFFREY LAM (in Cantonese): President, I appreciate Mr Martin LIAO for his proposal of the motion "Actively seizing the opportunities arising from the country's new development pattern featuring 'dual circulation' to revitalize the post-pandemic economy". Given that the epidemic situation has persisted for already one and a half years and there is countless work on revitalizing the post-pandemic economy, we should better draw up comprehensive plans, blueprints and action plans.

As everyone knows, Hong Kong as an externally oriented economy is under the influence of foreign economic trend. With the emergence of virus variants of higher transmissibility, no one has a crystal ball to predict when the epidemic will be fully under control. As the saying goes, "In every crisis there lies opportunities". People around the world are thinking about the same thing, i.e. how to co-exist with the epidemic while grasping the pace of restarting economic activities at the same time.

Looking around the world, I think that Hong Kong as an international financial centre is a piece of blessed land. We are an inseparable part of the country, and have the advantage of having the Motherland as our hinterland. Coupled with the fact that the country has put forward the new development pattern featuring "dual circulation" which enables domestic and foreign markets to interact positively with each other, we have therefore become the participant in the expansion of domestic demand and an irreplaceable "intermediary" in the international markets. Hong Kong will have unlimited opportunities for economic development ahead if it can perform well its dual role of attracting foreign investment and going global.

While various sectors in society must leverage the advantages under "one country, two systems", the Administration should also introduce more specific policy measures, e.g. special policies and tax concessions, to support the "Made in Hong Kong" branding featuring green financial technology industry in participating in the country's "dual circulation". More specifically, various sectors should take the Greater Bay Area ("GBA") as an entry point and serve this market of 70 million people well so as to reap mutual benefits and achieve a win-win situation.

Meanwhile, the National 14th Five-Year Plan has also set a clear direction for Hong Kong's economic development to upgrade and move up the value chain. For the first time, it establishes four emerging centres or status for Hong Kong, LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 July 2021 8069 including the support for Hong Kong to develop into an international innovation and technology hub. Therefore, various sectors in society should clearly identify Hong Kong's advantages and turn them into the new engines for restarting the post-epidemic economic development, and join hands to give advice and suggestions, with a view to bringing new hopes for young people to stay for development.

Nevertheless, despite the numerous ambitious plans, the speed of revitalizing the post-epidemic economy depends very much on when quarantine free traveller clearance can be resumed between Hong Kong and the Mainland. The Chief Executive openly mentioned the other day that she had relayed the strong demand for cross-boundary travel to officials of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office. I have also appealed to the Central Authorities and the SAR Government time and again for resuming quarantine free traveller clearance with the Mainland as soon as possible and according priority to business track arrangement with GBA.

Undeniably, we cannot accurately predict when traveller clearance will be resumed, yet we can create favourable conditions for revitalizing the economy at this moment: First, those members of the public who have not yet been vaccinated should do so as quickly as possible, so that Hong Kong can move towards the goal of having 70% of the population vaccinated to form herd immunity. Second, various sectors should not relax but continue to guard well against the importation of cases and the resurgence of domestic infections. I would also like to take this opportunity to remind members of the public that the lucky draw organized by the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce offers prizes worth $43 million in total. All citizens who have received two doses of vaccine may register for the draw at the designated web page of the event at . Whoever wants to be the lucky one should not hesitate and wait anymore, and act quickly to get vaccinated.

Recently a country no longer adopts the anti-epidemic line of "zero infection" and relaxes its anti-epidemic measures. I nonetheless think that Hong Kong should hold firm to our line of defence against the epidemic without relaxing any of such measures. In case the virus variants of higher transmissibility strike once we relax our vigilance and create loopholes in any part, this will take a heavy toll and no one knows how long it will take by then to stabilize the epidemic again.

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I want to stress that given the relatively stable epidemic situation in the Mainland and Hong Kong, we have to focus our strength on restarting the post-pandemic economy by according priority to expeditiously striving the resumption of quarantine free traveller clearance with the Mainland. Taking GBA as the first choice gives no cause for criticism. I hope that various sectors in society will work together towards this goal.

President, I so submit.

MR LAU KWOK-FAN (in Cantonese): President, I support Mr Martin LIAO's motion on "Actively seizing the opportunities arising from the country's new development pattern featuring 'dual circulation' to revitalize the post-pandemic economy".

In March, the National People's Congress approved the "Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of the People's Republic of China and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035" ("the 14th Five-Year Plan"), which provides for expanding domestic demand, expediting the building of a more comprehensive system of domestic demand, and accelerating the establishment of a new development pattern featuring "'dual circulation' which takes the domestic market as the mainstay while enabling domestic and foreign markets to interact positively with each other". In fact, this is not only a new pattern for the country, but also a new pattern and new opportunity for the economic restructuring of Hong Kong. If Hong Kong fails to grasp this new development pattern and the opportunities arising from the 14th Five-Year Plan, it will be excluded from the circulation and lag far behind others. Therefore, this may be the last chance for Hong Kong to ride on the "last train".

Besides, many colleagues have said earlier that Hong Kong has the advantage of "one country, two systems", a business-friendly environment, a fine tradition of rule of law, a simple tax regime, a sound financial system, and is an important gateway between the country and the rest of the world, playing a very important intermediary role. However, these were the previous strengths of Hong Kong or what we did in the past. To integrate into the new development pattern, Hong Kong must do something more than what it did in the past. What must be done then? In the 14th Five-Year Plan, the country has provided Hong Kong with a very good positioning. Apart from pointing out that Hong Kong must further enhance its status as a financial, shipping and trade centre, the 14th LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 July 2021 8071

Five-Year Plan has also clearly stated that Hong Kong should be developed into an international innovation and technology hub, and set out for the first time in the provisions the inclusion of the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Loop as a major platform of cooperation in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, meaning that the Loop plays a very crucial role in the integration into and development of the Greater Bay Area ("GBA"). I have been promoting the development of the Loop and New Territories North both inside and outside the Legislative Council in the past, I am thus very thankful to Mr Martin LIAO today for allowing me to have a chance to stress once again the importance of New Territories North to Hong Kong.

How should Hong Kong integrate into and serve GBA? Apart from Central, which used to be our core area, Hong Kong has to build a new centre in New Territories North, which is the entire northern part of the New Territories including the North District, Yuen Long and Tuen Mun. New Territories North has on its shoulder the responsibility of promoting the restructuring of Hong Kong and interacting with other cities in GBA. As long as we grasp the opportunities, make a reasonable layout, proactively develop the port economic belt in Hong Kong, build a new centre, as well as develop innovation and technology and emerging industries in the Loop, New Territories North will be able to attract more opportunities for Hong Kong in the future. In view of the "dual circulation", we should not only encourage young people in Hong Kong to develop and start their own businesses in the Mainland, but should also attract Mainland's outstanding enterprises and talents to Hong Kong. By pooling opportunities in Hong Kong, local young people can have unlimited opportunities and this is what is meant by "dual circulation". Talents and enterprises in Hong Kong can then "go global" by making use of Hong Kong as the gateway. Of course, in order for Hong Kong to build a new centre, there should be great changes in the mindset.

