CMA Submits Recommendations on Hong Kong’s First Five-Year Plan
The Chief Executive announced today that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government will launch a public consultation on Hong Kong’s first five-year plan on 15 June. The Chinese Manufacturers’ Association of Hong Kong (CMA) welcomes the initiative, which it considers vital to Hong Kong’s long-term development, and believes all sectors of society should actively participate in shaping this important blueprint for the city’s future.
The CMA has already submitted to the Government a comprehensive set of recommendations developed through in-depth research and extensive engagement with the trade and industrial sectors. The submission outlines proposed guiding principles, core themes, objectives and policy priorities. The CMA will study the consultation document in detail upon its release and provide further views and recommendations in due course.
CMA President Dr Wingco Lo said that the Government’s initiative to establish a dedicated development plan is a significant milestone. It aligns Hong Kong with the nation’s 15th Five-Year Plan and deepens our integration into the broader national development agenda. This plan will not only enhance governance capacity but also provide a strategic framework to resolve deep-rooted economic and livelihood issues. Dr Lo added that the CMA stands ready to collaborate with all sectors of society to build a more dynamic, resilient, and competitive Hong Kong.
Hong Kong is currently undergoing a third economic transformation, driven by innovation and technology (I&T) and industrial diversification. Against this backdrop, it proposes “advancing high-quality development” as Hong Kong’s medium- to long-term vision, with “promoting the initial realisation of a third economic transformation” as the central theme of the city’s first five-year plan.
To support this vision, the CMA recommends five guiding principles for the plan: leveraging Hong Kong’s unique strengths; strengthening mutually reinforcing ties between Hong Kong and the Mainland; adopting a demand-led approach that balances long-term vision with practical problem-solving; aligning and updating existing policy blueprints; and ensuring adequate resource allocation and targeted fiscal support.
The CMA also recommends setting clear development goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) for the next five to ten years, with innovation and technology and new industrialisation identified as priority areas. It stresses that the performance framework should focus not only on inputs, but also on tangible outcomes such as research commercialisation, industrial value-added and job creation.
Based on the Government’s six major consultation areas, the CMA has submitted 170 recommendations covering 17 areas, including new industrialisation, innovation and technology, trade transformation, economic diversification, Northern Metropolis development, artificial intelligence, sustainable development, talent development and cross-boundary cooperation.
Economic, financial and trade development
On trade, the CMA recommends enhancing Hong Kong’s capabilities in high-value-added supply chain management and reinforcing the city’s reputation as a global launchpad for enterprises, an international arbitration centre, and a premier hub for professional services. To boost the city’s commercial appeal, the Government should foster a strong culture of original branding to attract local and overseas brands.
On finance, the CMA proposes building a comprehensive commodities trading ecosystem covering trading, warehousing, delivery, clearing, and RMB-denominated products. Furthermore, Hong Kong should strengthen its position as an international green finance hub by advancing ESG, carbon auditing, carbon labelling, and cross-boundary carbon market cooperation, while strengthening policies to promote emerging sectors like the silver economy, the halal market, industrial tourism, and the blue carbon industry.
Industrial development, innovation and technology, and human resources
The CMA recommends drawing up a comprehensive industrial development blueprint for Hong Kong to support the parallel growth of emerging and traditional industries, local manufacturing, and Hong Kong enterprises operating outside the city. It also advocates developing strategic industrial clusters in the Northern Metropolis, focusing on sectors such as food technology, aerospace technology, and advanced materials, while positioning Hong Kong as an integrated solutions platform serving regional manufacturing.
For innovation and technology, the CMA recommends supporting SMEs in upgrading towards the “specialised, refined, unique and innovative” model, and exploring the establishment of enhancing GEM policies to improve financing support for pre-profit technological SMEs and start-ups, establishing pilot manufacturing and technological transformation platforms in the Northern Metropolis to accelerate research commercialisation, and strengthening support in areas such as computing power, data, capital, and application scenarios to advance both AI industrialisation and AI adoption across industries. It further recommends accelerating the development of a regional intellectual property trading centre.
