John Lee urges closer HK and Dongguan collaboration on innovation

Hong Kong and Dongguan have promised to leverage each other's strengths to foster technology and innovation developments as part of greater collaboration.  

This comes as Hong Kong's leader John Lee made his first appearance outside Hong Kong in 2024 and attended the GBA iForum and Banquet in Dongguan. During his visit, Lee met with Xiao Yafei, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the Guangdong Provincial People's Congress and the secretary of the CPC Dongguan Municipal Committee, and Lyu Chengxi, deputy secretary of Dongguan Municipal Party Committee and mayor of Dongguan Municipal Government. 

Lee said during his opening speech at the forum that among the cities in the Greater Bay Area which have strong strengths in various industries, Dongguan has obvious advantages in hi-tech manufacturing.

“The city, where more than 8,000 Hong Kong enterprises are operated, about one-third of those in the Greater Bay Area, has a close tie with the special administrative region," he added.

In addition, Lee said that as the GBA progresses towards high technology and high value-added development, Hong Kong will leverage its dual roles of “super-connector” and “super value-adder" to connect the GBA to the international market, and to provide Hong Kong’s professional services to the GBA.  

"With confidence, I believe that with our joint efforts, Hong Kong and Dongguan will achieve mutual success, reaching new peaks every day and every year," Lee added.

Meanwhile, Lyu said that Dongguan possesses ample resources to harness and convert Hong Kong's technological accomplishments, thereby catering to the developmental requirements of Hong Kong enterprises. "With the continuous advancement of the Greater Bay Area construction, there will be promising prospects for collaboration between both regions," he added.

On promoting logistics connectivity, Lee said the Airport Authority Hong Kong has set up the Hong Kong International Airport Logistics Park in Dongguan to enhance the international connectivity of cargo services in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) and improve the international competitiveness of manufacturing as well as import and export industries in the GBA.  

Lee added the Hong Kong government will press ahead with the construction of a permanent facility for the logistics park, with the first phase of construction to be completed by the end of next year. 

In terms of education cooperation, Lee said the first phase of the campus construction of the City University of Hong Kong (Dongguan) was completed in August 2023, and the university is currently working at full steam in preparing for its official establishment. Lee hoped the university would contribute to the nurturing of innovative and internationalised talent for the country with its first-class educational resources and strengths in various disciplines.  

Speaking at the forum dinner, Lee expressed his hope for Hong Kong enterprises to make good use of the GBA as the best point of access to actively participate in the development of the GBA and contribute to national development. 

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