The 9th Belt and Road Summit Forum, co-organized by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, was held in Hong Kong on the 11th. The forum, with the theme of “Building a Connected, Innovative and Green New Silk Road”, brought together political and business leaders to discuss cooperation opportunities for the next golden decade of the Belt and Road.
Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee said in his opening speech that as China’s most open international city, Hong Kong is both a “super contact person” and a “super value-added person”, and has great potential in jointly building the Belt and Road. Thanks to the solid legal system and the policy support of “one country, two systems”, investors from all over the world can enjoy Hong Kong’s professional service advantages in finance, law, engineering, logistics and other aspects.
John Lee emphasized that innovation and technology are related to Hong Kong’s future. Hong Kong can play an important role in promoting sustainable development by developing green technology and green finance and cultivating new quality productivity.
In his welcome speech, Chairman of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council Peter Lam said that as an important city in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Hong Kong is interconnected with the vast mainland market, which can promote enterprises in Asia and other regions to “come in” and mainland enterprises to “go out”. For example, the rapidly rising ASEAN has become the biggest highlight of this summit.
Deputy Representative of International Trade Negotiations of the Ministry of Commerce Li Yongyan said that the Ministry of Commerce will accelerate support for Hong Kong to negotiate free trade agreements and investment protection agreements with more countries and regions, and join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) as soon as possible. Support Hong Kong to enhance its status as an international financial, shipping and trade center, and further expand and amplify Hong Kong’s advantages in participating in the joint construction of the “Belt and Road”.
This year is the ninth consecutive time that the summit has been held in Hong Kong. The two-day summit attracted nearly 6,000 people from more than 70 countries and regions, including more than 80 political and business leaders from countries and regions that jointly build the “Belt and Road”. It is reported that this year’s forum will continue to hold business matching and investment project promotion sessions, and will have an exhibition area.