I am so glad that the Chief Executive has recently mentioned in media interviews or even to various Policy Bureaux that she might appoint a former Director as an advisor to review some policies afresh, which is very important. Apart from hardware planning, improving Hong Kong's New Territories North and expediting its development, it is more important that they are supported by policies. One example is using the Loop and New Territories North as pilot sites for the exchange of talents, so that unlike the general immigration clearance arrangements in the past, people can travel to and forth conveniently and freely. Another example is bringing Mainland's higher education institutions such as the 8072 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 July 2021

Peking University and the Tsinghua University to New Territories North to serve the talents of Hong Kong. These are some new policies that I hope various departments can proactively consider in building a new core in New Territories North. (The buzzer sounded)

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mr LAU Kwok-fan, please stop speaking.

MR MA FUNG-KWOK (in Cantonese): President, "Actively seizing the opportunities arising from the country's new development pattern featuring 'dual circulation' to revitalize the post-pandemic economy" is a very important issue at the moment. Therefore, Mr Martin LIAO's motion deserves our earnest support.

Regarding the post-pandemic economy, China's GDP (Gross Domestic Product) grew strongly by 18.3% in the first quarter of this year over a year earlier, hitting a record high. The great recovery momentum was unparalleled in the world. However, the outbreak of the novel coronavirus epidemic has brought about extensive impact and uncertainties. Traditional international economic circulation has been substantially weakened, economic globalization is encountering headwinds, and unilateralism and protectionism are rising. It is timely and pragmatic for the country to revise its strategy on economic development by relying more on the domestic market.

The Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan approved by the National People's Congress in March this year proposed that a new development pattern featuring "domestic and international 'dual circulation', which takes the domestic market as the mainstay while enabling domestic and foreign markets to interact positively with each other" will become the future development goal and key task of the country, playing a leading role in driving China's economy in the coming years. Strengthening domestic circulation will unleash the potential of domestic demand and stimulate economic development, while external circulation will help further enhance cooperation with other countries to bring about mutual benefits. The two complement each other, giving new impetus to the country's balanced development.

Under the framework of "dual circulation", the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area ("GBA"), which serves as a converging point for domestic and external circulation, will become a key strategic link for national LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 July 2021 8073 development. Hong Kong should take GBA as the best entry point and proactively leverage its advantages to integrate into the overall development of the country, so as to revitalize Hong Kong's post-pandemic economy and provide long-term and sustainable development momentum.

The national policy emphasizes the boost of independent innovation and the role of innovation as a driving force for economic development. The Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan puts forward the support for Hong Kong to develop into an international innovation and technology ("I&T") hub as well as a regional intellectual property trading centre. With an internationalized business environment, a robust intellectual property protection regime, a simple tax regime and a number of highly internationalized higher education institutions, Hong Kong will provide strong basic research resources for GBA. By complementing with other cities in the Bay Area, Hong Kong will be able to contribute to the country's I&T development and expand Hong Kong's scope for further economic development.

In addition, the Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan proposed for the first time the support for Hong Kong to develop into an arts and culture exchange hub of China and the rest of the world. We should make use of the hardware of new cultural facilities such as the West Kowloon Cultural District and give full play to the strengths of our existing cultural software, thereby exploring the market in GBA and actively promoting outbound cultural exchanges, so that Hong Kong can contribute more directly to enhancing the soft power of the country.

Besides, the country has also continued its support for Hong Kong to enhance its status as an international financial centre, and strengthen its status as a global offshore Renminbi business hub, an international asset management centre and a risk management centre. Hong Kong is a highly marketized and internationalized economy respecting the rule of law. While financial services should seek to deepen and widen mutual access between the financial markets of Hong Kong and the Mainland, Hong Kong may also capitalize on the advantages of "one country, two systems" to further consolidate its position as an intermediary in the international circulation and promote external circulation. As an international financial centre, Hong Kong has been assisting the country in promoting reform and opening-up of the capital market. Looking ahead, Hong Kong may continue to play an important role in green finance, wealth management, asset management and insurance services.

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Under the policy steered by "dual circulation", the SAR Government has to seize the opportunities arising from the country's new development pattern and find the key way out for its own development. However, in order for Hong Kong to get on board the express train of national development and promote post-pandemic economic recovery, the most urgent task is to press ahead with universal vaccination and bring the epidemic situation under full control, so as to create conditions conducive to resuming normal cross-border travel with the Mainland. In the long run, the SAR Government should continue to work with the other "nine plus two" cities within GBA and introduce new policies to increase the flow of people, information and capital. The SAR Government should also continue to encourage Hong Kong young people to take active steps into GBA, step up national education efforts, and nurture more talents with good knowledge and understanding of the national developments. This will not only foster the diversification of Hong Kong's economy and the upward mobility of young people, thereby facilitating Hong Kong's prosperous development, but will also facilitate Hong Kong's deeper integration into the overall development of our country, thereby proactively playing the role of "participant" in domestic circulation and "facilitator" in international circulation.

President, with these remarks, I support the motion.

MR LUK CHUNG-HUNG (in Cantonese): President, first of all, I am very grateful to Mr Martin LIAO for proposing this motion. As mentioned in the motion, the Government should seize the opportunities to give full play to the advantages of Hong Kong and lead the various sectors of Hong Kong to integrate into the country's new development pattern featuring "dual circulation". I very much agree with this.

Last year, President XI Jinping mentioned "dual circulation" at a meeting of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. In his speech, he stressed that meeting domestic demand is both the starting and landing points of development. What does that mean? President, as we all know, the country has taken internal circulation as an important mainstay element of the new development pattern, so it is definitely necessary to stimulate the country's domestic demand. Generally speaking, domestic demand refers to the purchasing power of the people and the purchase of domestic products and services help boost investment and the economy. If a place has insufficient domestic demand, this reflects that there are problems with its economic structure LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 July 2021 8075 and distribution pattern. On the contrary, the better the economic environment, the stronger the domestic demand. Therefore, we must strive to establish a well-structured system of domestic demand.

In this connection, I would like to discuss two issues. First, we have to enable wage earners and the general public in Hong Kong to have the money and courage to spend. This is very important. Although Hong Kong is a well-developed economy, wage earners in Hong Kong have relatively lower wages than other well-developed economies. Relevant statistics showed that, as compared with other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ("OECD") countries and regions, the share of wage in GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is relatively lower in Hong Kong. While the share of wage in other OECD countries and regions is around 60% in GDP, it is only around 50% in Hong Kong. It can be seen that a smaller proportion of wage earners in Hong Kong can share the economic results.

Second, we have a very heavy expenditure burden. One of the reasons is the high property prices and another reason is the absence of a sound retirement protection system in Hong Kong, which has prompted people to spend prudently. Since some people have to make mortgage repayments and some have to save for retirement, a large number of people are cautious about their spending. Therefore, increasing the wages of wage earners, especially the grass roots, will have a particularly high marginal return in stimulating domestic demand. Moreover, wage earners must have sufficient holidays and leisure time. During yesterday's motion debate on increasing the number of statutory holidays, I clearly pointed out that if wage earners have sufficient holidays and time, they will naturally go out to spend money and boost domestic demand.

How to increase wages? The most important point is to promote the upgrading of industries in Hong Kong and to research, develop and produce consumer products to meet the country's demand. The country seeks to escalate industrial planning to a higher level, e.g. the technology industry must master high-end chips and core technologies such as medical equipment would have to achieve the long-term development objectives of self-reliance, self-sufficiency and independence. In addition, the high-tech industry can provide the new generation with opportunities for upward mobility, thereby increasing wages and stimulating domestic demand.

