Interview: HK to play super-connector for China's "Belt and Road": Chief Executive

Hong Kong should intensify its role as the "super-connector" linking the Chinese mainland and the rest of the world, and grasp the opportunity of the China's "One Belt, One Road" initiative to boost its economy, said Leung Chun- ying, Chief Executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ( SAR).

The SAR government should abandon outdated "positive non- intervention" mentality of economic development amid increasing competition with neighboring economies, said Leung during a recent exclusive interview with Xinhua at Government House, the chief executive's official residence.

It was the first time for the chief executive to accept an interview after a universal suffrage motion for the region's constitutional reform was vetoed by opposition lawmakers of the SAR Legislative Council in June.

The SAR government has since then pledged to focus on promoting the region's economic development and improving livelihood of the Hong Kong people in the remaining two-year tenure.

"We spent almost two years to promote the constitutional reform in the past three years," Leung said, "so we should turn our attention to economy and livelihood."

Leung said he has proposed a new idea that the government should be appropriately active in promoting Hong Kong's economy, and it has now been recognized by the Hong Kong society.

But this has been a rather different idea since Hong Kong has been long considered a typical laissez-faire economy with " positive non-intervention" policy carried on by previous governors in British colonial rule.

"One of the reasons why I propose this new idea is, the governments of Hong Kong's rival economies have been quite active in dealing with economic and livelihood issues," he added.

If Hong Kong, as an economy, is to compete with rivals like Singapore and South Korea, the government has to reconsider what kind of roles that the SAR government should and could play, the chief executive said.

After he took office in 2012, Leung has urged Hong Kong to play a role as "super-connector" between Chinese mainland and the rest of the world, as the region has its unique advantages created by the "One Country, Two Systems" principle.

The "super-connector" should act in both ways, according to Leung. On one hand, Hong Kong should continue helping mainland companies with their overseas businesses. On the other hand, the SAR government should pay more attention to attract more foreign investment, talents and technologies to Hong Kong and the mainland.

Many economies, according to Leung, have shown great interests in having economic cooperation with the Chinese mainland through Hong Kong.

Leung stressed that Hong Kong's such function could not be noticed in its transshipment trade volumes chart. "Many commodities sold by the U.S., Canada or India were shipped directly to the mainland, but their contracts were signed with Hong Kong companies."

Leung also revealed that the SAR government is considering an appropriate way, including setting up an official organ, to participate in China's "Belt and Road" initiative.

He believed that Hong Kong's enterprises home and abroad could provide their business experiences and contribute to the country's ambitious program and Hong Kong's role within it.

"People from Singapore often told me that they envy Hong Kong has many successful businessmen, such as Mr. Li Ka-shing. I told them that Hong Kong also has many medium-and-small companies which have achieved success in overseas. We should support them, promote their overseas businesses," he said.

Leung said Hong Kong should reinforce its position of a place for enterprises' headquarters in promoting the "One Belt, One Road " initiative.

"Even in agriculture, Hong Kong's enterprises have obtained market shares and experience in the mainland and overseas. So we should encourage more companies to choose Hong Kong as the place for their headquarters, which will benefit Hong Kong's economy," he said.

To participate in the "Belt and Road" initiative, Hong Kong's enterprises have many choices other than the region's dominant trade, logistics, finance, tourism and professional services, said Leung.

Stock farming and even chemical industry will also be appropriate choices, he added.

The chief executive also noted that Hong Kong's "super- connector" function are not limited in the economic field, but also works in scientific aspect.

Swedish Karolinska Institute, one of the largest and most prestigious medical universities in the world, has decided to set up a research center in Hong Kong, the first of its kind outside Sweden. The University of Chicago and Cornell University have also established cooperative research facilities in Hong Kong.

"Why did Hong Kong attract these world-class scientific institutions?" Leung said, "Because they want very much to cooperate with the Chinese mainland with a platform in Hong Kong where they are more familiar with the legal systems and lifestyle. "

According to Leung, the SAR government will open more overseas economic and trade offices to meet a growing demand to promote Hong Kong. So far, the SAR government has set up 11 economic and trade offices overseas.

However, Leung noted that there are still some obstacles inside Hong Kong despite government efforts to boost economic development and improve people's livelihood.

Leung criticized the filibustering of some opposition lawmakers within the SAR's legislature on many economic and livelihood issues, which has already slowed down Hong Kong's paces of economic development.

Speaking of Hong Kong people's livelihood, the chief executive agreed that housing problem is the biggest one among others, as many public polls showed that Hong Kong residents have repeatedly complained about unaffordable housing price and the long queuing time to acquire government's public housing apartments.

According to Leung, who has prioritized the housing problem since he took office, the amount of private estates to be completed in 2016 will be 70 percent more than the average amount of the past ten years, a record high in recent ten years, which could, to some extent, alleviate the increasing demand.

Leung stressed that addressing housing problem is a long-term work in Hong Kong and should not be given up halfway. Therefore, Leung said Hong Kong must have continuous land supply.

"In long-term plan, one of the solutions is sea filling. We now have some bold visions beyond the Victoria Harbor," Leung told Xinhua.

The chief executive noted that increasing land supply is for not only solving Hong Kong residents' housing problem but also the region's economic development needs, including the financial industry.

"Statistics have shown that there are also strong demand for land, especially business buildings, in Hong Kong. So the government has an ambitious plan to develop Kowloon East, which will be another major business center in the future," said the executive. Endi