CGCC World Chinese Entrepreneurs Summit

Explores “Belt & Road” and “Bay Area” Opportunities through

Hong Kong’s Strengths on Professional Services and Innovation

(Hong Kong, 24 August 2018) The CGCC World Chinese Entrepreneurs Summit was held on 23 August at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The officiating guests at the Summit were Mr. Gu Shengzu, Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and Executive Vice Chairman of the China National Democratic Construction Association; Mrs. Carrie Lam, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administration Region (HKSAR); Mr. Wang Zhimin, Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR; Mr. Xu Yousheng, Deputy Director of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council; and Mr. Xie Feng, Commissioner of the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in the HKSAR. The supporting organisations of the Summit included the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council, the HKSAR Government of the PRC, the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR and the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the PRC in the HKSAR. The event was also fully supported by Chinese entrepreneurs organisations from Mainland China and overseas. With the theme of “Belt & Road and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area Opportunities”, the event attracted over a thousand attendees including Mainland and Hong Kong officials, Chinese entrepreneurs worldwide, professionals, business leaders, experts and academics from around the globe to explore the prospects of the “Belt & Road” and “Bay Area” and Hong Kong’s roles in the two development strategies.

Exploring New Opportunities for Regional Cooperation

Dr. Jonathan Choi, Chairman of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce (CGCC), said in his welcome remarks that China is proactively promoting trade and investment liberalization through the “Belt & Road”, the “Bay Area” and other regional cooperation platforms, creating mutual benefits for global partners. The aim of the Summit was to facilitate communication among Chinese entrepreneurs around the world, and to explore new business opportunities by capitalizing on Hong Kong’s professional expertise and innovation.

Mrs. Carrie Lam suggested in her opening keynote that under the “One Country, Two Systems”, Hong Kong can serve as a platform for financial and professional services in the “Belt & Road”, and as a bridge connecting Mainland China and overseas economies. The “Bay Area” development would not only facilitate diversification of Hong Kong’s economy, but also provide a vast hinterland to help address Hong Kong’s issues on housing, aging population and land, thus improving the living quality of local citizens.

Mr. Gu Shengzu emphasized that the “Bay Area” development would mark a new milestone in the implementation of the “One Country, Two Systems” in the new era, and would facilitate the country’s further opening up to achieve innovation-driven and high-quality development. How to effectively integrate the innovative resources of Hong Kong, Shenzhen and other cities for further regional collaboration and development would be key to building the “Bay Area” into a world-class region for innovative economy.

Mr. Xu Yousheng noted in his opening remarks the importance of active participation from governments and societies of “Belt & Road” countries, urging overseas Chinese to proactively promote the initiative’s principle of mutual benefits and help Chinese enterprises reach out to the international market. He encouraged Hong Kong Chinese to make profound contribution to the “Belt & Road”, the “Bay Area” and the Mainland’s new round of opening up.

Mr. Xie Feng pointed out that the “Belt & Road” initiative has brought opportunities for countries both along and beyond the routes, and it has become the largest and most popular cooperation platform in the world. On the ongoing trade war, he believed that there would be no winner as it hurt the global common interests, and stressed that only free and open trade would enable the prosperous and sustainable development of all countries.

Leveraging Hong Kong’s Diverse Strengths to Strengthen Cooperation among Chinese Entrepreneurs

The first part of the Summit’s morning session, moderated by Mr. Antony Leung, Group Chairman & CEO of Nan Fung Group, focused on the “Belt & Road” initiative. Dr. Bernard Chan and Mr. Rimsky Yuen elaborated on the unique strengths of Hong Kong’s professional services in finance, project management and arbitration. They believed that Hong Kong, in particular its professional services sector, plays an unparalleled role in the “Belt & Road” and it should strengthen cooperation with Chinese entrepreneurs worldwide to expand market opportunities. Mr. Dhanin Chearavanont called on Chinese entrepreneurs to enhance connection with Hong Kong and utilize the city’s strengths to explore new opportunities for regional cooperation, whereas Mr. Zhang Yansheng also encouraged Chinese entrepreneurs around the world to collaborate with Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao enterprises to seize new opportunities under the “Belt & Road”.

The second part, moderated by Dr. Jonathan Choi, Chairman of Guangdong-HK-Macao Bay Area Entrepreneurs Union, focused on the “Bay Area”. Mr. Patrick Nip, Dr. Sunny Chai and Mr. Jack Chan discussed from various angles Hong Kong’s role in promoting the “Bay Area” development. Mr. Yuan Jun and Prof. Jacky So suggested how Guangdong’s comprehensive industry chain, Hong Kong’s modern professional services and positioning as a global centre for innovation and technology, and Macao’s tourism industry and connection with Portuguese-speaking countries could complement each other to constitute the unique strengths of the “Bay Area”. The panellists concurred that movements of people, goods and capital should be further enhanced to catalyze the “Bay Area” development.

Leading the Wave of Technological Innovation to Drive Future Economic Growth

The afternoon session of the Summit focused on the “New Economy and Opportunities for Business & Professional Services”. The first part of the session, “Development of Smart City“, was moderated by Mr. Eric Yeung, President of Smart City Consortium, and featured the sharing by Chinese entrepreneurs on promoting technological application and smart city development. Mr. Lin Guangming and Mr. Daniel Hong discussed the experience of Hong Kong’s financial services in applying innovative technologies and its development potential. Mr. Ian Chung and Mr. Pek Lian Guan spoke on Hong Kong’s strengths in infrastructure projects and architectural design, as well as the experience of Chinese enterprises in promoting innovative technologies and smart city development. Mr. Waynffly Zhong examined the latest trends in the interaction between mobile communications technologies and smart city development.

The second part, “New Impetus for Innovation Economy”, was moderated by Prof. Tony F Chan, Founding Member of the Academy of Sciences of Hong Kong and President of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Mr. Shang Hailong and Mr. Teoh Kok Lin believed that under the current tech wave, technologies such as big data analysis and artificial intelligence in particular could complement the professional services sector for enhanced efficiency. Dr. Melvin Toh and Mr. Cheung Chun-yin discussed the interactive and organic development of blockchain technology and finance, e-commerce, biomedical healthcare and internet economy, which they suggested would help expand the market for further growth.

The Summit was attended by over 1,000 distinguished guests, including Mr. Yuen Mo, Mr. Ricky Tsang, Mr. Brandon Liu, Mr. Tommy Li and Mr. Johnny Yu, Vice-chairmen of CGCC; Mr. Ian Fok and Mr. Lam Ming-sum, Life Honorary Chairmen of CGCC, as well as worldwide Chinese entrepreneurs organisations, celebrities and business representatives, government officials, representatives from central government offices, local consulates, business and professional bodies, CGCC member and the media community.