Deal on data transfer boosts Hong Kong’s role in the Greater Bay Area
- City’s standing in the broader economic powerhouse can only be enhanced by pilot scheme that will offer comfort to businesses and the mainland authorities
Hong Kong’s bridging role in the Greater Bay Area economic powerhouse is pivotal to its integration with the mainland and its future as an international finance hub. It depends on the free flow of information – fundamental to Hong Kong’s own success – and data security. That means overcoming information barriers that could inhibit the GBA’s development.
It is good news therefore that Hong Kong and mainland China will launch a pilot scheme this month to enable easier cross-border data transfers in the Greater Bay Area. The first phase is to involve the banking, credit referencing and healthcare sectors.
The GBA is Beijing’s plan to integrate Hong Kong, Macau and nine southern mainland Chinese cities into an economic powerhouse.
The scheme, to be implemented in phases, will allow individuals and organisations in the bay area to voluntarily enter a standard contract, which outlines the responsibilities and obligations of both parties in protecting personal information, according to Hong Kong’s Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau.
Looking beyond those three personal data categories to the commercial and tech sectors, one of the biggest concerns for foreign businesses in China is data safety.
Hong Kong, mainland China to launch pilot scheme to make data sharing easier
For many, especially tech companies, data storage is a major consideration in choosing their mainland headquarters – if they are to allow the transfer of data beyond Hong Kong, with its common law and different judicial system, international rules and a free flow of information.
Under the pilot scheme, according to the bureau, a standard contract would ensure the safe flow of personal data within the bay area for contractual purposes. The compliance costs of cross-boundary personal data flow for enterprises would be greatly reduced, enhancing provision of services and convenience to the public and businesses.
The standard contract would also promote development of the [bay area’s] digital economy and help Hong Kong better integrate into national development.
The trial could be a forerunner of a data security regime within China that would be an interface with another system using the GBA as a bridge. Hong Kong and the GBA would be the buffer between the mainland and the rest of the world when it comes to data sharing; the same way that Hong Kong was the neutral ground in the dispute over auditing between the United States and China.
In the case of data transfer, instead of being the stand-alone buffer, Hong Kong is coupled with the GBA. That can only be positive for Hong Kong’s role in the broader GBA economic powerhouse.
