About half of Hongkongers say city and Shenzhen more likely to compete than cooperate, poll finds
- Chinese University survey also finds about two-thirds of respondents believe Shenzhen cannot replace Hong Kong as a finance hub
- Nearly a third do not support enhancing cooperation between the two cities, compared to 28 per cent who back the idea
Survey results from Chinese University’s Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies also found about two-thirds of 703 respondents believed Shenzhen had “quite a small chance” or “no chance at all” to replace Hong Kong as an international financial centre.
Some 42 per cent of those polled disagreed that the competitive power of the mainland Chinese city had exceeded that of Hong Kong, while only 26 per cent agreed with the claim.
As Shenzhen’s economy is chasing Hong Kong closely, our relative advantage dwindles
Some 31 per cent, meanwhile, did not support enhancing cooperation between the two cities, compared to 28 per cent who backed the idea.
The poll found that 47 per cent of respondents said cooperation between the two cities would be of little help to Hong Kong in the long run, while nearly 10 per cent felt it would not be beneficial at all.
Some 51 per cent of the respondents believed Hong Kong and Shenzhen were more likely to compete with each other, while only 31 per cent thought they were more likely to cooperate.
The survey was conducted between November 16 and 23, after Lam defined Hong Kong’s role in cooperation with Shenzhen in October.
The southern Chinese city, which began to transform in the early 1980s after being granted special economic zone status, partly modelled itself on the blueprint of neighbouring Hong Kong. In 2018, Shenzhen’s GDP surpassed that of Hong Kong.
In Lam’s fourth policy address last month, she announced schemes to facilitate cooperation between the two cities. One of the proposals was meant to allow the local government-run Science and Technology Parks Corporation to manage properties across the border as part of a joint tech hub.
Victor Zheng Wan-tai, the institute’s associate director, believed one reason many of the respondents believed the two cities would compete rather than cooperate might be that Hongkongers were “increasingly worried about the challenges from Shenzhen”.
“Shenzhen’s economy has been rapidly growing over the past decades, while Hong Kong’s almost remained stagnant,” he said. “As Shenzhen’s economy is chasing Hong Kong’s closely, our relative advantage dwindles.”
But Zheng said there was still “big room for collaboration” between the two cities in fields such as technological innovation and higher education.
“The most important thing is to resume normal flow of people, as the current closure of the border is the biggest blow to any cooperation,” he said, referring to mandatory quarantine rules imposed in Hong Kong to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
