Mainland, HK enter new phase

The Chinese mainland will further open nonservice sectors to Hong Kong companies, including ship and aircraft manufacturing and resource exploitation industries, under the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement Investment Agreement, which was signed on Wednesday in Hong Kong.

The two jurisdictions also signed the Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation, which promotes cooperation under the CEPA framework in Belt and Road regions, free trade zones and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Paul Chan Mo-po, financial secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, said the high-level investment agreement is a first for the Chinese mainland. It sets a national standard for access, using a negative-list approach, introducing most-favored treatment and aiming to provide stability and clarity in the investment environment for Hong Kong and the mainland, as well as to protect investors. A negative list names sectors where investment is prohibited; all others are presumed to be open.