Life of Guangzhou - Officials, Experts Discuss SZ-HK Mega-metropolis

Top officials from Shenzhen and Hong Kong met at a bilateral cooperation forum in Hong Kong yesterday to discuss the feasibility of economically integrating the two cities into a world-class mega-metropolis.

The forum, held at Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center, came after a Hong Kong think tank published Thursday a feasibility study relating to the economic integration of the two cities.

At the forum, Shenzhen Mayor Xu Zongheng said he believed difficulties existed in building a mega-city due to the different systems in the two cities, but the goal was achievable if the two sides worked together innovatively.

Tang Ying-yen, chief secretary for administration of Hong Kong, said the two cities had cooperated for a long time. He said he expected further collaboration would enable the two cities to become an economic powerhouse to compete with New York and London.

"However, we shouldn’t underestimate those difficulties we may encounter during the project," Tang said.

Li Hao, former Shenzhen mayor and now executive vice chairman of the Shenzhen-based China Development Institute, said at the forum that the integration idea, which other mainland scholars had previously put forward, is now being advocated by the two cities.

He urged the two cities to focus on economical and social cooperation.

"The goal is to facilitate a freer flow of not only trades but also resources, especially talents," said Li, who suggested the two sides respect differences.

Lau Siu-kai, head of Central Policy Unit, said he expected the forum to enable officials and academics to fully discuss the feasibility of building a mega-metropolis in the coming decades.

Last July, Le Zheng, head of the Shenzhen Academy of Social Sciences, said in an interview with the Shenzhen Special Zone Daily that the mega-city strategy should be a long-term strategy for the country.

The Hong Kong think tank Bauhinia Foundation Research Center revealed a plan Thursday to make Shenzhen and Hong Kong a single metropolis and an economic powerhouse bigger than London, Paris, Chicago or Los Angeles by 2020.

Its 10-point plan for achieving this goal included fostering cross-border business cooperation, creating a multiple-entry electronic smart card system for Shenzhen permanent residents to enter Hong Kong, building a railway line between the two cities'airports and a joint program to nurture talent.

The report said that if the metropolis maintained a gross domestic product growth of 8 percent a year until 2020, its GDP would reach US$1.11 trillion, putting it behind only Tokyo and New York.

Last year, the sum of the two cities'GDP reached US$259 billion, closely following Tokyo, New York and London.

The center interviewed about 100 officials and 150 businessmen from both cities and about 1,000 Shenzhen residents. Ninety percent of Shenzhen residents and 60 percent of their Hong Kong counterparts responded positively to the plan.