SHENZHEN could take advantage of its legislative rights to simplify rules and regulations concerning the development of Qianhai, current affairs experts from Hong Kong said yesterday.
The Hong Kong delegation was invited by the Guangdong publicity authority to visit and exchange ideas on Qianhai's development.
A 15-square-kilometer coastal strip in Nanshan District, Qianhai was named in the 12th national five-year program and will be developed as a hub for the modern service industries of Shenzhen and Hong Kong.
"Qianhai could employ a simple market-access regulation for modern service enterprises. For example, since there are two totally different tax systems in Hong Kong and on the Chinese mainland, Qianhai could adopt the same tax system as Hong Kong, which features simplicity and a comparatively lower tax rate. By doing this, more foreign capital would be expected to be drawn to Qianhai," said Chan Yan-chong, an associate professor in the department of management sciences at City University of Hong Kong. "In addition, Qianhai could accept professional certifications from Hong Kong, such as certifications for lawyers and doctors, to attract Hong Kong professionals to get involved in the development of Qianhai."
Chan was part of the delegation that visited Qianhai, which is undergoing infrastructure construction.
Chan said many large mainland enterprises have chosen to get listed in Hong Kong because of a mature supervision system in Hong Kong's financial circles, which could be adopted by Qianhai as an innovation for its own financial system.
Chan added that the development of Qianhai could create more investment opportunities for Hong Kong and provide more employment opportunities for its professionals.
While Chan called for simplified regulations, policy wonk Chu Kar-kin said the different policies concerning land and administration between Hong Kong and Shenzhen might create barriers for Qianhai’s development.
Like Chu, many delegation members said detailed, clear policies and regulations concerning the development of Qianhai should be a priority.
"All of the cities in the Pearl River Delta should cooperate with each other, instead of competing with each other, to boost the development of Qianhai and create a united force to compete with modern service hubs in Southeast Asia," Chu said.
Next year will see a marked acceleration of Qianhai's construction, as well as large-scale development, according to Zhou Ziyou, vice head of the Qianhai administration.
"We are expecting preferential policies from the Central Government," Zhou said.
Zhou said "in principle, no real estate projects would (yet) be introduced to Qianhai because of their speculative nature."
Qianhai will focus on the development of finance, science, technology, modern logistics and information services. A detailed, comprehensive development plan is being drafted.
Qianhai's first 16 projects will break ground this year, according to the administration.
By Martin Li, Cindy Zhang, Shenzhen Daily.
