Following is a question by the Hon Ray Wong and a written reply by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Algernon Yau, in the Legislative Council today (November 4):
 
Question:
 
     It has been about one year since the establishment of the Task Force on Supporting Mainland Enterprises in Going Global (GoGlobal Task Force), steered by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development. According to the authorities, the GoGlobal Task Force has provided assistance for more than 340 Mainland enterprises in setting up or expanding their operations in Hong Kong, and around 30 per cent of these enterprises have positioned Hong Kong as their regional or international headquarters or corporate treasury centre (CTC). Various sectors of the society have expressed concern about the GoGlobal Task Force's overall substantive effectiveness, its evaluation mechanisms, the details of its services, and its long-term work plan. They have called for supporting measures to be optimised to leverage Hong Kong's full potential as a springboard for Mainland enterprises going global. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) whether clear performance indicators and performance evaluation mechanism have been established for the various tasks undertaken by the GoGlobal Task Force; if so, of the assessment results of the overall substantive effectiveness of the GoGlobal Task Force's work since its establishment; whether data has been obtained on the enterprises assisted by the GoGlobal Task Force, including (i) enterprise size, (ii) place of origin, (iii) sectoral distribution, and (iv) the number and proportion of such enterprises that have established regional or international headquarters, CTCs, or other business operations in Hong Kong; if so, to provide the relevant information in tabular form; if not, the reasons for that;
 
(2) as the Chief Executive announced in the 2026 Policy Address, plans are in place to deepen collaboration with trade associations in both places to provide targeted support services to Mainland enterprises, how the authorities will implement the relevant work, for example, will priority sectors be defined for co-operation with trade associations, co-operation models and tailored industry support measures, as well as a timetable for implementation; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
 
(3) of the specific strategic objectives of the overseas duty visits planned by the GoGlobal Task Force for the coming year, the countries and regions proposed to be visited, the priority industries and categories of enterprises to be engaged, and the expected tangible outcomes; and
 
(4) given the continued increase in Mainland enterprises' demand for going global, whether the authorities will accord priority to select key industries with strong demand for going global and promote the alignment of rules between the Mainland and overseas markets in areas such as technical standards, regulatory requirements, and professional qualification certification, in order to help such enterprises overcome barriers to overseas market access; if so, of the specific measures and implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     The National 15th Five-Year Plan supports Hong Kong in leveraging its advantages in professional services to assist Chinese enterprises in going global. According to Hong Kong's First Five-Year Plan, Hong Kong should enhance its function as a platform for going global, thereby echoing our country's plan to improve the comprehensive overseas services system and provide one-stop, high-quality and high value-added professional corporate services for Chinese Mainland enterprises going global.
 
     To better support Chinese Mainland enterprises in going global through Hong Kong, the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau (CEDB) established the Task Force on Supporting Mainland Enterprises in Going Global (GoGlobal Task Force), steered by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development (SCED), last October. The GoGlobal Task Force mobilises Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK), the Hong Kong Trade Development Council and Hong Kong's offices in the Chinese Mainland, serving as a one-stop platform providing customised support services to Chinese Mainland enterprises. At the same time, the GoGlobal Task Force leverages the network of the 15 overseas Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government, connecting Chinese Mainland enterprises with overseas markets to seek overseas partners and explore business opportunities. Since its establishment, the GoGlobal Task Force has held four meetings of the Steering Committee and has assisted Chinese Mainland enterprises in going global via Hong Kong in an orderly manner through a three-step approach of "bringing in", getting ready and going global.
 
     Our reply to the question raised by the Hon Ray Wong is provided below:
 
(1) Under the direction of "bringing in" and going global, the work of the GoGlobal Task Force is in line with the Government's overall strategies on attracting enterprises and investments, as well as the continuous expansion of international economic and trade network.
 
     On attracting enterprises and investments, the key performance indicator announced in the 2025 Policy Address is to attract at least a total of 1 200 Chinese Mainland or overseas enterprises to set up or expand their businesses in Hong Kong in 2026 and 2027. This includes Chinese Mainland enterprises establishing a presence in Hong Kong and those planning to use Hong Kong as a base for international expansion. Meanwhile, since its establishment up to September this year, the GoGlobal Task Force has assisted over 360 Chinese Mainland enterprises from various provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in setting up or expanding their operations in Hong Kong. It has also supported them in making necessary preparations for going global, including listing and raising capital in Hong Kong, aligning with overseas standards, acquiring industry certifications and fulfilling compliance requirements. These enterprises mainly cover sectors such as transport, logistics and industrials; financial technology; innovation and technology; tourism and hospitality; digital technology and data innovation; and life and health sciences. About 30 per cent of these enterprises position their Hong Kong operations as international/regional headquarters, corporate treasury centres or other high value-added corporate functions, showcasing Hong Kong's pivotal role as a high value-added platform for going global. It is estimated that these enterprises will bring in about HK$61.3 billion of direct investment to Hong Kong and create around 8 500 new jobs.
 
     Many of these enterprises that have established a presence in Hong Kong have become successful cases. For instance, a Fortune Global 500 traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) enterprise has established a corporate treasury centre and a research and development (R&D) centre in Hong Kong, with a view to leveraging Hong Kong's international medical technology and research capabilities to advance the modernisation and internationalisation of TCM. Furthermore, an enterprise specialising in AI technologies and products has successfully connected with the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited and the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation, positioning Hong Kong as a base for its R&D activities targeting overseas markets.
 
