The third Belt and Road Forum held in Beijing last week marked the 10th anniversary of the initiative, a massive strategic infrastructure project and bold foreign policy undertaking, ushered in by President Xi Jinping.
In rolling out the event after a devastating pandemic, and amid geopolitical instability, regional strife and global economic uncertainty, China sent an unmistakable message that it wishes to see the world return to growth and stability through cooperation.
Arguably Xi’s most significant brainchild, the Belt and Road Initiative was launched on the premise of a world community with a common destiny and shared future. The initiative is significant not just to the world, but also to a Hong Kong that has recently regained its stability following the trauma of violent protests and the Covid-19 pandemic – and which has yet to fully recover economically.
At the Belt and Road Forum, Xi said: “We must embark with drive and enthusiasm on the new journey towards another golden decade [of cooperation]”. He also stressed the importance of upholding the original goal of cooperation and staying true to the mission of development for “shared growth”.
Xi unveiled an eight-point action plan to drive “high quality” belt and road cooperation, including moving from physical connectivity to “multidimensional connectivity”, the launch of new initiatives for green development, and the advancement of scientific and technological cooperation and exchanges among belt and road countries.
One key vision of the initiative when it was launched a decade ago was to promote connectivity not only among nations but also between peoples. Arts and culture have often been used to foster friendship, promote better communication and reduce hostilities. Among the plans announced last week was China’s intention to host a Liangzhu Forum to “enhance dialogue on civilisations” with belt and road partner countries.
“Liangzhu” is the name archeologists gave to the Neolithic civilisation living in the Yangtze River basin between 4000 and 5000 BC, a discovery that reflects China’s rich civilisation and history. Hong Kong, with its unique fusion of Eastern and Western arts and culture, can certainly be a key player in promoting connectivity between peoples for the belt and road countries.
Indeed, in almost all eight action points identified by Xi, one can discern a potential role for Hong Kong in helping to contribute towards China’s pursuit of “high quality” belt and road cooperation.
In discussing “multidimensional” connectivity, Xi said China plans to speed up the development of Eurasian railroad networks and jointly create a logistics corridor across the continent, integrating ports with railways and roads as part of the concept of a Maritime Silk Road.
It’s not hard to imagine Hong Kong securing a critical role in the management of railways in the Belt and Road Initiative, given its decades of experience in building and operating mass transit rail networks in Hong Kong and overseas. Besides, Hong Kong’s maritime hub is well established, with its deepwater harbour, modern container ports and well-developed maritime transport services in insurance, shipbroking and cargo storage facilities.
Xi’s vision of a “new international land-sea trade corridor” for the Belt and Road Initiative is supported by a new concept: the Air Silk Road.
This concept may be novel but Hong Kong is well positioned to capture the enormous potential here. Beijing’s 14th five-year plan expressed support for Hong Kong to enhance its status as an international logistics and transport hub, given the increased cargo- and passenger-handling capacity at the city’s international airport with the opening of the third runway.
Other steps Xi highlighted included strengthening relations among belt and road partnering countries through new platforms on green development and finance, and to fight corruption. These are areas in which Hong Kong has vast expertise and experience.
The more the Belt and Road Initiative grows in importance, and as the number of partnering countries expands, the greater the opportunities for Hong Kong. However, simply being aware of the city’s potential roles and contributions is one thing – coming up with a plan that works, and then implementing it is quite another.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu seized the moment while attending the Belt and Road Forum to call on enterprises to set up regional offices in Hong Kong. This is one way the city can enhance its role as a “super connector” for the initiative. But many more challenges remain. For instance, Hong Kong lacks experienced traders and experts in the dominant cultures and languages along the main trade corridors of the belt and road.
None of our universities offer full-time courses in the Arabian or Russian languages, let alone other common languages used among the belt and road community. Could Hong Kong’s talent import schemes be extended to cover belt and road partnering countries, to help address this issue in the short term?
It is time to set in motion a comprehensive, concrete plan of action so Hong Kong can take full advantage of the growing Belt and Road Initiative. Let’s hope we see some new policies related to this in Lee’s policy address this week.
Ken Chu is group chairman and CEO of Mission Hills Group and a national committee member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference