Shaoxing, HK set to boost bilateral investments

Shaoxing, an industrial city in the province of Zhejiang, is to lift economic ties with Hong Kong, seeking investments in fields such as financing and financial technology.

At the Shaoxing Talent, Culture and Tourism Investment Promotion Conference held in the special administrative region on Wednesday, Sheng Yuechun, deputy Party secretary and mayor of Shaoxing, said he expects Hong Kong entrepreneurs to step up investments in Shaoxing, which is famous for its textile and electronics industries, as economic links between the two cities deepen.

He said priority would be given to the introduction of new business models and technologies in order to incubate more "unicorns" - startups valued at $1 billion or more.

Bernard Chan Pak-li, Hong Kong's under-secretary for commerce and economic development, welcomed Shaoxing's policies aimed at luring investments and talent, saying they have built up a "face-to-face" communication platform for Hong Kong and Shaoxing enterprises.

Both cities, he said, will join forces to forge a new "highland" for development, covering talent, culture, tourism and the economy.

According to Chan, the proportion of Hong Kong capital that had gone into Shaoxing's newly approved investment projects last year reached 45 percent, while the number of Hong Kong contracts sealed stood at 63 percent.

He noted that the SAR has been a major source of overseas investment in Shaoxing, while close to 300 enterprises from the mainland city had invested in Hong Kong by the end of 2018.

Iris Wong Yan, director of Belt and Road and external relations at the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, said Hong Kong and Shaoxing have immense complementary potential for collaboration as both places have their own distinct advantages.

She said Shaoxing could leverage its geographical edge as Zhejiang province is located at an intersection of "the (Silk Road Economic) Belt" and "the (21st-century Maritime Silk) Road", putting the city in a great position to beef up cooperation with the SAR and develop, along with the support of the central government's cross-continental strategy.

At Wednesday's investment promotion event, 14 enterprises from Shaoxing secured preliminary deals with a number of Hong Kong companies, and signed contracts on cooperation in relevant projects.

Last year, Shaoxing recorded 541.69 billion yuan ($80 billion) in gross domestic product, with its GDP per capita reaching $163,000.

Among the 75 listed enterprises in Shaoxing, four of them have gone public in Hong Kong. Shaoxing ranks third in terms of the number of listed companies, compared with other prefecture-level cities nationwide.