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President, the Hong Kong Government has a very important role to play in the scientific research industry as evidently shown by the country's positioning of Hong Kong as an international innovation and technology hub in 2017. Given Hong Kong's strong scientific and technological foundation and availability of talents, we have the strength to be an important force for implementing the country's development strategy driven by innovation and accelerating its development into an innovative country. For instance, the Mars camera of Tianwen-1 which landed on Mars earlier was developed by a team from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. It is conceivable that Hong Kong's strength in scientific research is not inferior at all. I hope that Hong Kong will make good use of these advantages and will not repeat the mistake made in the case of Mr Frank WANG. Mr WANG studied research and development in Hong Kong and founded the Dajiang Innovation Technology Inc., but the headquarter of the company is not located in Hong Kong. As a result, Hong Kong lost this important scientific research enterprises.

President, the technology industry is only one example of industries with development potential. Other industries, including some new economic industries such as digital industries and advantageous public service industries, can also address the homogeneity of industries in Hong Kong. Diversification of industries can help increase the wages of wage earners because there will be more choices in Hong Kong, which will bring more opportunities for upward mobility. With prospects and hopes, wages will also increase and people will naturally spend more on consumption and investment. I hope that the Government will take the initiative and make greater efforts in this regard.

I so submit.

MR HOLDEN CHOW (in Cantonese): President, I thank Mr Martin LIAO for moving today's motion. I speak in support of Mr Martin LIAO's motion and opine that Hong Kong should be more active in seizing the opportunities to integrate into the development of the country, especially the current strategy of "dual circulation".

President, I would like to discuss some of the proposals from different perspectives. Apart from the roles previously played in the financial and tourism industries, the Central Government has assigned a new role for Hong Kong in innovation and technology. Recently, I have proposed a number of LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 July 2021 8077 initiatives regarding the re-industrialization of Hong Kong under "Industry 4.0". I am very grateful to Mr Jimmy NG for his guidance and Members from various industries for their views. I have prepared a study report on re-industrialization, but I am not going to go through it in detail today because I will propose a motion on re-industrialization under "Industry 4.0" for debate in this Council next week. I just want to highlight the huge development potential presented by the "intelligentization" of traditional industries under "Industry 4.0" in Hong Kong. I am not talking about labour-intensive industries, but modern light industries. The use of smart production lines will not only require less manpower, but will also create new job types. Hong Kong can absolutely do so. Recently, relevant international organizations have set up their offices in Hong Kong. For example, an Italian company has set up a new plant and new smart production lines in Hong Kong to produce security products. From this, we can see that Hong Kong can make some achievements in this aspect. If the SAR Government allocates more industrial sites to the organizations concerned and provides them with centralized logistics and sewage facilities, I am confident that Hong Kong can make some achievements in this regard.

President, I wish to point out that if Hong Kong is to integrate into the trade development of our country, the first step is, of course, to strengthen our product promotion in the Mainland market. And yet, apart from the Mainland market, we must not forget that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ("ASEAN") has all along been Hong Kong's second largest economic trading partner, and our total trade volume with ASEAN is on the rise year after year. We can see from the international circulation of the country's "dual circulation" pattern that the economic and trade interactions between the country and ASEAN have been increasing, especially after it signed RCEP (i.e. the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) with ASEAN countries and other countries in the region. This is a promising market. Therefore, I think that the SAR Government should step up its efforts to explore ASEAN trade markets.

Speaking of tourism, it remains the hardest-hit industry despite an encouraging sign of recovery shown in other industries amid the ease of the epidemic recently. According to the statistics, there are 220 000 travel trade practitioners in Hong Kong and we have recently consulted some of them. To revitalize the local tourism industry, the most important thing right now is to resume cross-border travel and we all hope that priority will be given to resuming cross-border travel with the Mainland. If Mainland visitors are allowed to travel to Hong Kong, some travel trade practitioners will have work to do. 8078 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 July 2021

Undoubtedly, regardless of whether Hong Kong is to resume travel with the Mainland or conditionally with other overseas places later, I believe it is determined by the epidemic situation and the vaccination rate in Hong Kong. It is worth noting that while the vaccination rates in the Mainland and other countries are all on the rise, it remains very low in HKSAR. Therefore, I hope that the community at large will work to mobilize vaccination to genuinely boost the economic recovery of Hong Kong.

In view of the plight of the travel trade practitioners when Hong Kong has yet to resume cross-border travel with the Mainland, I would like to offer some advice here. Is it possible for the Government to keep providing them with newly-created temporary jobs? Earlier on, the Government created 2 000 auxiliary positions specifically for travel trade practitioners to assist in the vaccination campaign. I would suggest the Government to continue with its efforts in this regard because before cross-border travel or tourism activities can resume, the livelihood and prospect of the travel trade practitioners should be taken care of. Job creation helps. (The buzzer sounded)

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mr Holden CHOW, please stop speaking.

MR WILSON OR (in Cantonese): President, I speak in support of Mr Martin LIAO's motion on "Actively seizing the opportunities arising from the country's new development pattern featuring 'dual circulation' to revitalize the post-pandemic economy". Our country first put forward the new "dual circulation" economic strategy last May, which means using domestic demand and innovation as the major driving force of economic development, and establishing an economic domestic circulation while keeping overseas markets and investors as the second engine of economic growth.

Since this strategy is crucial to Hong Kong's next generation and future economic development, I once again urge the SAR Government "not to be slow and wake up". The Government should put forward specific policies as soon as possible to enable Hong Kong to fully leverage the advantages provided by Mainland's huge potential market of 1.4 billion people to help Hong Kong people pursue development in the Mainland, or facilitate Hong Kong enterprises in transferring their productivity to the domestic market, thereby revitalizing Hong LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 July 2021 8079

Kong's economy and speeding up the recovery of Hong Kong's economy after the triple blow of the China-United States trade war, the "black-clad riots" and the epidemic.

In fact, given the new challenges posed by the epidemic and the international situation, the world is facing economic challenges. As politics and economy are interrelated, they can hardly be separated and remain independent. As China has surpassed the United States as the economic leader, the United States has regarded China as its "imaginary enemy" and launched attacks and challenges by waging technology wars and trade wars, causing the relationship between China and the United States to worsen rapidly. Coupled with the numerous political provocations, the relationships between China and European Union countries have also turned sour. As a result, China's economy has been greatly affected.

Hong Kong is not spared. Western countries have repeatedly attacked the country by interfering in Hong Kong's affairs, which has not only caused the political environment in Hong Kong to deteriorate rapidly in recent years, but has also dealt a blow to the economy of Hong Kong which is highly dependent on international trade. Fortunately, with the help of our country, Hong Kong has enacted the National Security Law and improved the electoral system, which successfully resolved the political crisis in Hong Kong. However, what follow-up actions has the Government taken afterwards? How does it help Hong Kong people? Members from the pro-establishment camp always highlight the importance for Hong Kong to recover expeditiously, which is something that the Government should think about.

I have a few key points and proposals that I hope the Government will consider: First, as colleagues have just said, Hong Kong people and enterprises must seize the opportunities arising from the "dual circulation" to recover from the economic downturn as soon as possible, and lead Hong Kong's future economic growth by expanding domestic sales following the country's economic policy, thereby reducing the risks brought about by the increasingly uncertain international environment. Second, as members of the public are now actively responding to the appeal for vaccination, I think that the Government should be more decisive and aggressive. Apart from its anti-epidemic efforts, the Government should also explore the feasibility of quarantine-free traveller clearance. Regardless of whether it is partial or full resumption of cross-border 8080 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 July 2021 travel, the Government should genuinely "build a better environment with greater concern, faster response and smarter services". The public has really waited for a long time. President, I think this is something that the Government must do.

