Promising outlook

Hong Kong NPC deputy Witman Hung Wai-man believes that the stable political environment resulting from the electoral improvements will enable the city to seek broader prospects in national development, especially under the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), which will guide the nation's overall development during this period.

The draft outline of the plan, which was submitted to the NPC for deliberation on Friday, has a chapter devoted to the participation of the Hong Kong and Macao SARs. The draft pledges to offer firm support for Hong Kong to shore up its traditional economic edge and deepen cooperation with the Chinese mainland.

Hung is also the principal liaison officer for Hong Kong at the Shenzhen Qianhai Authority, which administers Qianhai, a pilot zone for collaboration between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, Guangdong province.

He believes that after more patriots enter the administration, Hong Kong can expect to see further initiatives to explore opportunities for cooperation with mainland cities.

Many cooperation projects between Hong Kong and the mainland were previously shelved or postponed, due to obstruction by those who are unpatriotic but have important statutory power on bodies such as the Legislative Council, Hung said.

For example, Hong Kong opposition lawmakers raised strong objections to the co-location arrangement for West Kowloon Station on the high-speed rail link between Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, Guangdong's provincial capital, before the rail began operation in 2018.

As the five-year plan provides an ideal platform for Hong Kong's deeper collaboration with the mainland, the city must strictly adhere to the "patriots administering Hong Kong" principle to accelerate the process for a quick economic revival, Hung said.