HKSAR chief executive says Hong Kong, mainland to further promote competitiveness of professional services sector

John Lee, chief executive of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), said on Wednesday that Hong Kong will continue to join hands with the Chinese mainland to promote the competitiveness of the professional services sector in order to inject new impetus into economic development and achieve high-quality development.

Lee made the remarks after the HKSAR government and the Ministry of Commerce signed the Second Agreement Concerning Amendment to the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) Agreement on Trade in Services in Hong Kong on Wednesday.

The agreement was signed by Financial Secretary of the HKSAR government Paul Chan and Deputy International Trade Representative of the Ministry of Commerce Li Yongjie.

Since CEPA was signed in 2003, its contents have been continuously enriched and updated. It has now developed into a comprehensive and modern free trade agreement covering trade in goods, trade in services, investment and economic and technical cooperation.

According to the HKSAR government's press release, the new agreement introduced new liberalization measures across several service sectors where Hong Kong enjoys competitive advantages, such as financial services, construction and related engineering services, testing and certification, telecommunications, motion pictures, television and tourism services.

The liberalization measures take various forms, including removing or relaxing restrictions on equity shareholding and business scope in the establishment of enterprises; relaxing qualification requirements for Hong Kong professionals providing services; and easing restrictions on Hong Kong's exports of services to the mainland market, the press release said.

The new agreement also brought institutional innovation and collaboration enhancement, including the addition of "allowing Hong Kong-invested enterprises to adopt Hong Kong law" and "allowing Hong Kong-invested enterprises to choose for arbitration to be seated in Hong Kong" as facilitation measures for Hong Kong investors, supporting Hong Kong-invested enterprises registered in the pilot municipalities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA).

Lee said that the new agreement introduced new liberalization measures across different service sectors where Hong Kong enjoys competitive advantages, making it easier for Hong Kong service suppliers to establish enterprises and develop businesses on the mainland, enabling more Hong Kong professionals to obtain qualifications to practice on the mainland, allowing more of Hong Kong's quality services to be provided to the mainland market, and contributing to and serving the country's development.

Some of the measures in the agreement will be piloted in Guangdong Province before being extended to other parts of the mainland. The new agreement will take effect from the date of signing and will be officially implemented on March 1, 2025.