President, how can we implement the guiding principle of "seizing the opportunities arising from the 'dual circulation'"? We hope that the Government can give play to it on the basis of the existing Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Belt and Road Initiative. Enjoying the advantage of close proximity to the Mainland, Hong Kong has to integrate into the regional development and leverage the "one country, two systems" advantage to capitalize on the benefits brought by domestic demand.

As such, I urge the SAR Government once again not to be slow. Amid the current epidemic, it is important to explore possible relief measures. For example, since the borders are closed because of the pandemic, all cross-border shipping businesses have now come to a halt and thousands of tourist coaches are parked in the "bus cemeteries". I hope that the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development and the Secretary for Transport and Housing can further consider how to assist them to resume businesses, and study the feasibility of establishing a "business resumption fund".

President, there are actually many creative products in Hong Kong. We hope that the Government can assist in exploring overseas markets for Hong Kong brands, so that the local economy can revive under the epidemic. As I always say, we have to seize any opportunities that arise because they will disappear in the blink of an eye. Therefore, I hope that the Government will be more proactive in leading Hong Kong to seize the opportunities arising from the country's new development pattern featuring "dual circulation". There should be no delay or panic, nor should it be slow in responding to or even unaware of the opportunities. Hong Kong should not miss any more opportunities and let Hong Kong people and even our country and the people of our country down.

With these remarks, I reiterate my support for Mr Martin LIAO's motion. Thank you, President.

MR KENNETH LAU (in Cantonese): President, this year marks the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party of China ("CPC"). Under CPC's leadership, China has transformed from a poor country into a prosperous and LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 July 2021 8081 powerful nation today. It has already realized its goal of building a moderately prosperous society, and become the world's second largest economy. In view of the periodic changes in its own economic development and the intricate international environment, the country is planning to accelerate the establishment of a new development pattern featuring "dual circulation", which takes the domestic market as the mainstay while enabling domestic and foreign markets to interact positively with each other. This sets out the way forward of the country's future development.

As a gateway of the country, Hong Kong can play a pivotal role in the "dual circulation" strategy. Particularly, such traditional priority industries as finance, transportation, trading have been providing a reliable business platform for Mainland and overseas enterprises through a highly efficient system that integrates with the overseas markets. Coupled with the advantages under "one country, two systems", Hong Kong is capable of assisting Mainland and foreign enterprises in "attracting foreign investments" and "going global", and becoming a meeting point of "dual circulation".

In fact, the development of Hong Kong and the Mainland are closely interrelated. Since the return of sovereignty, the country has put forward many facilitating policies for Hong Kong, e.g. the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) and the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area ("GBA"). This reflects the importance that the country has attached to Hong Kong, and its thorough understanding of the edges and needs of Hong Kong. One of the obvious examples in this regard is the development of the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park in the planning for GBA. Given that technology and innovation are one of the mainstays of the "dual circulation" strategy and Hong Kong possesses certain edges in upstream research, we can complement Shenzhen's strengths as a high-tech manufacturing hub through the Lok Ma Chau Loop and create a "win-win" situation for the country and Hong Kong.

President, the novel coronavirus pandemic swept across the world in 2020 and Hong Kong cannot be spared. Our economy has hit the rock bottom with the unemployment rate surged to a record high since the outbreak of SARS. Looking around the world, when the western countries are still deeply stuck in the spread of the epidemic, China is the first to get out of the shadow of the epidemic. 8082 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 July 2021

With an annual economic growth of 2.3% in 2020, China is amongst the few economies to have growth amid the epidemic. It is not difficult for us to anticipate that China will take the leading role in the post-epidemic economic recovery. A think tank in the United Kingdom even forecast that China would probably overtake the United States in the scale of economy and become the world's largest economy. I believe that as long as Hongkongers correctly understand the country's development, properly seize the opportunities and actively integrate into the country's overall development to give full play to Hong Kong's unique role and advantages, we can definitely benefit from the "dual circulation" strategy.

However, there is still a small group of people in society who puts politics over everything. They smear everything related to the SAR Government and the Central Authorities, even anti-epidemic efforts are not spared. This has seriously procrastinated the progress of Hong Kong in getting out of the epidemic situation. I hope that society can cast aside its prejudice and treat the anti-epidemic efforts objectively and rationally. Only by working together with one heart to combat the epidemic can we expeditiously bring the economy and society back on the right track.

President, Hong Kong and the Motherland is a community with a shared future. Under the new era, actively participating in the "dual circulation" strategy and integrating into the country's overall development are of utmost importance to the development of Hong Kong's society and economy, and national development strategies will certainly provide a new economic impetus for Hong Kong as well.

I support the original motion. I so submit.

MS YUNG HOI-YAN (in Cantonese): President, I rise to speak in support of Mr Martin LIAO's motion.

President, expediting the formation of a domestic and international "dual circulation" which takes the domestic market as the mainstay is definitely a brand new pattern, particularly for the post-pandemic economy. It is naturally a national strategy for China to cope with the current international development and foster long-term and steady economic growth. Part 5 of the 14th Five-Year Plan LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 July 2021 8083 on "accelerating digitalisation development for building a digital China" highlights the need to create new strengths for digital economy, accelerate the pace of building a digital society, improve the level of digital government development and create a beneficial digital ecosystem. This part has precisely demonstrated the important role played by digital economy in implementing the "dual circulation" strategy.

In fact, the country has also attached a great deal of importance to big data and Internet development in recent years, and repeatedly emphasized the need to speed up digital industrialization and industrial digitalization as well as promote in-depth integration of digital economy and real economy. In April this year, President XI delivered a keynote speech at the Boao Forum for Asia, in which he put forward "seizing the historic opportunities in a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation to vigorously develop digital economy and step up exchanges and cooperation in areas such as artificial intelligence ('AI'), biomedicine and modern energy, so that the fruits of scientific and technological innovation can be turned into greater benefits for people in all countries". We can thus see that the Central Authorities are extremely serious about the development of digital economy.

Digital economy has created huge value. According to the report released by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology in 2020, the figure on global digital economy has reached US$31.8 trillion in 2019 with its ratio to GDP (Gross Domestic Product) increased to 41.5%. It can thus be seen that digital economy has a significant bearing on the global economy.

President, the 14th Five-Year Plan puts forward accelerating digitalization development. The Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area also proposes to strengthen cooperation in technological innovation in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area ("GBA"), and the authorities of Hong Kong and the Guangdong Province have planned to jointly strengthen the innovative development of digital economy in GBA. Therefore, I have put a written question at the meeting of the Legislative Council on 26 May this year about the policies, measures and development blueprint to be formulated by the Innovation and Technology Bureau to promote the development of digital economy. In reply, the Secretary mainly stated that the Smart City Blueprint for Hong Kong and its second version―Blueprint 2.0 would continue to be implemented. The SAR Government is taking forward a 8084 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 July 2021 series of innovation and technology ("I&T") infrastructure initiatives, and the areas of development dovetail with the aforesaid emerging industries mentioned in the 14th Five-Year Plan in the age of digital economy, including that the Cyberport expansion project will strengthen its I&T ecosystem and continue to drive the development of cutting-edge technologies such as AI, big data and blockchain; the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park will continue its drive in the technology areas such as AI and big data, and the Phase 2 expansion of the Hong Kong Science Park project will focus on research and development activities necessary for technologies such as AI.

