Sharing Session on Economic and Trade Cooperation Zones for Belt and Road Opportunities

The Commerce and Economic Development Bureau (CEDB) and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) jointly held a sharing session on the investment environment of overseas Economic and Trade Cooperation Zones on 14 August 2018 to promote collaboration with state-owned enterprises (SoEs) for Belt and Road opportunities. The session provided a platform for SoEs to share their experiences in developing overseas Economic and Trade Cooperation Zones, and to facilitate business collaboration with Hong Kong enterprises as well as professional services for exploring opportunities together.

The Secretary General of the SASAC, Mr Yan Xiaofeng, a delegation of SASAC officials and representatives of the 11 SoEs joined the sharing session and had in-depth and pragmatic discussions with representatives/enterprises from local chambers of commerce as well as professional bodies on expansion to overseas markets and operation in Economic and Trade Cooperation Zones. More than 200 participants joined the session. Relevant press releases are as follows:

• CEDB and SASAC held sharing session on Economic and Trade Cooperation Zones for Belt and Road opportunities
• SASAC and CEDB held in Hong Kong sharing session on Economic and Trade Cooperation Zones for Belt and Road opportunities, with presence of and speech delivered by the Secretary General of the SASAC, Mr Yan Xiaofeng (Chinese only)

The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Edward Yau, and Mr Yan first spoke at sharing session, followed by sharings of representatives from three SoEs regarding their experiences in developing overseas Economic and Trade Cooperation Zones in different regions. They were the Director of the China Merchants Group Limited, Mr Hu Jianhua; the Vice President of China Communications Construction Company Limited, Mr Sun Ziyu; and the Board Chairman of China National Building Materials Group Corporation Limited, Mr Song Zhiping. In addition, the Chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong Industries, Mr Jimmy Kwok; Permanent Honorary Chairman of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Textiles, Mr Henry Tan; and the Vice-chairman of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, Hong Kong, Ms Connie Wong, shared their views on Hong Kong enterprises' exploring of overseas markets and running businesses in Economic and Trade Cooperation Zones. Please refer to the link for the rundown (Chinese only).