Figure: At the beginning of this year, the 17th Asian Financial Forum was held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center, attracting more than 3000 financial and business elites to participate, demonstrating the internationalization advantages of Hong Kong's financial industry\ China News Agency
Editor's Note: The Central Financial Working Conference held at the end of last year proposed the grand goal of accelerating the construction of a financial power. In January this year, President Xi Jinping delivered an important speech at the seminar on promoting high-quality financial development by leading cadres at the provincial and ministerial levels, put forward the overall idea of promoting the construction of a financial power through opening up, and outlined the basic blueprint of a financial power, which can be summarized by "six strong": having a strong currency, a strong central bank, a strong financial institution Strong international financial center, strong financial supervision, and strong financial talent team.
The country's building of a financial power means that there will be more financial opening measures in Hong Kong, and more high-quality mainland enterprises will come to Hong Kong for listing. The central government will further support the connectivity of the two financial markets, and Hong Kong's position as an international financial center will be consolidated and enhanced. Ta Kung Pao has launched a series of special reports on "Hong Kong as a Financial Power", published visits, columns and comments, and invited authoritative people to give advice and suggestions, to see why Hong Kong's status as an international financial center is rock solid, to clarify Hong Kong's mission as a pacesetter in building a financial power, and to analyze the potential of Hong Kong's international financial center for a better future.
In an exclusive interview with Ta Kung Pao, Zheng Yongnian said that Hong Kong's finance has great potential in the new journey of the country to overcome the medium technology trap and develop new quality productivity/ Photographed by Shuai Cheng, a reporter from Ta Kung Pao
The development of new quality productivity is the internal requirement and important focus of promoting high-quality development. Hong Kong, which is actively integrating into the overall national development situation, urgently needs to plan the path and industry for the development of new quality productivity.
In an exclusive interview with Ta Kung Pao, Professor Zheng Yongnian, Chairman of the Academic Committee of the Public Policy Research Institute of South China University of Technology, Chairman of the Guangzhou Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area Research Institute, and Dean of the Qianhai International Affairs Research Institute of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen), said that the country needs to rely on a new "troika" in its new journey to overcome the medium technology trap and develop new quality productivity, That is, basic scientific research, application technology transformation and financial services. The development of Hong Kong should focus on the financial field. We can work with Guangdong and Macao to build a financial center in the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area, and form a "dual financial center" pattern with Shanghai. We can help build a financial power by providing financial support for basic research and technology application and transformation. At the same time, it will lead the construction of a "Hong Kong+" based integration model of the Greater Bay Area, that is, it will mainly adopt the rules and standards in Hong Kong's financial, legal and other fields that are in line with international standards to accelerate the formation of a unified market in the Greater Bay Area.
The academic concept of "medium technology trap" was innovated and put forward by Professor Zheng Yongnian, which means that the economy has attracted the industrial transfer of developed countries through low-cost advantages, but due to the lack of original technological innovation, it is unable to further break through the technical barriers of developed countries, thus falling into a state of long-term relative stagnation of economic growth. In recent years, the United States has continued to promote the scientific and technological blockade and "decoupling" of technology with China, and its high-tech export controls have reached a new historical high in scope, intensity and impact.
Build a financial center in the Greater Bay Area to supplement the weakness of the venture capital system
Zheng Yongnian believes that it is particularly important for China to overcome the "medium technology trap" when external risks are gradually increasing, which requires the development of new quality productivity to improve its own strength. So, where does the new quality productivity come from? "We need to rely on the new" troika ", that is, basic scientific research, application technology transformation and financial services." In Zheng Yongnian's view, Hong Kong has a good foundation for basic scientific research, and the Pearl River Delta has a complete and systematic industrial chain and supply chain, which can be integrated to solve problems related to technical research and application transformation in the Greater Bay Area. "Although Hong Kong has been working towards're industrialization ', the advantages of the Pearl River Delta in the manufacturing sector can complement Hong Kong's weaknesses. The Pearl River Delta also has a large number of national and provincial industrial laboratories, which also have the ability to transform, which can make up for Hong Kong's shortcomings." Therefore, Zheng Yongnian believes that Hong Kong's development should focus on the financial sector.
"As far as the financial system is concerned, the lack of a venture capital system is the biggest weakness of China's scientific and technological progress." Zheng Yongnian pointed out that the mainland's financial system serves the real economy and socio-economic stability, and it is difficult to produce a venture capital system similar to that of western countries. And this is exactly where Hong Kong's advantage lies. Therefore, Zheng Yongnian suggested that China should promote the establishment of "dual financial centers", that is, the financial centers centered on Shanghai and the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area, among which the financial centers centered on Shanghai serve the financial stability of the real economy, while the financial centers in the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area are based on the "division of labor" of the central cities in the Greater Bay Area, Build a financial center that can compete with Wall Street through integrated development.
