What does Article 23 legislation mean for Greater Bay Area?

Every month, Chiu Yu-ho, a resident of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, drives to Shenzhen on the Chinese mainland with his family for shopping. They go straight to Sam's, Costco or Hema Fresh in the morning to stock up, then have a meal in a nice restaurant, and in the afternoon, they take their son to the Happy Valley or a wildlife zoo. After a day of spending frenzy, they drive back home to Hong Kong at night.

Chiu says he has been noticing an increasing number of people from Hong Kong spending weekends in Shenzhen. 

"My son is very interested in the Happy Valley and I noticed a lot of Hong Kong parents with their kids in it as well as the Children's Paradise Park and Shenzhen Safari Park," Chiu said. "There are a lot of free parks in Shenzhen and hotels here are very spacious. It's very suitable for family travel."

Since the implementation of the "Northbound Travel for Hong Kong Vehicles" scheme on July 1 last year, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge has noticed a growing number of private cars from Hong Kong entering Guangdong Province. Official data shows that by March 9, over 500,000 trips had been made by private Hong Kong cars through the bridge check station. The daily number of exits and entries at the station reached a record high of 18,400 on March 31.

Hong Kong-based newspaper Ta Kung Pao estimates that about 53.34 million Hong Kong residents went to Guangdong in 2023, accounting for 74 percent of its overall outbound proportion, which means that on average, each Hong Kong resident travels to Guangdong 7.2 times a year.

Since the publication of the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA Development Plan) in February 2019, more and more beneficial policies have been launched to accelerate Hong Kong's integration into the GBA. Since the implementation of the plan, over 600 policies on improving the area's business environment, infrastructure, tech innovation and others have been issued by all levels of the government to boost the development of the GBA, according to official data.

To further eliminate developmental obstacles, Hong Kong went a step further by passing the milestone Article 23 of the Basic Law of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on March 19. Experts say the ordinance, together with the national security law in Hong Kong passed in June 2020 and other laws, constitutes a sound legal system for safeguarding national security, which will help Hong Kong focus on its economic development, improve the well-being of its residents and attract more investors.

Ian Grenville Cross, a British senior counsel in Hong Kong, said that as Hong Kong is no longer a weak link in China's national security and its residents can focus on enhancing the region's status as an international financial, shipping and trade center, actively integrating with the development of the GBA.

The Chinese General Chamber of Commerce said that Article 23 helps consolidate and enhance Hong Kong's business environment and promotes the region to continue to be the first choice for global investors to explore the mainland and Asia-Pacific markets.

Since the implementation of the national security law in Hong Kong, Western critics have been insinuating that Hong Kong global competitiveness may wane, but figures show that its economic performance stays resilient and strong. The Hong Kong government statistics show that the region's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023 increased by 3.2 percent over 2022, surpassing that of Singapore in the same period (1.2 percent). 

Besides, newly established enterprises in Hong Kong are on the rise. For example, 132,200 resident companies were set up in Hong Kong in 2023, up 27 percent compared with the 2022 figure. A total of 960 new business sites were established by foreign companies, up 10 percent than in the same period of 2022. And 14,800 non-resident companies were registered in Hong Kong in 2023, up 2 percent, indicating global investors' confidence towards the economic potential of Hong Kong and the GBA.

The special administrative region will hold the Digital Economy Summit from April 12 to 13. The Hong Kong officials say the summit has invited a lot of experts from academia and public and private sectors, including guests from Alibaba and Huawei, to explore issues including digital money, stablecoin regulation and real-world assets, which will further boost the integration of the GBA area.

HKSAR Chief Executive John Lee has expressed confidence towards the GBA development, saying the area, equivalent to the 10th largest economy in the world, will develop into one of the "most dynamic and competitive regions" in China and the world. He pledged that Hong Kong would actively integrate into the country's overall development, connect with different cities in the GBA, and strengthen the flow of people, logistics, capital and information.