Hainan, HK enjoy broad space for synergy, cooperation: HKSAR official

Hainan and Hong Kong need to leverage their respective strengths and complement each other through broader synergy and coordinated development, a Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) official said on Tuesday (July 9).

The two export hubs can jointly study how to draw investments, and there is broad space for cooperation, Woo Kin Man, undersecretary for constitutional and mainland affairs of the HKSAR government, told journalists on the sidelines of an ongoing 5-day Hainan visit by a delegation of consular corps and business communities in Hong Kong.

He underscored the necessity to give full play to the institutional advantages of the "one country, two systems," adding that Hong Kong should fully harness its traditional strengths as a hub and a center while striving to establish itself in other new frontiers.

As most of the delegation members were making their first visit to Hainan, Woo believed that this Hainan visit in person would allow for a deeper understanding of the Hainan Free Trade Port and greater development progress for both Hong Kong and Hainan through experience sharing.

In June 2020, China released a master plan to build the whole of Hainan Island into a globally influential and high-level free trade port by 2050. Four years later, Hainan explored a new model of quality development and opened up to the outside world.

Hainan can give full play to its strengths in medicine, tourism and tech innovation, and Hong Kong can leverage its advantages in professional services to help Hainan enterprises go global, Woo said, believing that there is great potential for cooperation.