Direct use of Hong Kong standards is easier and faster
How can Hong Kong better contribute to the development of the country's new quality productivity? Zheng Yongnian's "prescription" is integration. "Integration is not to become a '1', but to develop according to their respective advantages and finally form a unified market." In Zheng Yongnian's view, in recent years, whether Shenzhen Qianhai, Guangzhou Nansha or Zhuhai Hengqin, what has done most in the integration of the Bay Area is "+Hong Kong" and "+Macao". The exploration work is hard, but not systematic. Therefore, Zheng Yongnian proposed a reverse concept, namely "Hong Kong+". He explained that Hong Kong's rules and standards are in line with international standards and are recognized by the world, whether in the field of professional services such as finance or law. Therefore, it is easier and faster to directly use Hong Kong standards than to re explore and establish a set of rules and standards that can be accepted by countries and regions around the world. "Now there are Hong Kong National Security Law, the National Security Maintenance Ordinance and other relevant laws to safeguard national security, which have solved the security problems and made it possible to directly apply Hong Kong standards."
Necessary conditions for China to leap over the "medium technology trap"
fundamental research
Technicians of Shenzhen International Quantum Research Institute are working beside the dilution refrigerator
A large number of universities and scientific research institutions capable of conducting basic scientific research
applied technology
At OPPO Guangdong Mobile Communication Co., Ltd., the staff were busy with Xinhua News Agency in the final assembly workshop
A large number of enterprises or institutions capable of transforming basic research into applied technology
Financial support
Hong Kong expands the cross-border pilot range of digital RMB, and the operating institutions display digital RMB wallets
An open financial system needs a lot of financial and fiscal support, whether for basic research or for the transformation of applied technology
The Key to Overcome the "Medium Technology Trap" and Cultivate Original Technology
Science and technology are the primary productive forces. In recent years, Chinese governments have introduced a series of supporting policies to support scientific and technological innovation. Professor Zheng Yongnian believes that in order to overcome the "medium technology trap", China still needs to work hard on cultivating the ability of original technological innovation and sustainable technological upgrading.
In the past decades, China has been recognized as "the world's manufacturing factory", and "Made in China" enjoys a worldwide reputation. However, we cannot ignore the fact that "Made in China" is only "Assembled in China" to some extent. How should we scientifically understand China's technology level? Zheng Yongnian believes that China's current technology is generally at the medium level in terms of supply chain, industrial chain, value chain and other dimensions. He analyzed that, on the one hand, China lacks original technology, that is, "from 0 to 1" technology creation; In the field of applied technology, it is "4-7" within the scale of "1-10", and lacks the technical level of "8-10", that is, it has not reached the world's top level in many fields, and many core technologies and key components are still highly dependent on external.
The "super globalization" since the 1980s has promoted the flow of production factors, including capital, technology and talent, around the world, forming the industrial chain and supply chain that people see today. Until now, no country has been able to cover all the technologies in the entire industrial chain and supply chain. A country can only occupy a part of the industrial chain and supply chain, and strive to climb up to form value chain competition. Zheng Yongnian believes that "this process shows at least two points: the diffusion of technology is win-win, and both exporting and importing countries can benefit from it; original technology cannot wait, and needs to rely on their own creation."
In recent years, the central government has also paid more attention to basic scientific research, application technology transformation and technical personnel training, and is seeking breakthroughs in new quality productivity. Zheng Yongnian is full of confidence in China's future development. Taking Japan and South Korea as examples, he pointed out that the two countries also spent 30 to 40 years in the process of turning to technological originality Internet, biomedicine and other cutting-edge fields.
Building a Financial Power Consolidates and Promotes Hong Kong's Central Position
In February this year, the People's Daily published an article entitled "Anchoring the goal of building a strong financial country and firmly promoting high-quality financial development". The article said that the central financial work conference held last year proposed the grand goal of accelerating the construction of a financial power, and General Secretary Xi Jinping comprehensively elaborated on this goal at the opening ceremony of the seminar on promoting high-quality financial development for major provincial and ministerial leaders, It emphasizes that "a financial power should be based on a strong economic foundation, have the world leading economic strength, scientific and technological strength and comprehensive national strength, and have a series of key core financial elements, namely, a strong currency, a strong central bank, a strong financial institution, a strong international financial center, a strong financial supervision, and a strong financial talent team".
The article said that we should enhance the power of financial development with a higher level of openness. Focus on institutional opening, implement the pre access national treatment plus negative list management system, benchmark relevant rules in the financial field in international high standard economic and trade agreements, streamline restrictive measures, and enhance the transparency, stability, and predictability of opening policies. Strengthen the interconnection of domestic and overseas financial markets, and improve the facilitation of cross-border investment and financing. We will strengthen the competitiveness and influence of Shanghai as an international financial center, and consolidate and enhance Hong Kong's position as an international financial center. Adhere to the benign interaction between high-quality development and high-level security, and hold the bottom line of financial security under open conditions.
Do you know | what is the "medium technology trap"?
The development of an economy from a low level to a middle income level can be achieved through technology diffusion from developed economies, but it is difficult to achieve the leap from a middle income economy to a developed economy through pure technology diffusion. As core technology has always been mastered by developed countries, once the dividends of technology transfer have been reaped, while developing countries have not yet achieved technological upgrading in the field of technology, and can not successfully transform from applied technology to original technology, their economic growth will enter a relatively stagnant state for a long time. This is the medium technology trap.