And yet, how can Hong Kong integrate into the overall development of the country and put the words of President XI, i.e. "seizing the historic opportunities in a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation to vigorously develop digital economy" into action, so that "technological innovation can be turned into greater benefits for people in all countries"? In order to fully implement the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and expedite the development of digital economy in Guangdong Province, the People's Government of Guangdong Province issued the "Guangdong Province Work Plan for Building a National Digital Economy Innovation and Development Pilot Zone" last year, which aims to develop GBA into a global hub for digital economy development through exploration and practice in about three years' time. Thus, how Hong Kong is going to make use of digital economy to integrate into the country's overall development is a topic that warrants thorough consideration by the SAR Government.

President, it is necessary for GBA to establish an economic sharing platform for the area in the future, so that Hong Kong can leverage our advantages under "one country, two systems" and better integrate into the overall development of the country. We strive to manifest the following content of the important speech made by President XI at the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China: "On the journey ahead, we will remain committed to promoting peace, development, cooperation and mutual benefit, to an independent foreign policy of peace and to the path of peaceful development. We will work to promote the building of a new type of international relations and a community with a shared future for mankind; promote high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative through joint efforts, and use China's new developments to provide the world with new opportunities." We hope that LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 July 2021 8085 the development of Hong Kong can fully integrate into that of GBA and provide our young people with new prospects, with a view to exploring broader development pathways and achieving mutual benefits with the Mainland.

With these remarks, President, I support Mr Martin LIAO's motion.

MR CHAN HAN-PAN (in Cantonese): President, I strongly agree with the motion on "Actively seizing the opportunities arising from the country's new development pattern featuring 'dual circulation' to revitalize the post-pandemic economy", and consider that we should be more proactive.

Under the new development pattern featuring domestic and international "dual circulation", which takes the domestic market as the mainstay while enabling domestic and foreign markets to interact positively with each other, we should give play to the advantages of "one country, two systems" in deeper integration into the overall development of our country. Looking back at Hong Kong's development over the years, it has never been separated from the development of the country. Back then, textile industry practitioners from the Mainland came to Hong Kong to set up factories. After China's reform and opening up, Hong Kong entrepreneurs went back to the Mainland to invest in factories. In recent years, Renminbi exchange business has flourished and Mainland enterprises have come to list in Hong Kong. All these reflect that Hong Kong has been relying on the Motherland in each and every aspect or turning point. Therefore, we should enhance our awareness and understanding of the policies proposed by the country.

Mr Martin LIAO has proposed deeper integration of Hong Kong into the overall development of our country, which I believe is very important to Hong Kong's economy, and also highly conducive to accelerating the restructuring of Hong Kong's economy. Why does Hong Kong need to undergo restructuring? Because Hong Kong relies heavily on service industries, especially the financial industry, but the investment in advanced technology industries in Hong Kong has increased in recent years. I believe it is very important for us to discuss how we can explore the Mainland market using our research and development ("R&D") results. It is also very important for Hong Kong to consider how to facilitate in-depth R&D cooperation between the two places, act more proactively in the domestic circulation and abandon the old mindset of "big market, small 8086 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 July 2021 government". I hope that the Government will gain an understanding of the overall development of our country, and assist or collaborate with various sectors to seize the development opportunities. This is very important.

In the past, including the colonial era, Hong Kong was good at seizing development opportunities. Why does the Hong Kong Government only pay lip service to the country's new policies nowadays? As a matter of fact, we still have not achieved any major breakthrough, so I hope that the Government will change its attitude when it comes to Hong Kong's integration into the new development pattern of "dual circulation".

I have maintained liaison with the Chinese medicine industry. As we all know, Hong Kong is renowned for our Chinese medicines, which have attracted many people to travel a long way from the Mainland to buy in Hong Kong. However, very slow progress has been made in the entry of proprietary Chinese medicines into the Mainland due to policy differences, which can hardly be resolved by the industry practitioners alone. We are now going to integrate into the Greater Bay Area ("GBA") development, but our Chinese medicine industry is only allowed to sell Chinese medicines for external use in GBA subject to limitations, and no timetable has been set for the entry of other Chinese medicines into the Mainland. The Government must assist the Chinese medicine industry more proactively. For this reason, the Government has to attach greater importance to complementing the national strategies. I also hope that under the new development pattern of "dual circulation", Hong Kong can give play to the advantages of "one country, two systems", with a view to taking off again.

President, I so submit.

MR TONY TSE (in Cantonese): President, I speak in support of Mr Martin LIAO's motion. When former United States ("US") President TRUMP lost the election and his successor President BIDEN assumed office, some people fantasized that US's China policy would change. Yet, in reality, the unreasonable suppression imposed by BIDEN's Government against China and Hong Kong seems even worse than that of its predecessor. Therefore, it is absolutely visionary for the Central Authorities to take proactive act and formulate long-term strategy, more than a year ago, to establish a new development pattern featuring "domestic and international 'dual circulation', which takes the domestic market as the mainstay while enabling domestic and LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 July 2021 8087 foreign markets to interact positively with each other". This is in no way a passive expedient measure or compromise made simply in response to the previous trade war between China and US.

I am glad to see that the Chief Executive proposed in her Policy Address last year that Hong Kong should proactively participate in the domestic and international "dual circulation" and better integrate into the overall national development by leveraging the advantage of our proximity to the Mainland. The Financial Secretary also stressed in this year's Budget that Hong Kong had to take advantage of the momentous shift in global economic gravity from West to East by capitalizing on our strengths under "one country, two systems", and making good use of the Motherland's development opportunities.

President, I strongly support this development direction because the Mainland market is large and developing quickly, bringing immense opportunities to various sectors of Hong Kong. In particular, under the double blow of US's suppression and the pandemic, it makes more sense for Hong Kong to count on our country but not US for a speedy recovery, doesn't it?

However, as I pointed out in my speech on the motion about the 14th Five-Year Plan yesterday, even with policies in place and senior officials' concern, it would be meaningless in the end if the departments and civil servants responsible for policy execution in the front line fail to implement or implement inefficiently. The Government should actively take the initiative to create suitable objective conditions to facilitate and assist various strata and sectors in integrating into the country's development of "dual circulation", which include understanding Mainland's policies, tax regime, rules, regulations and business environment, thereby facilitating their employment, entrepreneurship and living in the Mainland, and "going global" together.

For example, the Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan proposes to extend mutual recognition of professional qualifications between the Mainland and Hong Kong as well as Macao, and strengthen regulatory interface and connectivity in key areas. With the efforts made by me and various parties, the Mainland authorities introduced the Interim Guidelines in January this year, under which eligible consultant firms and professionals in the architectural, surveying, town planning and landscape sectors from Hong Kong are allowed to acquire, by way of simple registration, corresponding professional qualifications recognized in the Mainland so that they can start business and practise in the Guangdong-Hong 8088 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 July 2021

Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area ("GBA") directly. However, due to the Government's insufficient publicity efforts at the initial stage, quite a number of members of these sectors have no idea about this new policy and how to register, and fail to see the benefits of registration.

As the representative of these sectors, I will continue to work together with various parties, including the Government, to strive for the Mainland authorities' support in providing more facilitation and concession measures, and opening up various types of construction projects for the participation of Hong Kong firms and professionals, especially those suitable for the participation of SMEs and young professionals. Nevertheless, the most important of all is that the various sectors should work hard to enhance their competitiveness.

