Hong Kong, Beijing Sign Two MOUs on Trade and Free-Zone Links

FTZ News: Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan spent Thursday in Beijing and left with two memoranda of understanding aimed at tightening economic ties with the mainland.

He started the day at the China Securities Regulatory Commission, sitting down with chairman Wu Qing. The two went over ways to tighten securities regulation and expand mutual market access between the mainland and Hong Kong. Later he met Assistant Minister of Commerce Yuan Xiaoming to talk through the next steps on trade cooperation.

The MOUs themselves were signed by Algernon Yau, the city’s secretary for commerce and economic development, who traveled with Chan. One went to Sun Yi, director-general of the commerce ministry’s department handling Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao affairs. The other went to He Yongqian, who runs the department that oversees the mainland’s pilot free trade zones and its free trade port. Both were signed under the existing Mainland and Hong Kong Economic and Trade Co-operation Committee. Chan and Yuan watched the signing.

The second document is the one that touches free zones most directly. It is meant to line Hong Kong up more closely with the mainland’s pilot free trade zones and the free trade port, with the stated goal of increasing exchanges in key sectors. Officials did not spell out timelines or specific rule changes in the public remarks.

Chan thanked the ministry for its support and said Hong Kong would use its business environment and professional services to serve as a connector and value-adder for trade. He also restated the city’s aim to hold its place as an international trade center. In the afternoon he stopped at an artificial intelligence company and met its senior management./.