20th Anniversary of CEPA Signing: Abundant Achievements in Hong Kong | CEPA | Achievements

Release time:Apr 14, 2024 00:40 AM

Beijing, June 29th (Xinhua) - This year marks the 20th anniversary of the signing of arrangements between the mainland, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and Macao Special Administrative Region to establish closer economic and trade relations. On the 29th, the head of the Taiwan Hong Kong and Macao Department of the Ministry of Commerce stated that CEPA is a high-level free trade agreement with the characteristics of "one country, two systems" and in compliance with the rules of the World Trade Organization. Over the past 20 years since the implementation of CEPA, the mainland, Hong Kong, and Macao have achieved comprehensive liberalization in the field of goods trade, basic liberalization in the field of service trade, and the establishment of a systematic and diverse protection system in the field of investment. The Hong Kong and Macao regions have embarked on a broad path of complementary advantages and common development with the mainland of China.

Over the past 20 years, CEPA has strengthened economic and trade exchanges and cooperation between mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau. The person in charge stated that with the implementation of CEPA, the flow of goods, funds and other factors between mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau will be more efficient and convenient.

From a trade perspective, Hong Kong, Macao, and the mainland are important trading partners for each other. According to statistics from the General Administration of Customs, from 2004 to 2022, the trade volume between the mainland and Hong Kong and Macau increased from 114.51 billion US dollars to 309.74 billion US dollars, an increase of 1.7 times.

In terms of investment, Hong Kong and Macao continue to maintain their position as the largest sources and destinations of overseas investment in the mainland. According to statistics from the Ministry of Commerce, as of May 2023, the mainland has absorbed a total of 1.7 trillion US dollars in funds from Hong Kong and Macau, accounting for 59.8% of the total amount of overseas investment absorbed by the mainland; The stock of non-financial direct investment from the mainland to Hong Kong and Macau is nearly 1.5 trillion US dollars, accounting for nearly 60% of the mainland's outward non-financial direct investment.

For the past 20 years, CEPA has promoted high-level openness. The person in charge introduced that CEPA has taken the lead in implementing a pre admission national treatment and negative list management system for Hong Kong and Macau investors, introducing the international business models of service providers from Hong Kong and Macau to the mainland, conducting dynamic stress tests on the mainland service industry, and conducting beneficial explorations for the opening up of the service industry to the outside world.

For the past 20 years, CEPA has supported the economic development of Hong Kong and Macau. The person in charge said that CEPA has promoted the development of the real economy in Hong Kong and Macau. Under the CEPA, the mainland provides zero tariff policies for manufacturing in Hong Kong and Macau, implements electronic networking of origin to enhance trade convenience, optimizes the origin standards for 95 tax codes of goods, and benefits the local manufacturing industries in Hong Kong and Macau. According to statistics from the General Administration of Customs, as of May 2023, Hong Kong has enjoyed CEPA zero tariff goods worth 115.6 billion yuan, with tariff reductions of 9.44 billion yuan; Macao enjoys a CEPA zero tariff goods worth 1.2 billion yuan, with a tariff reduction of 80.033 million yuan.

CEPA has expanded the development space of the service industry in Hong Kong and Macau. Under the CEPA, the mainland has opened up 153 service sectors to Hong Kong and Macau, accounting for 95.6% of all 160 service trade sectors in the World Trade Organization. According to statistics from the governments of the Hong Kong and Macau Special Administrative Regions, as of the end of May 2023, 4268 Hong Kong and Macau enterprises have applied to invest in mainland China under the preferential conditions of the CEPA.

CEPA has improved the business environment in Hong Kong and Macau. The implementation of CEPA has enhanced the attractiveness of Hong Kong and Macau to overseas enterprises, making them a priority option for multinational corporations to expand their business in mainland China and Asia. According to statistics from the Hong Kong SAR government, from 2003 to June 2022, the total number of regional headquarters and offices established by overseas enterprises in Hong Kong increased from 5414 to 8978.

Two women were stabbed to death and reported to have committed a crime 4 days before the follow-up visit for schizophrenia. Suspect of a bloody murder case in a Hong Kong shopping mall appeared in court today. Male | Last Friday | Murder case
Two women were stabbed to death and reported to have committed a crime 4 days before the follow-up visit for schizophrenia. Suspect of a bloody murder case in a Hong Kong shopping mall appeared in court today. Male | Last Friday | Murder case

According to Hong Kong's Wen Wei Po, a bloody knife stabbing case occurred at Hollywood Square in Diamond Hill last Friday. The police arrested a 39 year old man on suspicion of stabbing two young women, one of whom was stabbed over 30 times. The suspect appeared in the Kwun Tong Magistrates Court this morning. The police at the Kwun Tong Magistrate's Court temporarily charged the suspect with two counts of murder last Sunday. The suspect appeared in court this morning at the Kwun Tong Magistrate's Court. Acting Chief Magistrate Zheng Jihang, after listening to the opinions of both the prosecution and defense, decided to postpone the hearing for two weeks until 9:30 am on June 19th, waiting for two psychiatric expert reports to be obtained. The defense did not object. Zheng Jihang approved the application, and the defendant needs to be temporarily detained at Xiaolan Mental Hospital. When the suspect appeared in court, he wore black framed glasses, a light gray shirt, and camouflage green shorts, and was able to answer the judge's questions normally. accordingly

Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee: The focus of Henan's "summer harvest" has shifted to agricultural machinery in the northern region of Henan Province. | Support | Science | Organization | Province | Northern Henan | Summer Harvest | Rush Harvest
Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee: The focus of Henan's "summer harvest" has shifted to agricultural machinery in the northern region of Henan Province. | Support | Science | Organization | Province | Northern Henan | Summer Harvest | Rush Harvest

Currently, the highly anticipated summer harvest work in Henan has shifted its focus to the northern region of Henan. According to the Henan Daily client, on June 4th, Lou Yangsheng, Secretary of the Henan Provincial Party Committee, presided over a special video scheduling meeting on the "Three Summers" work in the province, listened to the situation report, analyzed and judged the situation, and arranged and deployed the next steps of work. Governor Wang Kai made specific arrangements. On the evening of May 31, 2023, in Xiafutou Village, Xuliang Town, Boai County, Jiaozuo, Henan Province, villagers braved light rain in the wheat fields to harvest wheat. Visual China Map Lou Yangsheng pointed out that the current summer harvest battle in the province has entered the decisive stage. Doing a good job in summer harvest in northern Henan Province is related to the summer grain yield and seed safety. We should focus on seizing opportunities and make every effort to organize the wheat harvesting work in the northern Henan region, minimize losses, and protect the interests of farmers to the greatest extent possible. Accurate forecasting is essential

Xinhua All Media+| Welcome home! What innovative technologies are protecting the return journey of Shenzhou 15? Spaceship | Shenzhou | Technology
Xinhua All Media+| Welcome home! What innovative technologies are protecting the return journey of Shenzhou 15? Spaceship | Shenzhou | Technology

On June 4th, the return capsule of the Shenzhou-15 manned spacecraft successfully landed at the Dongfeng landing site. Astronauts Fei Junlong, Deng Qingming, and Zhang Lu all safely and smoothly exited the spacecraft, and the Shenzhou-15 manned flight mission was a complete success. What innovative technologies are there to safeguard the return journey of Shenzhou 15 in this mission? On June 4th, the return capsule of the Shenzhou-15 manned spacecraft successfully landed at the Dongfeng landing site. Xinhua News Agency reporter Lian Zhen photographed that "the sky and the ground" ensure the high-precision return of spacecraft. For the Shenzhou series spacecraft, the return and re-entry GNC technology is directly related to the life safety of astronauts. Taking the success of this return mission as a symbol, China has comprehensively upgraded its GNC system since the Shenzhou-12 manned spacecraft, which features autonomous rapid rendezvous and docking, autonomous adaptive prediction and re-entry return guidance, and has completed a comprehensive update and replacement

The Chinese naval fleet has arrived! Assembly | Navy | Chinese Fleet
The Chinese naval fleet has arrived! Assembly | Navy | Chinese Fleet

At noon today, a Chinese naval fleet consisting of Zhanjiang and Xuchang ships arrived at the assembly area of the "Comodo-2023" multinational maritime joint exercise. It is understood that the assembly anchorage for this exercise is 3 nautical miles long and 1.5 nautical miles wide, capable of anchoring up to 50 ships. Naval vessels from various countries participating in the exercise will also arrive at the anchorage today to complete the assembly of the "Komodo 2023" multinational maritime joint exercise, which is held every two years by the Indonesian Navy. This year is already the fourth edition of the exercise. The exercise will be held from June 5th to 8th in the city of Jakarta, South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia, including the port and sea phases. In the coming days, participating navies from various countries will participate in ship reading style search and rescue exercises, maritime interception and damage management exercises, aerial exercises, and other course objectives exercises

New comment: Donkey like "morale" limit pulls US debt "bomb" fuse hard to dismantle US | debt | morale
New comment: Donkey like "morale" limit pulls US debt "bomb" fuse hard to dismantle US | debt | morale

On the evening of June 1st, the US Senate passed a bill on the federal government's debt ceiling and budget, and the flame of the US debt bomb was temporarily extinguished at the last moment. The two parties in the United States have staged an extreme tug of war over the US debt bomb. Some experts believe that the US debt crisis is the result of the reckless politics promoted by the US dollar hegemony, and the underlying cause of this crisis is the highly polarized political system of the US. Since the end of World War II, the US Congress has adjusted the debt ceiling more than a hundred times. The recurring debt crisis will not only have a catastrophic impact on the US economy and people's livelihoods, but also continuously erode the value of US dollar assets such as government credit and US bonds, bringing significant and far-reaching impacts to the global economic landscape. 【