Program

09:30-10:00 Welcome Remarks

10:00-10:30 Tanira Kingi
The Māori economy

10:30-11:00 GUO Wanda, Executive Vice President, CDI
A New Prospect of China-New Zealand Economic and Trade Cooperation

11:00-11:30 HU Zhenyu, Director, Department of Sustainable Development and Blue Economy Research, CDI
Sustainable development practice of government, corporation, institute and NGO

11:30-12:00 CAO Zhongxiong, Executive Director, Department of New Economy Research, CDI
Transformation of and Challenge for Chinese Hi-tech Industrial Policies

12:00-13:00 Working Lunch

13:00-13:30 Florian Graichen
The New Zealand Bioeconomy

Highlights

Exploring the new mechanism of economic and trade cooperationbetweenChina and New Zealand

There isroom for growth in inter-industry trade between the two countries

China and New Zealand have been developing differentiated and complementary products, and the size of trade between the two countries has been on a continuous rise. New Zealand's exports to China are mainly food- and wood-based primary products, while China's exports to New Zealand are mostly capital and tech-intensive products. Take the import of logs and lumber as an example.Asthe process of urbanisation advances in China, about 200-300 million people will come to work and live in cities in the next 20-30 years. Such a process will bring greater demand for housing, furniture and in turn logs and lumber. New Zealand, as a sparsely populated country,suffers from the inadequate communications infrastructure and the insufficient development of electromechanical processing and manufacturing.Faced with a rapidly developing information age, the country urgentlyneeds the investment to upgrade its communications infrastructure andmodernise its industries and people's life. These factors mean that New Zealand needs to import a large number of electronic and electromechanical products from China. In 2018, New Zealand imported 9.58 billion US dollars worth of electromechanical products, of which 36.7 percent came from the Chinese market.

The two countries should promote trade facilitation and maintain steady and sustainable development of bilateral trade

Since the Belt and Road construction involveslarge flows of people and materials, and New Zealand is leading the world in the field of biosafety, the two countries can carry out cooperation in biosafety protection and testing as trade partners under the BRI framework. In facilitating the flow of goods, the BRI involves not only the material construction of infrastructure but also the technical upgrading of customs clearance facilities. The two countries can increase cooperation in areas such as the Joint Electronic Verification (JEV) system, mutual authentication arrangements and supply chain management. Meanwhile, the two countries can consider jointly establishing a supply chain hub under the Belt and Road network to build a high-quality supply chain system and reduce operating costs.

The two countries should collaborate in buildinga “Southern Link”

China is currently the second largest trading partner of South America, butthe spatial distance and aircraft range are restricting the flows of people and goods between the two. New Zealand,located in the heart of the South Pacific, can act as a vital and natural aviation hub and midway junction between China and South America to provide convenient mobility for passenger transport and multimodal freight transport. New Zealand is leading the world in the fields of customs facilitation and supply chain linkage. A regional hub in New Zealand will provide exporters with a wider choice of trade routes and lower their logistics costs.The flows of goods will drive the development of "southern link" and the multilateral trade among China, New Zealandand South American countries, bringing new growth points to allof them. In addition, treating South America as a third-party market, China and New Zealand can carry out pragmatic cooperation.They can leveragethe advantages of their complementaryindustries and pursue innovative modelsof cooperation. In this way, they can achieve a win-win situation while serving the development needs of South American countries.

Promoting China-New Zealand industrial cooperation in multiple dimensions

Enhancing cooperation in upgrading primary industries will bring new breakthroughs to the industrial development outlook of the two countries

New Zealand's exports are of a relatively monotonous mix and mainly resource-based products. The low-value-added primary industriescan make only a limited contributionto economic development but have a negative impact on the environment. New Zealand urgently needs to upgrade its traditional primary industriesto shift to the upper end of the value chain. However, the country does not have advanced modern industries. Its existing infrastructure and production equipment cannot meet the demand for increasing added value,and the government is making relatively inadequate investment in infrastructure. China has a comparative advantage in light industrial manufacturing and agricultural product processing,which provides a valuable reference for New Zealand in terms of production, manufacturing, supply system, online and offline marketing systems. As New Zealand shifts from primary industries to processing and manufacturing, the two countries should enhance cooperation in infrastructure and encourage Chinese companies to invest and set up plants in New Zealand.This will benefit New Zealand in its industrial upgrade,and bring new economic growth points to local communities while providing channels for Chinese capital to "go abroad" and for Chinesecompanies to "go out".

