A debate has been raging in Hong Kong over whether it will be marginalized by the rapid development of mainland cities. The debate became intense when Hong Kong's Chief Secretary for Administration Rafael Hui expressed these fears when China's 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10) was unveiled.

Hui's fears were aimed more at urging the people in the Special Administrative Region (SAR) to strive for excellence to maintain the city's edge as an international financial and logistics hub. In fact, his fears are not unfounded, for complacency could cost Hong Kong dearly.

Hong Kong has a world-class infrastructure, as do many mainland cities. Hong Kong is an international port; so are Shanghai and Shenzhen. So the only real possible advantage Hong Kong enjoys over mainland cities is as an international financial centre. To maintain that edge, Hong Kong has to have a workforce that is not only highly educated and well trained, but also proficient in English. And to all intents and purposes, it is not going to lose that advantage to any of the mainland cities any time soon.

That, for all we know, is just one side of the coin.

Now consider this. Hong Kong received more than 23 million visitors in 2005. And more than half of them, or 12.5 million to be precise, came from the mainland.

Tourism is one of Hong Kong's pillar industries.

Now let's shift to the financial sector. The Ministry of Finance granted permission to 258 mainland companies last year to invest in Hong Kong, a 58 per cent increase over 2004. The growing investment from the mainland shows Hong Kong's increasingly important role as the springboard for companies to expand out of China, Investment Promotion Director-General Mike Rowse said at the annual spring reception for business leaders of Hong Kong-based Chinese enterprises. The mainland was one of the biggest contributors to Hong Kong's direct investment inflow in 2004 with HK$62 billion (US$8.1 billion), a 63 per cent rise over 2003, he said.

What Rowse perhaps left unsaid is that Hong Kong is now more dependent on the mainland than ever before.

SAR Financial Secretary Henry Tang's 2006-07 budget speech bears that out. Talking on "Directions for Development," Tang said: "With its rapid growth and development, the mainland has become the economic engine of the Asia-Pacific region. Hong Kong is poised to leverage on the strengths of 'one country, two systems'. "

Furthermore: "For several decades, Hong Kong's economy has been undergoing structural changes ... our financial markets have ... evolved into the predominant fund-raising platform for mainland enterprises."

And: "The signing and implementation of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) with the mainland has been the most significant development in furthering our economic co-operation ... Hong Kong needs a vast hinterland market ... The implementation of the Pan-Pearl River Delta (Pan-PRD) Regional Co-operation Framework Agreement has greatly broadened the scope of our co-operation with the mainland provinces and regions."

The presence of the mainland in Hong Kong's life is only going to increase with the passage of time. The people of Hong Kong have made great contributions and have adjusted themselves well to many changes over the years and their proficiency in English is one of them.

Since this superiority in English is far from being threatened now, shouldn't Hongkongers pay more attention to putonghua? For apart from Hong Kong now being a part (although special) of China, isn't it also true that it's the mainland where most of Hong Kong's business interests lie?

Email: zouhr@chinadaily.com.hk

(China Daily 04/14/2006 page4)