On talent development, the CMA recommends optimising the talent list and talent admission schemes, while strengthening vocational and professional education, applied science education, and industry-oriented training to provide sustained talent support for innovation and technology development and new industrialisation.
Northern Metropolis development
With regard to the Northern Metropolis, the CMA recommends establishing an efficient and flexible institutional framework to accelerate its infrastructure development, industrial park development, and business attraction. It also calls for clearer positioning among major industrial parks to enable differentiated development and complementary strengths.
In terms of investment promotion, the CMA advocates a scenario-based approach to attract leading enterprises, upstream and downstream businesses, local SMEs, and professional service providers, thereby fostering the formation of complete industrial chains and industrial clusters. The CMA also recommends developing the Northern Metropolis into a pilot zone for cross-boundary institutional innovation, facilitating the smoother flow of goods, people, capital, and data, and enhancing its appeal to manufacturing and innovation enterprises from both the Mainland and overseas. At the same time, the Northern Metropolis should take the lead in applying advanced technologies, strengthening smart city governance and green infrastructure, and developing a high-standard smart city demonstration zone.
Regional cooperation
The CMA advocates a new round of enhanced CEPA measures to further support Hong Kong’s service and professional sectors in contributing to the new stage of national development. To strengthen Hong Kong’s role as a demonstration platform for the country’s high-standard opening-up, it recommends piloting measures in areas such as cross-boundary data flows, green and low-carbon services, cross-boundary tax arrangements, and a negative list for trade in services.
The CMA also recommends that Hong Kong actively participate in the development and promotion of Greater Bay Area standards, while fostering deeper regional integration through the mutual recognition of testing, inspection and certification, as well as closer collaboration in industrial development and talent training.
In addition, the CMA suggests exploring the launch of a national-level import commodities expo in Hong Kong, and introducing supportive measures to help Hong Kong businesses expand further into the Mainland domestic market, such as open up public procurement to Hong Kong enterprises, simpler product registration, tax incentives, relaxed restrictions on exhibition and sales arrangements, and enhanced cross-boundary e-commerce logistics.
The CMA has already submitted to the Government a comprehensive set of recommendations developed through in-depth research and extensive engagement with the trade and industrial sectors. The submission outlines proposed guiding principles, core themes, objectives and policy priorities. The CMA will study the consultation document in detail upon its release and provide further views and recommendations in due course.
CMA President Dr Wingco Lo said that the Government’s initiative to establish a dedicated development plan is a significant milestone. It aligns Hong Kong with the nation’s 15th Five-Year Plan and deepens our integration into the broader national development agenda. This plan will not only enhance governance capacity but also provide a strategic framework to resolve deep-rooted economic and livelihood issues. Dr Lo added that the CMA stands ready to collaborate with all sectors of society to build a more dynamic, resilient, and competitive Hong Kong.
Hong Kong is currently undergoing a third economic transformation, driven by innovation and technology (I&T) and industrial diversification. Against this backdrop, it proposes “advancing high-quality development” as Hong Kong’s medium- to long-term vision, with “promoting the initial realisation of a third economic transformation” as the central theme of the city’s first five-year plan.
To support this vision, the CMA recommends five guiding principles for the plan: leveraging Hong Kong’s unique strengths; strengthening mutually reinforcing ties between Hong Kong and the Mainland; adopting a demand-led approach that balances long-term vision with practical problem-solving; aligning and updating existing policy blueprints; and ensuring adequate resource allocation and targeted fiscal support.
The CMA also recommends setting clear development goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) for the next five to ten years, with innovation and technology and new industrialisation identified as priority areas. It stresses that the performance framework should focus not only on inputs, but also on tangible outcomes such as research commercialisation, industrial value-added and job creation.