The 14th Five-Year Plan also emphasizes the need to enable the youth of Hong Kong and Macao to study, work and start business in GBA Mainland cities. In recent years, the two governments have introduced various policy measures and subsidy schemes to attract the young people of Hong Kong to develop their career in GBA, and quite a number of Hong Kong and Mainland enterprises have offered numerous relevant jobs. Nevertheless, despite a high unemployment rate, the current number of applicants is still lower than expected. Various surveys show that quite a lot of Hong Kong young people are still reluctant, afraid, or have no knowledge of how to develop their career in the Mainland.

(THE PRESIDENT'S DEPUTY, MS STARRY LEE, took the Chair)

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and look north to China for ample opportunities. Here, I appeal to the youth of Hong Kong to break away from the old mindset and rut, actively get to know and participate in the development of the country, and seize the opportunities brought by "dual circulation".

Deputy President, I so submit.

MR SHIU KA-FAI (in Cantonese): First of all, I would like to thank Mr Martin LIAO for proposing the motion on "Actively seizing the opportunities arising from the country's new development pattern featuring 'dual circulation' to LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 July 2021 8089 revitalize the post-pandemic economy" today. In 2020, the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China ("CCCPC") adopted the Proposals for Formulating the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035, which proposes to accelerate the establishment of a new development pattern featuring "domestic and international 'dual circulation', which takes the domestic market as the mainstay while enabling domestic and foreign markets to interact positively with each other". Subsequently, President XI Jinping further proposed to take the domestic market as the mainstay by expanding domestic demand, focusing on China's domestic market, enhancing our own innovation capabilities, and refraining from relying on the markets outside China while remaining open to the outside world.

Regarding the two passages I have just quoted, Hong Kong people keeping an interest in the current international landscape should begin to understand why the country has called on its people to show concern about domestic circulation in the 14th Five-Year Plan and the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CCCPC in 2020. As we can see, many countries, led by the United States, have made indiscreet remarks about China on various pretexts in the past two years, and Hong Kong certainly could not be spared. Let me cite a very simple example of whether Hong Kong products are "made in Hong Kong". To my astonishment, these countries requested that products manufactured in Hong Kong should not be marked as "made in Hong Kong" anymore. In fact, this is a warning to us that the international landscape today is different from that of 10 years ago. As our country has become increasingly powerful, certain countries will definitely form some specific views. I believe the simple business environment of the old days has changed.

There is something that people engaging in export business or economic activities in Hong Kong must take note of. If it is so unfortunate that our products encounter difficulties in sales in the overseas countries one day, does this mean that all of our enterprises are on the brink of closure? I believe we will not surrender so easily. Therefore, proactively seizing the opportunities brought by the country's new development pattern of "dual circulation", especially by developing in the Mainland, is a very good way out for Hong Kong people. With specific proposals made by the country, the Greater Bay Area ("GBA") has been developing in the past one or two years, thus creating opportunities and another pathway for Hong Kong people. If our products cannot be exported to foreign countries, we may turn to the Mainland as GBA alone has a population of 60 million to 70 million. The country's domestic 8090 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 July 2021 circulation already contributed over RMB101.6 trillion to its GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in 2020, meaning that its GDP has exceeded RMB100 trillion. Therefore, GBA has provided an important buttress and direction for Hong Kong people.

While we are on this topic, I also wish to remind Hong Kong people to note how the domestic circulation of our country may be enhanced. Regarding international economic and business relations, we do not intend to shut the door and will continue to support economic and trade activities under normal conditions. Of course, we also have to protect the lawful right of foreigners to conduct business in Hong Kong, which is also our responsibility.

Just now, Mr CHAN Han-pan mentioned the development of the Chinese medicine industry. Mr CHAN Han-pan and I have been promoting the development of the Chinese medicine industry in recent years, and one of the projects for such development in GBA has been endorsed by the country. Our work has continued in the past one or two years, and we have recently met with seven Chinese medicine trade associations. We hope that the sale of their external use products may continue in GBA, which will expand the market by tenfold. Thus, GBA has provided an excellent entry point for Hong Kong people.

Lastly, regarding the epidemic situation, I hope that members of the public will receive vaccination as soon as possible. I am also grateful to those kind-hearted people who have come up with so many ways to encourage Hong Kong people to get vaccinated, e.g. Mrs Regina IP seems to have donated a Rolex gold watch. If everyone makes some effort, Hong Kong will be able to expeditiously get rid of the epidemic. Over 70% of the Hong Kong population has to be vaccinated in order to achieve herd immunity. Instead of letting our guard down, I hope that we will continue to work hard. Now, it is important to first strive for the resumption of cross-boundary travel with the Mainland, or else the retail industry will not be able to get out of their plight. Thank you, Deputy President.

DR JUNIUS HO (in Cantonese): Deputy President, I am thankful to Mr Martin LIAO for proposing the motion on "Actively seizing the opportunities arising from the country's new development pattern featuring 'dual circulation' to revitalize the post-pandemic economy". As Secretary Edward YAU has said LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 July 2021 8091 earlier, this motion and the motion proposed by Mr WONG Ting-kwong yesterday on actively seizing the opportunities of the National 14th Five-Year Plan are simply two sides of the same coin.

This year marks the beginning of the 14th Five-Year Plan, in which Hong Kong also has a role to play. To tie in with the 14th Five-Year Plan, Hong Kong must properly perform its role as an international innovation and technology hub and integrate into the development of the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Loop as far as possible. It must be borne in mind that this is a five-year plan, not a 145-year plan. It is the pace of the country to get specified tasks done within specified time, which should not be overlooked. If Hong Kong idles its time away, we will not only miss this opportunity, but will also pale in comparison with others and become a "fool" left outside the "dual circulation". With such valuable support from the country, it is not right for us to let this opportunity slip by and idle time away.

As the saying goes, "one can stand up to comparison but cannot stand bad assessment". What should be the first thing to do? If the Government cannot even do a good job in fighting the epidemic, there is nothing more to say as everything will be gone. Why? The Government wants to do a lot of things, and the issue at hand is the work to be done proactively after the epidemic. But actually, something has to be done before the epidemic. If the resumption of cross-boundary travel cannot be properly dealt with, we will be trapped here and "dual circulation" will never be relevant to us. What should we do then? As the saying goes, "one can stand up to comparison but cannot stand bad assessment". We must learn from the country rather than following those unsuccessful examples. In a class of 40 students, I am not the worst at a rank of 35th and there are five others behind me. But why would I compare myself with these five people but not those 34 people before me? The country achieved success in its anti-epidemic work in one go by pooling the efforts of the entire country to support Wuhan. Although vaccines were not yet available at that time, the country was determined to fight the epidemic. After the introduction of vaccines, 1.4 billion doses of vaccines have been administered in the country. Hong Kong is pitiable as people refuse to receive even free vaccination. The number of inoculations is still hovering at over 2 million doses. How can we achieve success?

8092 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 July 2021

By contrast, in Taiwan, another part of China, people are eager to get vaccinated. However, only the seven fastest runners in the 100-metre race can receive vaccination. Would Members consider this is very miserable? While other people may contract the virus, only the winners can get vaccinated. In Hong Kong, however, some people just remain seated and refuse to receive even free vaccination. Is this outrageous?

Under such circumstances, Deputy President, I think that the Government should set its heart on several tasks. This is the 14th five-year plan, and we must seize every minute to strive for everything. There are four tasks which must be done. The first one is to make vaccination mandatory for the public. If they do not do so, they will be punished by "receiving a spank", paying a fine or "arrested with their properties confiscated". This is a matter of social and public interests. This is a war. People will definitely not volunteer to serve in the army during a war, but there is no need to ask when it comes to compulsory conscription. It is a war to fight against the epidemic, and it is about protecting human lives rather than human rights.

We must first raise the vaccination rate to 70% within these few months. Second, we have to set a specific date for the resumption of cross-border travel, e.g. 15 August. A goal must be set and we cannot do without it. Third, we must not only get rid of the epidemic, but also other viruses and "Hong Kong independence". How should we deal with the "terrorists" now? We should remove the soil that breeds these "terrorists". Student organizations and consultative councils in universities which are still advocating terrorism must all be removed. If the Hong Kong Government fails to do so, it should seek help from the Office for Safeguarding National Security of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to do so.

Finally, we should complete five years' work in one year. The legislation on Article 23 must be done properly, (The buzzer sounded) … and should not wait until next year. Thank you.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Dr Junius HO, your speaking time is up.

Does any other Member wish to speak?

(No Member indicated a wish to speak)

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 July 2021 8093

DEPUTY PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, please speak.

SECRETARY FOR COMMERCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (in Cantonese): Deputy President and Honourable Members, first of all, I would like to thank the 18 Members for their valuable views just given on Mr Martin LIAO's motion. Together with yesterday's discussion on the Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan, it can be said that a lot of Members have expressed extensive and in-depth views on these two related subjects.

(THE PRESIDENT resumed the Chair)

After listening to Members carefully, I would like to respond on behalf of the Government. Firstly, Mr LIAO initially proposed this motion out of his concern about the general policies of the country, especially the "dual circulation" strategy, and whether Hong Kong could understand and grasp the many opportunities presented to the country, Hong Kong, the region or even the entire world. Judging from the sectors and directions mentioned by the 10-odd Members in their speeches just now, I think that the Council has not only forged a consensus on the issues raised by Mr LIAO, but has also indicated a good understanding of them. I notice that Members have consistent analyses on the big picture, ranging from the epidemic situation, the opportunities and challenges brought by the global economic landscape to the national policy directions, and their analysis and explanation of the past economic policies and the Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan have also enriched our understanding of the whole picture. In their speeches, Members have not only touched on sectors of their interest or concern, including finance, insurance, tourism, logistics, shipping, high-end services, arts and culture, Chinese medicine, technology, digitalization to re-industrialization, they have also advised on how local planning could respond to or complement various industries and how the roles played by different government departments, Policy Bureaux and overseas offices could be enhanced. In addition, many Members also highlighted the need to grasp the full picture. We are still working on the resumption of traveller clearance and the promotion of vaccination. Therefore, I think that the coverage of Members' speeches has reflected both the breadth and depth of the discussion on this subject in this Council.

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President, in order to have a good understanding of "dual circulation", we should look into the relationship between this general policy of "dual circulation" and the overall development of the country. As many Members have said, which the current-term Government totally agrees with and has discussed extensively and thoroughly in the four policy addresses and budgets cited by me earlier on, Hong Kong and the Mainland can complement each other's strengths to achieve mutual benefits. We may not only benefit from the strengths given by the country, but can also contribute to its development. In the maiden policy address delivered by the current-term Government in as early as 2017, it was stated in paragraph 56 that in the face of competition from other economies―which means the global trade competition―as well as the rise of protectionism in the years before that time, Hong Kong was facing increasingly grave challenges and must develop a high value‑added and diversified economy. This embraced the development of new economic sectors such as technology, innovation and creative industries, and capitalizing on the opportunities arising from the national Belt and Road Initiative as well as the Guangdong‑Hong Kong‑Macao Greater Bay Area ("GBA") development, in order to generate new impetus for our future economic development. At that time, there was the proposal of the so-called "dual engines", namely the key national policy of the Belt and Road Initiative and the framework agreement on the development of GBA initiated and subsequently signed in 2017. Of course, they are followed by the 14th Five-Year Plan. Just now when Members spoke on the general direction of the country's overall development, they cited some key policy directions stated by the State President on various occasions. I want to quote the four-point proposal put forward by President XI Jinping at the recent 27th APEC economic leaders' informal meeting to summarize the big picture of the country's policies such as "dual circulation", the 14th Five-Year Plan and the Belt and Road Initiative.

In brief, under the four-point proposal, we need to stay open and inclusive, which means that the country will dovetail with the economic development of other countries. Only inclusiveness rather than unilateralism can enhance and safeguard the stability of world development, and unwaveringly support the multilateral trade system and the World Trade Organization. This is the first proposal. The second proposal is that we need to pursue innovation-driven growth. Members have mentioned this point, which is also a crucial and prominent element of the country's economic development over the past decades. The third proposal is that we need to enhance connectivity, which is a bilateral development. Lastly, we need to promote mutually beneficial cooperation, which illustrates that economic development and trade policies are never a zero-sum game in which there is only one winner.

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I mentioned these few points because this analysis of the overall situation enables Hong Kong to identify a suitable role and give play to its position in the international environment. Hong Kong, being the most open and competitive trading, financial and shipping hub of the country, is capable of complementing the country's development. However, apart from gaining an understanding of the direction of the country's overall development, we must also ascertain whether Hong Kong can capitalize on our strengths. I would like to use how the current-term Government complemented our country's important policy of the Belt and Road Initiative at the beginning of its term in 2017-2018 as an example. At that time, we tried to dovetail with the country with one policy and I notice that some Members also touched on it yesterday and today. Although it can be said that this policy is the key for Hong Kong to duly give play to its position under the Belt and Road Initiative, it may also apply in other cases, including the "dual circulation" under discussion. This policy is "what the country needs, what Hong Kong is good at".

This policy, as it reads, indicates a two-way relation. While Hong Kong can benefit from the country, we must also make contributions by contributing what the country needs. The country may have various needs and Hong Kong cannot necessarily meet all of them, we must therefore focus our development on what we are good at in order to contribute what the country needs, which includes certain status that are unique and irreplaceable. We may not talk about them very often, but they are precisely why in the international or business arena, many enterprises or trade activities have chosen their destinations in Hong Kong. Hong Kong does have certain unique statuses that are irreplaceable, including the unique economic, trade and financial position conferred upon Hong Kong by the Constitution. Just now, I heard a lot of Members remind the Government that the advantages of Hong Kong should not be taken for granted. Although they are irreplaceable, we must keep pushing ourselves for improvement to avoid falling back. This is how Hong Kong can emerge as the most open and competitive centre.

Take trade development as an example, the country has risen to become the world's largest economy in just 20-odd years after joining the World Trade Organization. Also, as some Members just said, China now ranks the world's first in attracting foreign investment and is the second largest economy in the world. During this period, the market share of Hong Kong may seem to have reduced, but in fact, we have taken various specific measures to consolidate and strengthen Hong Kong's position.

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Let me give a few examples. Firstly, regarding CEPA (Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement) signed with the Mainland, which was mentioned by many Members just now, while it was entered into more than a decade ago, updates and enhancements will be made every year. Just now, Mr Tony TSE specifically mentioned improving professional service agreements, which Ms YUNG Hoi-yan also touched on in her speeches made yesterday and today. CEPA is a framework agreement, but actually there will be annual updates in the light of different industries to facilitate the access of Hong Kong enterprises to the Mainland market for development, and provide them with the greatest possible room and legal protection. The Government has never stopped these efforts and will continue to do so.

