Martin Li

    martin.mouse@163.com

    SHENZHEN is determined to see a big Hong Kong presence in Qianhai by 2020, according to a program to boost cooperation between Shenzhen and its neighbor unveiled in Beijing on Thursday.

    Qianhai is a 15-square-kilometer area in western Shenzhen that is being developed by Shenzhen and Hong Kong into a hub of the modern service industry.

    Shenzhen aims to have more than 9 million square meters developed by Hong Kong enterprises and investors in Qianhai by 2020, grow the Hong Kong-invested service industry’s size to more than 100 billion yuan (US$16 billion), and incubate more than 100 leading Hong Kong-invested enterprises.

    In addition, no less than one-third of the land in Qianhai will be transferred to Hong Kong enterprises and the threshold for Hong Kong’s financial institutes to enter the area will be lowered.

    Stock exchanges in the two cities will receive support to explore new modes of cooperation in Qianhai.

    The program consists of 50 measures aimed at advancing cooperation between Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

    “Hong Kong’s government studied each measure and gave opinions. The two cities have reached a wide consensus on the program,” said Zhang Bei, chief of the Qianhai administration.

    “We hope domestic enterprises can adjust to international rules and pursue overseas development by using Qianhai as a platform. Meanwhile, we also hope enterprises from Hong Kong, Macao and abroad can cooperate in Qianhai and become more familiar with domestic market rules and needs,” Shenzhen Mayor Xu Qin said at Thursday’s press conference.

    Qianhai is home to almost 18,000 enterprises, 14,225 of which were registered between January and November this year. Hong Kong investment in the area has hit 160 billion yuan, according to Xu.