Author: Qu Jian, Vice President, CDI

Editor’s Note: Overseas economic and trade cooperation zones have become important vehicles and platforms for Chinese mainland companies investing oversea and building relationship with foreign partners. Hong Kong's strength as an international finance center with an open market in the scope of specialized services, from financial investment to logistics and shipping, capital construction management, legal arbitration, and to regional businesses, has played a massive role in the investment and construction of "The Belt and Road" overseas industrial parks.

First of all, most of the capital for the expansion of overseas industrial parks is raised from the market. Hong Kong can provide professional services like complete specialized project valuation and sustainable development estimate for Chinese mainland companies investing in the countries along the B&R to introduce external funds and finance overseas investment projects or other businesses. What’s more, the service platforms in Hong Kong can offer mainland companies a multitude of investment ways, such as, private equity investment funds, equity joint investment, or other joint stock cooperation, thereby enabling them to spread risk.

For another, the construction of overseas economic and trade cooperation zones has accelerated the industrialization and driven related industries and economic development of the host countries along the OBOR. In addition, the successful experiences of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone and the Hong Kong institutional system can further help host nations to establish special economic zones. The establishment of industrial parks abroad needs one statute, two plans (industrial planning and spatial layout planning), three schemes (business scheme, financing scheme, management and operation scheme). The returns on financing and investment that involve with these three aspects above highly coincide with the financial industrial of Hong Kong. Given that Hong Kong’s financial industrial offers financial services for Chinese investors to explore the markets in laggard developing countries along the B&R, it will tremendously spur the economy of these countries and encourage more enterprises from Chinese mainland to invest abroad.