In terms of numbers, if I do not remember wrongly, Hong Kong has recorded an annual economic growth of 7.9% after signing CEPA with the Mainland. This year-to-year growth can be said to be significant. Secondly, CEPA is not the only trade agreement that we have signed. The number of free trade agreements ("FTAs") entered into between Hong Kong and overseas places has doubled in a span of four short years, from four in the past to eight for the current-term Government, and the number of signing economies involved has increased by three times to a total of 20.

These FTAs have created ample room for development and paved the way for enterprises. As some Members mentioned yesterday and today, Hong Kong is waiting to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership ("RCEP"). Our preparatory work is, however, far more than negotiating with 10-odd economies as remarked by the Under Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development yesterday. This is because during this period, as at today, 13 out of the 15 RCEP members have directly signed bilateral FTAs or investment agreements with Hong Kong, including the newly-signed agreements mentioned by me earlier on. These are some of our preparatory efforts other than CEPA.

As we can see, despite the global epidemic situation and difficulties in resuming traveller clearance, there are still over 9 000 overseas companies setting up their regional headquarters or regional offices in Hong Kong, and the top five overseas companies have reflected the situation discussed by Members earlier. While the top five origins used to be European and American companies, the first place is now taken up by the Mainland. Apart from the consideration of being in the same country, another reason is because Mainland companies can position LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 July 2021 8097 themselves globally or regionally through Hong Kong. In the second place is Japan, which shows that Hong Kong is playing the linking role, especially linking with member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ("ASEAN"). The fact that Singapore ranked fifth also reflects that there are both competition and cooperation between Hong Kong and Singapore. All these show that we do not only eye on the expanding Mainland market, but just as a number of Members have said, we have also explored how Hong Kong could leverage our advantages and link the Mainland market with other places in the region, especially the ASEAN market, which is now the second largest market of Hong Kong as mentioned by a Member just now. All in all, real progress is evident in this regard.

There is a unique observation in respect of trade. Although Hong Kong is still suffering from the epidemic this and last year, in five of the six months between last December and this May, our total trade volume covering imports, exports and re-exports exceeded HK$800 billion and hit record high both in terms of monthly and cumulative volume. This supports my earlier remark that places that have signed FTAs with Hong Kong, such as the Mainland, have an annual trade growth of over 7%. With regard to ASEAN, the annual trade growth in the four years after signing FTA with Hong Kong also reached 6.9% on average. This proves that the above mentioned efforts have brought real benefits.

Members have also touched on the situation of different sectors, and Mr CHAN Kin-por highlighted the need to seek opportunities for the insurance industry. I noticed that in the reply given by the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau in another debate yesterday, he stated that while it was important to capture the Mainland market for the insurance industry, it also hoped that Hong Kong could perform the function of a risk management centre. Given that the insurance density of Hong Kong is Asia's number one and world's number two, we can promote and enhance our status as an international risk management centre with the help of the insurance industry. I think this has more or less addressed the concerns of Mr CHAN Kin-por or Mr CHAN Chun-ying. The response made yesterday also touched on the concern of Mr CHAN Chun-ying over green finance. We fully agree with that and have already put in place specific measures. Green finance will surely continue to develop along with the major trend via the Belt and Road Initiative and the finance industry.

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A number of Members also mentioned how we should leverage the strengths of Hong Kong to develop innovation and technology ("I&T"), and explained how the Government made use of the Science and Technology Park or cooperated with Shenzhen, GBA in particular, to develop the I&T zone to realize the concept of "one zone, two parks". This is an example showing how we can play a role in the domestic circulation. Also, I would like to respond to Mr LAU Kwok-fan's special concern over the Loop area, which is our key development area. With the support of the Central Authorities and our cooperation with Shenzhen, we seek to make use of the zone to liaise with the world's top enterprises and promote cooperation between research and tertiary institutions. It is hoped that progress can be made when the zone is completed in phases between 2024 and 2027.

Just now, Mr YIU Si-wing also referred to the hard-hit tourism industry. In this regard, we have never stopped promoting the industry despite the epidemic. We have communicated with the Mainland and, through the planning of GBA formulated by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the efforts of the Hong Kong Tourism Board, strived to maintain and reinforce the brand of Hong Kong during this period. We hope that the promotion of "multi-destination tourism" and the development of tourism activities in cooperation with the Mainland and GBA will become a strong momentum driving the post-pandemic economic recovery.

The motion of Mr Martin LIAO and the earlier speeches of Mrs Regina IP and Mr Jeffrey LAM all mentioned that young people should seek development in GBA. I believe this is the area that many Members wish to enhance. Although matters that have been discussed in the Council are familiar to us, young people who have not entered the job market may not fully understand the situation in the Mainland. Therefore, the Government has stepped up its efforts in recent years to enhance and deepen students' understanding of the Mainland and, through national education, arrange study tours and visits to the Mainland. As mentioned by Members, in the past few years, we have also launched the Funding Scheme for Youth Entrepreneurship in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. This is a specific scheme which allows young people to gain practical work experience in GBA with the assistance of non-governmental organizations or enterprises. GBA has indeed provided excellent opportunities for the development of start-ups or culture, arts and creative industries over the past few years.

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President, to conclude, I believe our discussion today is not the end, but probably a new start. As I mentioned at the beginning of my speech, when we speak of the development of the Mainland and Hong Kong, we cannot but discuss the three major challenges facing the world, the region, the country and Hong Kong. The first challenge is the epidemic. Traveller clearance and vaccination are surely what we should do. And yet, how Hong Kong can continue to leverage our advantages and properly seize the opportunities presented when the combat of the epidemic has reached a mature stage and the epidemic situation has stabilized, will be an important agenda item concerning the cooperation of Policy Bureaux of the SAR Government. We will have to prevent the epidemic while regaining the economic momentum.

The second major challenge is the global politico-economic situation as mentioned by many Members. In particular, the practice of protectionism and even the provocation of trade conflicts by certain countries did hold back economic recovery around the world. In view of this, Hong Kong will keep fighting our corner and defending our interests. We will also continue to participate in multilateral trade discussions at the national, regional or global level, with a view to reducing trade barriers and restoring international trade cooperation.

The third challenge is how to regain inclusive and sustainable economic development momentum amid the epidemic, protectionism and international conflicts as mentioned earlier. In this connection, all the advice that Members have given to the Government has enriched the strategy concerned. If individual Members want me to relay their other views to other Policy Bureaux, I will be happy to do so and will respond in due course.

With these remarks, President, I support the motion.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mr Martin LIAO, you still have 56 seconds to reply. Then, the debate will come to a close.

MR MARTIN LIAO (in Cantonese): President, I would like to thank the 17 Members and the Secretary for speaking on this motion to make its content richer. The matter of the motion is very important to Hong Kong as it concerns not only the future positioning and development of Hong Kong, but also our future 8100 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 July 2021 economy and livelihood. I hope that the Government will lead the community to seize the opportunity in time, and act on its words by doing real work so that Hong Kong can regain its past glory.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): I now put the question to you and that is: That the motion moved by Mr Martin LIAO be passed. Will those in favour please raise their hands?

(Members raised their hands)

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Those against please raise their hands.

(No hands raised)

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): I think the question is agreed by a majority of each of the two groups of Members present, that is, those returned by functional constituencies and those returned by geographical constituencies through direct elections.

I declare the motion passed.

NEXT MEETING

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): I now adjourn the Council until 11:00 am on Wednesday, 14 July 2021.

Adjourned accordingly at 11:00 am.