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E-mail Xinhua, July 31, 2024
HONG KONG, July 31 (Xinhua) -- A stainless steel sculpture, situated in Hong Kong's Exchange Square, depicts two men playing Chinese martial arts and presents the Chinese philosophy of surpassing oneself to visitors worldwide.
The sculptor, 41-year-old Ren Zhe, moved from Beijing to Hong Kong recently after his admission through a new talent acquisition scheme launched by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government.
"Hong Kong is the best display window for China to introduce its culture to the world," said Ren.
From late 2022 to the end of June, the various talent admission schemes received more than 320,000 applications in total, and over 200,000 have been approved.
More people have come to Hong Kong, as the city continues to burnish its credentials as an international economic hub and boasts huge opportunities.
LONG-ESTABLISHED BUSINESS HUB
When Mathieu Croll arrived at Hong Kong International Airport more than a year ago, he was impressed that it only took him less than half an hour to complete all the procedures and get to the metro station.
"It's super quick. Super efficient," recalled the Asia CEO of Egis Group, a global engineering giant headquartered in France.
The airport connects Hong Kong to around 220 destinations worldwide. Mathieu was proud that Egis had been providing technical support for its air traffic management system, including the third runway project which is expected to largely increase the annual passenger capacity upon completion.
The group has made three acquisitions in Hong Kong since 2017, and established its Asia headquarters here in 2021.
Mathieu explained their recognition of Hong Kong with several factors, including the transparent tax policy, a large pool of skilled engineering talent, and its position as a gateway connecting the vast Chinese mainland market to the world.
"If you want to be part of the vibrant industry development in Asia, establishing a presence in Hong Kong is essential," Mathieu said, adding that the group viewed Hong Kong as a production hub where high-quality consulting services are exported to projects across the globe.
As of June 2024, Hong Kong has a total of 1.44 million local companies and 15,000 registered non-Hong Kong companies, both representing all-time high figures, according to the Companies Registry of the HKSAR government.
"Hong Kong remains to be one of the world's most open and competitive economies and continues to gain trust from foreign companies," Algernon Yau, secretary for commerce and economic development of the HKSAR government, said in an interview with Xinhua.
With more than 160,000 trade companies, Hong Kong has a total merchandise trade with the world of more than 8,000 billion Hong Kong dollars (1,024 billion U.S. dollars) in 2023, Yau noted.
BURGEONING INNOVATION INCUBATOR
For Jia Jiaya, a world-renowned computer vision expert, to start up his own business in Hong Kong was a natural choice.
It takes Jia, a tenured professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, no more than half an hour to walk from his office at the campus to the headquarters of SmartMore, his company, in the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park (HKSTP).
The university and the park are located side by side along the coastline of Sha Tin District, with the aim of promoting industrial application of results of the frontier research.
Jia, together with several research fellows, set up the smart manufacturing-specialized company based on their research outputs on artificial intelligence (AI) in December 2019.
"Hong Kong provides a very encouraging breeding ground for startup companies," Jia said, adding that the society has a strong willingness to foster new technologies.
In June, it was announced that SmartMore was to receive the first public investment from the Hong Kong Investment Corporation, which is wholly owned by the HKSAR government and aims to further optimize the use of fiscal reserves for promoting the development of industries and the economy. The two sides signed a strategic cooperation agreement for accelerating the industrialization in Hong Kong.
Future manufactories in Hong Kong should be unmanned and equipped with smart devices, Jia explained and revealed that he has planned to set up an institute to cultivate more AI talents.
In the park, a few hundred meters away from the headquarters of SmartMore, there is a huge golden egg-shaped building, symbolizing that the HKSTP is an incubator for innovation enterprises.
As of the first half of this year, there are more than 14,000 R&D practitioners and more than 1,800 innovation and technology companies in the HKSTP community.
According to a blueprint released by the HKSAR government at the end of 2022, by 2032, the number of startups in Hong Kong will once again reach a record high, enabling Hong Kong to become a leading incubator in the region or even in the world.
SUPER CONNECTOR
In April, Mobvoi, a generative AI company born in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, made its initial public offering (IPO) and was successfully listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
The IPO was heavily oversubscribed by investors worldwide.
Before the listing, the China International Capital Corporation (CICC), an investment management and financial services company which had provided financial services for Mobvoi for years, analyzed its financing demands and then suggested that its IPO should be launched in Hong Kong.
"Hong Kong has a conducive environment for the development of companies in emerging industries," said Xu Jia, deputy head of the Investment Banking Department of the CICC, citing reasons such as a highly developed capital market, an inclusive listing system and a diverse global investor base.
Having been operating in Hong Kong for more than 20 years, the CICC has always laid a special focus on channeling international capital to invest in enterprises from the Chinese mainland.
So far, more than 2,000 companies are listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with companies from the Chinese mainland accounting for more than 70 percent of the total market capitalization.
"Currently, more companies from the mainland are in need of a variety of international financial services in order to expand their business to various overseas destinations," Xu said, adding that Hong Kong was undoubtedly the best service provider.
Hong Kong has boarded the country's "fast train" for the development of new quality productive forces and comprehensive deepening of reforms, said John Lee, chief executive of the HKSAR at a reception on July 1.
Hong Kong should serve well as an important node of the national and international dual circulation, Lee said. Enditem
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