Follow Hong Kong Investment Immigration, follow Hong Kong News: Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying stated while delivering a speech at the Cross-Strait Peaceful Development Forum hosted by the China Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification (Hong Kong) on the 25th that "One Country, Two Systems" has not only been successfully implemented in Hong Kong but also possesses strong vitality, demonstrating the necessity of the common development of Hong Kong and the nation.
Leung Chun-ying stated that in the past month, he has received financial leaders from all over the world on multiple occasions. Everyone is very interested in the financial reform and opening-up of mainland China, and even more interested in how to leverage Hong Kong to develop financial businesses in China. One week ago, the Financial Services Development Council, established by the new term of the Hong Kong SAR Government, published its first batch of six reports, putting forward constructive proposals on how to utilize the positive momentum of national development to enhance Hong Kong's status as an international financial center.
Leung Chun-ying said that next year marks the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Sino-British Joint Declaration by China and the United Kingdom. Looking back at that time, some people had doubts about whether certain provisions in the Sino-British Joint Declaration could be implemented. One aspect was whether one country could have two currencies and whether it could have two currency issuance systems. Today, everyone is very clear that the Hong Kong dollar is the legal tender of Hong Kong, has a different issuance system from the mainland's Renminbi, and maintains free convertibility.
Leung Chun-ying pointed out that on the issue of currency, after its return to the motherland, Hong Kong has made good use of the advantages of "One Country" and also brought into play the advantages of "Two Systems," enabling Hong Kong to gradually develop into an offshore Renminbi business center. Although Hong Kong uses the Hong Kong dollar, as an international financial center, it cooperates with the policies of the Central Government to assist the country in developing multi-level financial markets and accelerating the internationalization of the Renminbi, becoming an important platform for international offshore Renminbi business. Currently, Hong Kong is the world's largest offshore Renminbi business center, possessing the world's largest offshore Renminbi liquidity pool and Renminbi financing market, as well as diversified Renminbi financial products, providing one-stop Renminbi services for enterprises and financial institutions from all over the world. At present, the Renminbi payment and receipt transaction volume of Hong Kong banks accounts for nearly 80% of global transactions entering and leaving the mainland and offshore, ranking first in the world.
He also stated that Hong Kong's professional services industry also enjoys the dual advantages of "One Country" and "Two Systems." According to Article 142 of the Basic Law, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, on the basis of maintaining the original professional systems, independently formulates methods for assessing the professional qualifications for various professions. Some people were once worried that after the return to the motherland, mainland professionals would flood into Hong Kong, compressing the practice space for Hong Kong professionals. The fact is that today, among Hong Kong's eleven professional groups, the total revenue of professionals from at least five of them in the mainland has already exceeded that of the local market; in mainland China, Hong Kong's professional services industry accounts for the largest market share among all foreign professional services, mainly because the CEPA signed between Hong Kong and the mainland annually for ten years has given Hong Kong preferential treatment and convenience.
Leung Chun-ying said that all these facts show that "One Country, Two Systems" has not only been successfully implemented in Hong Kong but also possesses strong vitality, and also demonstrates the necessity of the common development of Hong Kong and the nation.
Leung Chun-ying finally pointed out that Hong Kong's experience over the past thirty years is a successful experience of implementing "One Country, Two Systems," and he hopes to continue to summarize the experience well and work together for the reunification of the country.
