Hong Kong’s economic recovery is improving, focusing on tackling chronic diseases of people’s livelihood.

Xinhua News Agency, Hong Kong, December 26th Title: Hong Kong’s economic recovery is improving, focusing on tackling chronic diseases of people’s livelihood.

Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Xu Wang Xi Chen Peiying Huang Qiantian

In 2021, Hong Kong’s economy will recover strongly, and the SAR government predicts that the annual growth is expected to reach 6.4%.

This year, international finance centre’s position remained stable, and the latest ranking of international institutions rose by one place and returned to the third place.

This year, Hong Kong made a long-term plan, and it is expected that the core issues of economic and social development, such as housing problems and innovative technology, will be solved.

Confidence in a strong economic recovery has steadily increased.

"Hong Kong’s economy has recovered strongly this year." E Zhihuan, chief economist of BOC Hong Kong, has a clear view: "In sync with the major economies in the world, Hong Kong has entered the track of strong recovery, and this trend will continue."

Ou Xixiong, economic adviser to the SAR Government, said that the sharp improvement in external factors was the main driving force for Hong Kong’s economic recovery.

The unemployment rate in Hong Kong has also continued to improve this year. According to the latest labor force statistics released by the Census and Statistics Department of the Hong Kong SAR Government on December 16th, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped from 4.3% from August to October in 2021 to 4.1% from September to November in 2021.

Another highlight of Hong Kong’s economy is that inflation is under control. Unlike the recovery of many economies and the deterioration of inflation, consumer prices in Hong Kong have only increased slightly. In the first three quarters of this year, the basic consumer price inflation was 0.4%, and the overall consumer price inflation rate for the whole year was predicted to be 1.6%.

A number of recent surveys show that business confidence in Hong Kong has steadily increased.

According to the "Business Prospects Questionnaire Survey" of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, nearly half of the enterprises surveyed expect that the turnover next year will increase compared with this year.

Housing and people’s livelihood pain points will become the focus of policy.

Ms. Li, who lives in public housing (low-rent housing in Hong Kong), is obsessed with moving to a big house: "My daughter is older, a little rebellious, and she often conflicts with her father, even if she is given a small space."

28 square meters, five people. This is the status quo of Ms. Li’s family. The two older daughters slept in bunk beds, huddled behind the door, and the mother took the younger daughter to sleep in the cabin. If I hadn’t got through the balcony, my father’s sofa wouldn’t be open.

According to the data of the Housing Department of the Hong Kong SAR Government, there are now more than 250,000 applications waiting for public housing, and the waiting time is nearly six years.

Housing is the biggest pain point of Hong Kong society. For a long time, it is difficult to reach a consensus on how to solve it.

In 2021, with the care and support of the central government, Hong Kong got rid of the haze of social tears, and the SAR government and all walks of life increasingly focused on solving people’s livelihood problems.

The core of Hong Kong’s housing problem is the land problem. According to the latest figures released by the Housing Department, about 350 hectares of land have been found in the next decade, which can build about 330,000 public housing units. According to the Housing Department, this is a new high in recent years, and the multi-pronged land search strategy of the SAR Government has achieved results.

What is even more encouraging is the planning of the "Northern Metropolitan Area". In the policy address in October this year, the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, proposed to build a "Northern Metropolitan Area" covering an area of 300 square kilometers in northern Hong Kong, which is suitable for living, industry and tourism. While meeting the housing needs of about 2.5 million people, it can also form a strategic layout of "two cities and three circles" with Shenzhen, and play a "double engine" role for the country and produce a "strong joint force" role.

Hong Kong still has good opportunities without fear of western smearing.

Peter Stein, a Danish businessman who is talking business in Europe, is eager to return to Hong Kong, even if he has to spend the whole Christmas holiday together with New Year’s Day in an isolation hotel. Hong Kong has his business and his family.