The two countries should deepen cooperation in high-tech industries and increase exchanges of personnel in the current complicated international context

In the Sino-US trade frictions, the United States has mainly increased tariffs on Chinese electronic information and biopharmaceutical products and stepped up control overexports of parts and technologiesto China. New Zealand is quickly building the world's healthiest technology ecosystems.It is active in technological innovation, and its research strengths in biotech, forestry technology and artificial intelligence are leading the world. New Zealand can fully tap into its advantages in high and new technology and act as an alternative market for Chineseexports as well as an alternative technology provider to China.In this way, it can further strengthen cooperation and exchanges with China in scientific and technological innovation while diversifying its own exports.

The two countries can cooperate in buildingthe network and mechanism for exchanges of scientific research personnel and join hands insetting up R&D centres and overseas innovation centres. Compared with other developing countries, China now has a lower conversion rate of scientific research results,which has been around 10 percent for a long time. The New Zealand government has been encouraging companies to invest in scientific research.This has promotedthe transfer of scientific achievements to industries and increased the contribution of science and technology to economic growth.

The two countries should explore the opportunities for cooperation in green energy, maritime economy and sustainable development

Pacific island countries can play an important role in the Belt and Road Initiative, especially the construction of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. However, due to their relatively monotonous industries and fragile economies, these countries rely too much on natural resources for their development. In cooperation with Pacific island countries, China and New Zealand should not just focus on infrastructure and connectivity, but they should also tap into their advantages in high and new technology and sustainable development to help these countries cope with climate change and improve their economic resilience.

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Program

14:30-14:35 Welcome remarks
Guo Wanda, Executive Vice President, China Development Institute

14:35-15:20 Panel 1: Hong Kong vs Shenzhen: Competitors or Collaborators?
China recently announced Shenzhen to be a model city with bolder economic reforms amid the ongoing unrest in Hong Kong. What are the implications for Hong Kong? Will Hong Kong lose its competitive edge as Asia’s finance center?

Moderator: Robert Grieves, Chairman, AmCham HK
GUO Wanda, Executive Vice President, CDI
Perry Wong, Managing Director of research, Milken Institute

15:20-16:05 Panel 2: Hong Kong’s Economy at a Crossroads
The structure of its economy remains to be singular, with financial services, trading and logistics, tourism, and producer and professional services as a major driving force of economic growth. Hong Kong’s economy remains the world’s freest economy for 25 years, but beneath the surface, there are deep social divisions where the gap between the rich and poor has widened; it becomes socially immobile for youngsters to climb up the ladder. Is there a way out to this high-income trap?

Moderator: David Chao, Trade & Investment Committee Vice Chair, AmCham
Robert Grieves, Chairman, AmCham HK
ZHANG Yuge, Director, Hong Kong, Macao and RegionalDevelopment Research Department, China Development Institute, CDI

16:05-16:20 Networking Break

16:20-17:05 Panel 3: GBA Opportunities for Young Talent
Talent is one of the key components making GBA a success. But attracting and retaining the right talent is a difficult task. What policies should the Central and HKSAR governments implement in making GBA a hub for foreign talent? What can the HKSAR government do to help future leaders to unleash their potential? What is the right approach for youth development?

Moderator: Ben Simpfendorfer, Chief Executive Officer at Silk Road Associates; China Business Committee Co-Chair, AmCham HK
WANG Mei, Director, Public Policy and Government Performance Evaluation Research Department, CDI
Etta Wong, Director, University of Southern California Hong Kong
Bosco Leung, Senior Corporate Strategy Manager, MTRA

17:05 Closing Remarks

Highlights

The construction of the Shenzhen demonstration pilot zone for socialism with Chinese characteristics will provide greater opportunities for Shenzhen-Hong Kong cooperation

Guo Wanda, Executive Vice President of China Development Institute, said that since the beginning ofChina's reform and opening up four decades ago, Shenzhen has been characterized by market-driven innovation with enterprises as the main players. In the new era, Shenzhen will continue to open up and innovate. At that same time, the building of a demonstration pilot zone for socialism with Chinese characteristicswill enrich the "one country, two system" policy with Shenzhen's new practice, create more opportunities for Hong Kong's development, and supportthe long-term prosperity and stability of the latter. In the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Shenzhen adopts socialism with a civil law system, while Hong Kong adopts capitalismwith a common law system. Both sides haveuniqueadvantages, making them mutually irreplaceable. The competition between Shenzhen and Hong Kong is market-based, constructive and orderly.