     We will continue to proactively attract high-potential Chinese Mainland enterprises to Hong Kong and assist those that have already established a presence here in preparing for international expansion. Meanwhile, the GoGlobal Task Force will leverage Hong Kong's international network to facilitate their business development abroad and engage relevant enterprises in a systematic manner to keep abreast of their latest operational situation and plans.
 
(2) The 2026 Policy Address announced that the GoGlobal Task Force will deepen collaboration with trade associations in both Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland to provide more targeted support services to Chinese Mainland enterprises. The GoGlobal Task Force will collaborate with trade associations and chambers of commerce in both Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland (including local branches of the Federation of Industry and Commerce and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade,) to organise industry-focused briefings and seminars in various provinces and municipalities to help Chinese Mainland enterprises gain a deeper understanding of Hong Kong's high value-added services and advantages as a GoGlobal platform, as well as the preparations required for overseas expansion. This will enable enterprises to begin preparations for their internationalisation at an earlier stage in the Chinese Mainland and then expand overseas through Hong Kong. The GoGlobal Task Force will also leverage the networks of Hong Kong's chambers of commerce, industry associations and professional organisations to reach out to more Chinese Mainland enterprises interested in overseas expansion, as well as relevant Hong Kong professional service providers, to gain a more in-depth understanding of the market demand for professional services and facilitate enterprises' preparations for international expansion.
 
(3) One of the primary tasks of the GoGlobal Task Force is to organise outbound missions led by Principal Officials of the HKSAR Government to enable enterprises to understand target overseas markets in person and explore potential collaboration opportunities on the ground. Among them, the Chief Executive personally led a business delegation comprising over 30 representatives from Chinese Mainland enterprises to visit Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in June this year. A total of 96 co-operation agreements and memoranda of understanding (MOUs) were reached during the visit, involving specific amounts exceeding US$1.65 billion in total. Some of the Chinese Mainland enterprises in the delegation have successfully launched various co-operative projects with Central Asia and are progressively expanding their operations in the region.
 
     In August 2026, SCED also led over 10 Chinese Mainland enterprises to visit Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to connect them with the vast market of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, achieving positive outcomes. For example, members of the delegation exchanged two MOUs with local enterprises and chambers of commerce, while InvestHK signed an MOU with the Malaysian Investment Development Authority to step up two-way investment co-operation between the two places, thereby further assisting Chinese Mainland enterprises to expand their businesses.
 
     Riding on the successful experience and positive outcomes of this year's missions, the GoGlobal Task Force will continue to organise outbound missions in 2027, and the relevant arrangements will be made having regard to factors such as the outbound visit schedules of the Principal Officials concerned, the latest developments in overseas markets, Hong Kong's economic and trade relations with the relevant markets (such as whether they are economies that have signed Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) or Investment Agreements (IAs) (Note 1) with Hong Kong), investment plans of the relevant Chinese Mainland enterprises. Details will be announced in due course.
 
(4) The CEDB has been working closely with relevant Chinese Mainland authorities to maintain communication regarding the arrangements for GoGlobal enterprises. In February 2026, the CEDB signed an MOU on strengthening co-operation and exchange in the provision of comprehensive overseas services with the Ministry of Commerce to strengthen co-operation and exchange in the provision of comprehensive overseas services, foster closer collaboration between Chinese Mainland enterprises seeking to go global and Hong Kong professional service providers, as well as to strengthen the capacity of Chinese Mainland enterprises in going global. The GoGlobal Task Force will continue to proactively follow up on the implementation of the measures set out in the MOU, and maintain close liaison with relevant Chinese Mainland authorities. Taking into account the economic characteristics and industrial strengths of different provinces and municipalities, the GoGlobal Task Force will also identify suitable enterprises with overseas expansion needs and provide the necessary professional services support, thereby offering more focused and targeted support for their international expansion through Hong Kong.
 
     To strengthen and more systematically co-ordinate Hong Kong's professional services support for enterprises going global, the GoGlobal Task Force launched the Cross-sectoral Professional Services Platform (the Platform), GoGlobal Connect, in April this year, bringing together eight groups of Hong Kong professional service providers (Note 2) to provide professional consultation services to Chinese Mainland enterprises seeking to go global. At present, the Platform comprises more than 220 Hong Kong professional service providers and has processed around 300 enquiries related to overseas expansion through both online and offline channels. The GoGlobal Task Force will continue to enhance the Platform's matching function to connect Chinese Mainland enterprises and Hong Kong professional service providers, and keep track of the effectiveness of individual cases. We will also enhance the Platform's search and matching functions to showcase service providers of different scales, thereby better fulfilling the needs of enterprises going global.
 
     The 2026 Policy Address announced further enhancing the Platform by adding a new sector to provide environmental, social and governance services, with a view to leveraging Hong Kong's international expertise to assist Chinese Mainland enterprises in meeting the requirements of their target markets, including requirements for technical standards and market access. We will continue to invite more professional service providers of different sizes and specialties to join the Platform to provide more diverse and targeted professional support services to Chinese Mainland enterprises.
 
Note 1: At present, Hong Kong has signed nine FTAs with 21 economies and 25 IAs with 34 overseas economies.
 
Note 2: Including financial services; legal services; accounting, tax and business advisory services; design, marketing and brand management services; logistics and transportation services; telecommunications and information technology services; infrastructure and real estate-related services; as well as testing and certification services.

Ends/Wednesday, November 4, 2026
Issued at HKT 17:58

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