Based on the Government’s six major consultation areas, the CMA has submitted 170 recommendations covering 17 areas, including new industrialisation, innovation and technology, trade transformation, economic diversification, Northern Metropolis development, artificial intelligence, sustainable development, talent development and cross-boundary cooperation.
Economic, financial and trade development
On trade, the CMA recommends enhancing Hong Kong’s capabilities in high-value-added supply chain management and reinforcing the city’s reputation as a global launchpad for enterprises, an international arbitration centre, and a premier hub for professional services. To boost the city’s commercial appeal, the Government should foster a strong culture of original branding to attract local and overseas brands.
On finance, the CMA proposes building a comprehensive commodities trading ecosystem covering trading, warehousing, delivery, clearing, and RMB-denominated products. Furthermore, Hong Kong should strengthen its position as an international green finance hub by advancing ESG, carbon auditing, carbon labelling, and cross-boundary carbon market cooperation, while strengthening policies to promote emerging sectors like the silver economy, the halal market, industrial tourism, and the blue carbon industry.
Industrial development, innovation and technology, and human resources
The CMA recommends drawing up a comprehensive industrial development blueprint for Hong Kong to support the parallel growth of emerging and traditional industries, local manufacturing, and Hong Kong enterprises operating outside the city. It also advocates developing strategic industrial clusters in the Northern Metropolis, focusing on sectors such as food technology, aerospace technology, and advanced materials, while positioning Hong Kong as an integrated solutions platform serving regional manufacturing.
For innovation and technology, the CMA recommends supporting SMEs in upgrading towards the “specialised, refined, unique and innovative” model, and exploring the establishment of enhancing GEM policies to improve financing support for pre-profit technological SMEs and start-ups, establishing pilot manufacturing and technological transformation platforms in the Northern Metropolis to accelerate research commercialisation, and strengthening support in areas such as computing power, data, capital, and application scenarios to advance both AI industrialisation and AI adoption across industries. It further recommends accelerating the development of a regional intellectual property trading centre.
On talent development, the CMA recommends optimising the talent list and talent admission schemes, while strengthening vocational and professional education, applied science education, and industry-oriented training to provide sustained talent support for innovation and technology development and new industrialisation.
Northern Metropolis development
With regard to the Northern Metropolis, the CMA recommends establishing an efficient and flexible institutional framework to accelerate its infrastructure development, industrial park development, and business attraction. It also calls for clearer positioning among major industrial parks to enable differentiated development and complementary strengths.
In terms of investment promotion, the CMA advocates a scenario-based approach to attract leading enterprises, upstream and downstream businesses, local SMEs, and professional service providers, thereby fostering the formation of complete industrial chains and industrial clusters. The CMA also recommends developing the Northern Metropolis into a pilot zone for cross-boundary institutional innovation, facilitating the smoother flow of goods, people, capital, and data, and enhancing its appeal to manufacturing and innovation enterprises from both the Mainland and overseas. At the same time, the Northern Metropolis should take the lead in applying advanced technologies, strengthening smart city governance and green infrastructure, and developing a high-standard smart city demonstration zone.
Regional cooperation
The CMA advocates a new round of enhanced CEPA measures to further support Hong Kong’s service and professional sectors in contributing to the new stage of national development. To strengthen Hong Kong’s role as a demonstration platform for the country’s high-standard opening-up, it recommends piloting measures in areas such as cross-boundary data flows, green and low-carbon services, cross-boundary tax arrangements, and a negative list for trade in services.
The CMA also recommends that Hong Kong actively participate in the development and promotion of Greater Bay Area standards, while fostering deeper regional integration through the mutual recognition of testing, inspection and certification, as well as closer collaboration in industrial development and talent training.
In addition, the CMA suggests exploring the launch of a national-level import commodities expo in Hong Kong, and introducing supportive measures to help Hong Kong businesses expand further into the Mainland domestic market, such as open up public procurement to Hong Kong enterprises, simpler product registration, tax incentives, relaxed restrictions on exhibition and sales arrangements, and enhanced cross-boundary e-commerce logistics.