"I like the freedom of Hong Kong, especially the combination of busy city life and beautiful countryside." Peter Stein, who started a medical device company in Hong Kong in 1994, said, "One of my best experiences was hiking in the mountains. When I was hiking on Lantau Island, I could hear Donald singing in Disneyland. This will not be found in other parts of the world, only in Hong Kong. "

He found that what people in Europe are talking about in Hong Kong is totally different from the Hong Kong where he lives. "They believe the information in those media, and they are misled!" Peter Stein believes, "For young people, Hong Kong is the place with the best opportunities in the world. Hong Kong is a Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area with more than 80 million people. It has a good infrastructure and many excellent companies and enterprises. "

It takes time to eliminate the smear of western media, but western business circles still have confidence in Hong Kong.

According to the 30th "Global Financial Center Index" report of Z/Yen Group and China (Shenzhen) Comprehensive Development Research Institute, the overall ranking of Hong Kong, China rose by one place from March this year to the third place in the world.

In the global IPO market, KPMG reported that as of December 5, the total IPO amount of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2021 was $39 billion, and the amount of funds raised ranked fourth in the world.

The Hong Kong bond market in 2021 is also extremely active. Renminbi bonds, in particular, experienced a downturn in previous years. In 2021, 20 billion yuan from the Ministry of Finance and 5 billion yuan from Shenzhen were issued in Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong SAR Government also issued 5 billion yuan of offshore RMB green bonds for the first time, which was enthusiastically sought after.

The smooth development of bond links and "cross-border wealth management links" highlights the advantages of connectivity between Hong Kong and the Mainland. Raymond Yue, president of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, said that foreign investors are most concerned about how to better seize the opportunities in the Hong Kong and mainland markets and how to strengthen the development of new fields such as financial technology and green finance. With the continuous advancement of interconnection, Hong Kong’s financial industry will gain greater development momentum.

Innovation and entrepreneurship, in the best times and the best regions.

Wu Xueming, who graduated from Harvard University, started his business in Hong Kong, and then moved to Foshan and Jiangmen to set up business parks. The persistent epidemic has allowed Wu Xueming to conduct his own mainland enterprises by remote video.

"This is the best entrepreneurial era, and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is the best entrepreneurial area." Wu Xueming said.

Zhan Peixun organized youth science and technology exchange activities in Hong Kong for a long time, and finally could not hold back his entrepreneurial passion. He started his own unmanned vehicle project in Shenzhen at the beginning of this year. At present, his company has obtained the first unmanned test license granted by the Transport Department of the Hong Kong SAR Government.

He can list a lot of complementary advantages of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and he is deeply impressed by the support policies of various places for Hong Kong Youth. He recently visited Guangzhou Nansha, Shenzhen Qianhai, Futian Shenzhen-Hong Kong Cooperation Zone and other places, and found that all places tried their best to attract Hong Kong youths to get in, stay and blend in. "For Hong Kong youths who are interested in starting businesses, this is definitely the best place to land.".

The Hong Kong SAR Government is also determined to enhance its support for innovation and technology. In the 2021 policy address, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor announced that it would immediately study the expansion of the Science Park, and suggested that the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Science and Technology Park, which is being built in Hetao, should be integrated with Lok Ma Chau and Xintian to form a "Xintian Science and Technology City".

Liang Haiming, president of Silk Road Zhigu Research Institute, is very optimistic about this area. Xintian Science and Technology City has about 240 hectares of land related to Chuangke, and together with Shenzhen Chuangke Park, it forms a Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone covering an area of about 540 hectares.

Yang Yuchuan, a visiting professor in hong kong financial services institute, suggested that Hong Kong should give full play to its special advantages and attract international scientific research talents in the future, so as to make Hong Kong a science and technology innovation center that gathers talents from home and abroad for common development.

Freed from the constraints of "pan-politicization", Hong Kong concentrates on planning long-term development. "In the past, we didn’t have the courage, knowledge or conditions to plan the future for Hong Kong." In a forum in October, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said that the two major measures taken by the central authorities, including the Hong Kong National Security Law, have restored our stability, and improving the electoral system has enabled us to ensure that "patriots govern Hong Kong". Now it is time to forge ahead, make a fresh start and plan for the future of Hong Kong.