Joining Hands to Dig for "Gold Mines", Entrepreneurial Discussion: Seizing New Opportunities, Collaborating at the First Shanghai Hong Kong Entrepreneur Roundtable | Enterprises | New Opportunities
In April this year, the celebration of the establishment of the Shanghai Hong Kong Club Association was held in Hong Kong. Today, more than a month later, the first Shanghai Hong Kong Entrepreneur Roundtable and the signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding on Comprehensive Strengthening Strategic Cooperation between the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce and the Hong Kong Chinese Chamber of Commerce will be held in Shanghai. The two sides will establish a working mechanism to enhance cooperation and exchange, promote integration and innovation, and push economic and trade cooperation between Shanghai and Hong Kong to a new level.
"The business communities in Shanghai and Hong Kong have a profound historical connection. Since the opening of the port, the two regions have maintained close economic and trade exchanges for a long time." At the signing ceremony, Chen Tong, a member of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee and Minister of the United Front Work Department, stated that in 2022, the import and export trade volume between Shanghai and Hong Kong exceeded 160 billion yuan, an increase of 7.5 times from 1997; Since its launch in November 2014, the daily trading volume of the Shanghai Hong Kong Stock Connect has increased by about three times in both southbound and northbound directions by the end of 2022. The two regions have also carried out many fruitful cooperation projects in areas such as technological innovation, financial services, and cultural education. It is timely and there is huge space for the business communities of the two regions to strengthen cooperation and seek common development.
Cai Guanshen, President of the Hong Kong Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Chairman of Xinhua Group, has a deep understanding of this. After the reform and opening up, as one of the first Hong Kong businessmen to invest in mainland China, he went to Fengxian, Shanghai to invest in the shrimp farming industry. Over the past 40 years, Shanghai and Hong Kong have established comprehensive cooperation in various fields such as economy and trade, technology, finance, talent, education, and culture. He said, "Hong Kong and Shanghai are the two engines of the same plane. You have me, and I have you. Only through strong alliances can we make the plane fly more steadily and better. Today's signing of the memorandum is a new starting point, and we look forward to stronger interaction between entrepreneurs in the two regions, retaining foreign enterprises, attracting investors, and going out together for win-win cooperation."
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Several attending entrepreneurs mentioned that Hong Kong is based on international connections to the domestic market, while Shanghai is based on domestic connections to the international market. The mutual benefit and learning between the two places are of great significance, and they must also be linked and integrated for development. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Shanghai Hong Kong Cooperation Conference mechanism, which fully reflects the distinctive characteristics of "Shanghai with Hong Kong and Hong Kong with Shanghai" in the development of these years. "We have been developing in Hong Kong for 20 years and deeply feel the transformation of Hong Kong's industries. In the past, we mainly worked in the capital market and finance fields in Hong Kong. Now, we will also visit more technology parks to carry out cooperation in biomedicine and artificial intelligence." Chen Qiyu, Vice Chairman of the Shanghai Federation of Industry and Commerce and Co CEO of Fosun International Co., Ltd., expressed his hope to deepen cooperation with Hong Kong funded enterprises, achieve capital linkage, talent linkage, and industry linkage, and jointly enter the global market.
According to the memorandum signed today, in the future, the Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce and the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong will establish a cooperation and exchange mechanism and set up a cooperation mechanism committee, organize economic and trade delegations to visit each other, build an exchange platform, serve enterprises to participate in exhibitions, jointly carry out training for young entrepreneurs, promote project cooperation between enterprises in the two places in the fields of finance, law, logistics, scientific and technological innovation, digital economy, and general health, and encourage enterprises in the two places to jointly "go global" to seize the opportunities of the "the Belt and Road".
Focusing on the opportunities of the "the Belt and Road", the entrepreneurs at the meeting had a warm discussion. "The Middle East is an important node of the the Belt and Road. In May this year, we visited Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, met with the senior management of the sovereign funds, investment companies, chambers of commerce, financial centers, etc. of the three countries, and had a new understanding of the Middle East region." Xie Yonghai, vice president of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong and chairman of BOC International Prudential Asset Management Co., Ltd., mentioned that currently the Middle East sovereign wealth funds are increasing their investment in China, including secondary market stocks, shares of well-known enterprises, etc. "Middle Eastern countries are seeking economic transformation, and Shanghai has many traditional and innovative enterprises worth investing in. Hong Kong has unique advantages in modern service industry, and Shanghai and Hong Kong have a good foundation for cooperation in introducing Middle Eastern investment. They can work together to further expand business opportunities in the Middle East and explore this gold mine."
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Cai Guanshen also mentioned that currently Middle Eastern countries are very interested in fields such as smart cities, electric vehicles, and autonomous driving, which are Shanghai's strengths. However, some cities in the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta are also very active in this regard. "The market is fair competition, where there are location advantages, capabilities, and strong enthusiasm, more opportunities for cooperation can be obtained."
It is understood that the two chambers of commerce will uphold the fine traditions of the business community, always prioritize national interests and the overall interests of Hong Kong, firmly uphold the authority of "One Country, Two Systems" and the Basic Law, firmly support the lawful governance of the SAR government, and unwaveringly maintain the long-term prosperity and stability of Hong Kong. Next, the two chambers of commerce will carry out institutionalized, normalized, and high-level cooperation and exchange, and collaborate and integrate on a wider, deeper, and higher level to form more practical results. At the same time, the two chambers of commerce play a bridging role, uniting and uniting more business people, promoting the spirit of outstanding entrepreneurs, fulfilling social responsibilities, serving national strategies, and making greater contributions to the joint progress and win-win cooperation between Shanghai and Hong Kong.