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Following is the speech (English translation) by the Chief Executive, Mr C Y Leung, delivered at the National Day reception in celebration of the 64th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre this morning (October 1):
Distinguished guests, dear colleagues and fellow Hong Kong people,
Together with all people of our country, today we celebrate the 64th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. On behalf of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), I welcome all of you to this reception.
In the past year, our country has again made encouraging achievements in its social and economic development, as well as in other areas. Its international status and influence continue to be on the rise. With the support of the Central Government and the co-operation of Mainland provinces and municipalities, Hong Kong has not only moved forward in its own development, but also continued to contribute to the progress of our country and our people.
In the past year, under the principles of "One Country, Two Systems" and "Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong" with a high degree of autonomy, we have continued to preserve the integrity of "One Country" while giving play to the characteristics of "Two Systems". We have also maintained our status as a highly open and international city, while safeguarding the sovereignty of our country and the interests of Hong Kong.
The HKSAR Government and our society should fully capitalise on the advantages of both "One Country" and "Two Systems", and make contributions to the co-development of Hong Kong and the Mainland through our links both with the international community and with other parts of our country.
In October last year, the World Bank ranked Hong Kong the second easiest place to do business in the world. Early this year, the Heritage Foundation rated Hong Kong the world's freest economy for the 19th year in a row. In the Global Competitiveness Report released by the World Economic Forum last month, Hong Kong moved up two places to seventh in the world and second in Asia. And on the newly announced Xinhua-Dow Jones International Financial Centers Development Index 2013, Hong Kong is placed third for its overall performance. These are affirmations of Hong Kong's international status and competitiveness.
Hong Kong's competitiveness stems from the untiring efforts of all people in Hong Kong, as well as the support and ever-increasing international influence of our country. The current-term Government not only attaches great importance to co-operation with Mainland provinces and municipalities today, but pays even greater attention to expanding the scope and raising the levels of co-operation in future.
The ties between Hong Kong and the Mainland are getting closer. Nowadays, our economic activities across the boundary have extended geographically from the Pearl River Delta region in the past to all cities, large and small, across the country. They have also gone beyond the traditional sectors of manufacturing and real estate to many other industries, including fisheries, agriculture, mining and services. These activities have created the most important economic hinterland and the largest external economy for Hong Kong and consolidated the status of our headquarters economy, benefiting all sectors and strata of our society directly or indirectly. Take banking, for example: as at the end of June 2013, 154 branches of Hong Kong banks were set up in Guangdong Province, while six Hong Kong banks had opened a total of 58 cross-location sub-branches there. This means that the services of Hong Kong-invested banks now cover the whole of Guangdong Province.
Under the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), Hong Kong products meeting the agreed rules of origin enjoy tariff-free treatment when imported into the Mainland. Supplement X to CEPA signed in August this year brings the number of liberalisation measures for trade in services to 403. Besides fostering a closer economic partnership with the Mainland, the HKSAR Government has also endeavoured to promote business with the international community. According to Invest Hong Kong, the number of overseas and Mainland companies with business operations here has reached an all-time high of 7 250. About a quarter of foreign-invested companies consider CEPA a key factor in their decision to operate in Hong Kong.
According to a survey conducted in 2010 by the Census and Statistics Department, around 175 000 Hong Kong residents had worked in the Mainland during the 12 months before the survey, not including those who had to stay in the Mainland for work on a long-term basis without returning to Hong Kong. The Mainland is also a major tourist destination for Hong Kong residents. In 2012, Hong Kong people paid over 78 million visits to the Mainland.
The growing social ties between Hong Kong and the Mainland are also reflected in the number of cross-boundary marriages, which accounted for about 35 per cent of all marriages registered in Hong Kong in 2012. In addition, more and more Hong Kong people go across the boundary for retirement and education. A survey conducted in 2011 by the Census and Statistics Department found that there were 115 500 Hong Kong people aged 60 or above residing in the Mainland at the time of the survey, not including "short-stay Hong Kong permanent residents" with no usual place of residence in Hong Kong and Hong Kong permanent residents who had moved to the Mainland without returning to Hong Kong. On education, some higher education institutions in the Mainland have exempted Hong Kong students from taking the Joint Entrance Examination for Universities in the Mainland from 2012 onwards under a pilot scheme. In 2013, 70 Mainland institutions joined the scheme, admitting around 1 200 students from Hong Kong.
Distinguished guests, dear colleagues and fellow Hong Kong people, the world is changing and China is moving forward. Hong Kong should actively adapt to the new environment of co-operation and competition, identifying new roles that we can play and new functions that we can perform. As Chinese nationals, we, together with all people of China, should make contributions to the development of our country while doing our best to maintain the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong.
Now, please join me in a toast: To the prosperity, success and progress of our country!
Ends/Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Issued at HKT 09:00
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