This year, during the Two Sessions, Premier Li Qiang emphasized in the government work report the importance of significantly boosting consumption, improving investment efficiency, and comprehensively expanding domestic demand.
In the face of increasingly severe external challenges, the mainland continues to introduce favorable policies to stimulate domestic demand, providing significant development opportunities for Hong Kong enterprises in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
Some Hong Kong companies are seizing this moment.
The potential of the mainland consumer market is immense. Hong Kong enterprises need to adopt innovative thinking, develop market-appropriate products tailored to the characteristics of the mainland market, and utilize more effective e-commerce marketing channels to meet the demand for quality upgrades in consumption. At the same time, the SAR government should continue to enhance support in funding and market expansion, aiding Hong Kong enterprises in diversifying their markets and improving competitiveness.
In recent years, however, the pressure from the U.S.-China trade war and tariff disputes has been increasing. The country is accelerating the establishment of a new development pattern that focuses on a domestic circulation as the mainstay, with domestic and international "dual circulation" mutually promoting each other. The domestic demand market continues to grow, bolstered by a population of over 1.4 billion and more than 400 million middle-income individuals, forming the world's most promising consumer market. This vast population and middle-income group provide a solid foundation for expanding domestic demand.
The government work report this year outlines ten key tasks, with the first being to vigorously boost consumption, improve investment efficiency, and comprehensively expand domestic demand. It aims to better integrate consumption and investment, accelerate the filling of gaps in domestic demand—especially consumption—making it a driving force for economic growth and a stabilizing anchor.
Experts analyze that the country is actively expanding and stimulating consumption, including arranging for 300 billion yuan in ultra-long-term special bonds to support the replacement of old consumer goods, which presents excellent development opportunities for many exporting enterprises.
Many export-oriented Hong Kong companies in the GBA have already taken the initiative to explore the mainland market in recent years. They have focused on precision casting, new energy components, 3C products, and precision manufacturing, increasing their R&D efforts to provide personalized design solutions based on specific customer requirements. This has successfully garnered customer trust and support, with some Hong Kong enterprises achieving notable results in the mainland.
However, competition in the mainland market is fierce, and there are significant operational differences between the mainland and international markets. Some Hong Kong companies are still not very familiar with the sales culture in the mainland, and expanding into this market requires patience and resilience. For example, marketing practices in the international market cannot simply be replicated in the mainland market. Companies need to develop cost-effective and practical products based on the actual income and consumption situations of mainland residents.
To assist enterprises in coping with the increasingly complex business environment, the SAR government must take proactive measures to support businesses in upgrading and transforming, as well as expanding into new markets. The Hong Kong Trade Development Council's Hong Kong Shopping Festival, held for the first time last year, helped local SMEs enhance their visibility on mainland e-commerce platforms and become more familiar with the cultural and operational characteristics of the mainland online market, thereby promoting Hong Kong brands.
The latest Budget includes an additional investment of HK$1.5 billion into the Dedicated Fund on Branding, Upgrading and Domestic Sales (BUD Fund) for brand development, upgrading transformation, and expanding the domestic market, optimizing application arrangements alongside the previously announced HK$1 billion investment, totaling HK$2.5 billion.
Additionally, the Ministry of Commerce and the SAR government signed the revised Amendment Agreement II under the CEPA framework, which took effect on March 1 this year, further opening up the mainland service market to Hong Kong, with most measures applicable nationwide and some trialed in the GBA. These measures need to be consistently implemented to fully realize their policy effectiveness, supporting Hong Kong enterprises in developing new customer bases and creating greater opportunities for Hong Kong products.
(Source: Wen Wei Po)
Related News:
Opinion | Utilizing laws & technology to establish global carbon trading ecosystem in HK
Comment