Hong Kong's economy has entered a stage where both its strengths and weaknesses have become prominent

Perry Wong, Managing Director of Research at Milken Institution, noted that with the increasingly open economy of China's mainland, the competitiveness of Hong Kong's economy mainly lies in its internationalization and transnational networks, and a free and open economic system characterized bycommercial civilization and modern international economic norms. However, we should also be aware of Hong Kong's potential disadvantages. In the long-term absence of a policy environment that encourages technological innovation and entrepreneurship, coupled with a strong social atmosphere of mercantilism, Hong Kong's economic advantages have gradually narrowed towards financial and capital operations. Theconstruction of the Shenzhen demonstration pilot zone for socialism with Chinese characteristicswill help combine Hong Kong's strengths in R&D and software with Shenzhen's strengths in manufacturing and hardware, thus promoting the transformation of Hong Kong's industrial structure and fostering a new driver for Hong Kong's economic growth.

Hong Kong should pay attention to its long-standing and deep-seated social conflicts

Robert Grieves, Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, pointed out thatpotential disadvantages and economic advantages co-exist in Hong Kong. The difficulty in upward social mobility in Hong Kong as a whole and the decline of the middle class have affected the confidence of Hong Kong people in future economic prospects. While maintaining its economic uniqueness, Hong Kong should further consider how to better enable upward social mobility while reducing the gap between the rich and the poor by providing more jobs andbetter access to education for its people.

Promote the restructuring of Hong Kong's economy and industry to better fit into China's overall development

Zhang Yuge, Director of Hong Kong, Macao and Regional Development Research Department at China Development Institute, said that amidst the overall uncertainties and generally gloomyglobal economic prospects, it is understandable that Hong Kong's economy shows a downward trend. In view of this, on the basis of cementing Hong Kong's status as the global center of finance, shipping and trade, the top priority of Hong Kong's economic development should be to solve the dilemma of "high added value&low employment versus lowadded value& high employment" through technological innovation. To this end, Hong Kong shall promote "Industry 4.0", which is closely related to technological innovation.

Open and Effective Human Resources Policy is the Key to Attracting Talent in the Greater Bay Area

Wang Mei, Director of Public Policy and Government Performance Evaluation Research DepartmenttChina Development Institute, noted in her speech that human resources are more abundant in the east of theGreater Bay Areathan in the west, with human resources within theGreater Bay Area still faced with such problems as low reserves of human resources in key areas, significant differences in systems and standards, and weak infrastructure connectivity. She proposed four solutions to these problems: first, jointly build universities in the Greater Bay Area, poolresources of science, technology and education in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, to enhance the ability to attract talents; second, establish the "bonded zone for talents" and implementworking holiday visas to enhance talent mobility; third, develop high-end think tanks and step up cooperation between industries, universities and research institutes, so as to facilitate talent development by fostering a more enabling environment for innovation and entrepreneurship; fourth, promote mutual recognition of "social security + medical care + education" among Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, and ensure equal treatment with local residents in social security, children's education, and medical care, etc.

Optimize Entrepreneurial Environment to Encourage More Young People from Hong Kong to Work in the Mainland 

Etta Wong, Director, University of Southern California Hong Kong, pointed out that despite willingness to start their own businesses, young people in Hong Kong have to overcome differences in policy, legislation, taxation, and social culture if they want to start their own businesses in the Greater Bay Area. In this regard, authorities in the Greater Bay Area should increase exchange programs between the mainland and Hong Kongfor better mutual understanding and communication between young people, provide equal treatment and a more favorable social environment for entrepreneurship, andstrengthen cooperation with the governments of Hong Kong and Macao as well as local social organizations to attract and nurture talented entrepreneurs.

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