- CEPA offers new business opportunities. It has helped reverse the
falling trend in the value of Hong Kong’s domestic exports to the Mainland,
and has enabled Hong Kong service suppliers to enjoy wider access in
27 service areas in the Mainland.
|
Domestic
exports from HKSAR
| |
Year |
 |
Mainland of China (HK $ Mn) |
| 2000 |
54,158 |
| 2001 |
49,547 |
| 2002 |
41,374 |
| 2003 |
36,757 |
| 2004 |
37,898 |
| 2005 |
44,643 |
|
Value in HK$ million
Period
(a)
|
Total FOB value of
approved CO(CEPA)s
(b) |
Total domestic exports
to the Mainland
(c) |
(b) as a % of (c) |
| 2004 |
1,150 |
37,898 |
3.0% |
| 2005 |
2,366 |
44,643 |
5.3% |
| 2006 (March) |
268 |
3,265 |
8.2% |
| 2006 (April) |
214 |
3,274 |
6.5% |
| 2006 (Jan - Apr) |
906 |
12,354 |
7.3% |
|
- As at May 31, 2006: 13, 037 applications for CO (CEPA) have been approved, with total FOB value of around HK$4.6 billion. Major categories of products include textiles and clothing, pharmaceutical products, food and beverages, plastic articles.
|
Services sector
- As at May 31, 2006, 969 applications for Certificate of Hong Kong
Service Supplier (HKSS) have been approved. Major sectors include transport
and logistics services, distribution services, advertising services,
construction professional services and management consulting services.
- Between end-August 2004, when the new facilitation policy for Mainland
enterprises to invest in Hong Kong took effect, and the first quarter
of 2006, a total of 378 Mainland enterprises have been granted approval
for investing in Hong Kong, involving US$2.23 billion of planned investment.
- CEPA was cited as one of the factors for investment in 63 out of
the 232 (27%) investment projects completed in Hong Kong in 2005 through
the assistance of InvestHK.
- Several agreements or arrangements for mutual recognition of professional
qualifications have been reached since the implementation of CEPA,
covering the following:
- Reciprocal agreement for estate surveyors (Nov 2003);
- Arrangements to facilitate the flow of qualified personnel and
expertise in respect of the securities and futures industry (Dec
2003);
- Mutual recognition agreement for architects (Feb 2004);
- Agreement on measures to facilitate Hong Kong residents to take
the ‘Mainland Insurance Practitioners Qualifying Examinations’ (Feb
2004);
- Arrangements to allow Hong Kong residents to take the ‘National
Qualification Examination for Patent Agents’ (April 2004);
- Mutual recognition agreement for structural engineers (Aug 2004):
- Arrangement for the exemption of professional examination papers
in the accounting sector (Aug 2004);
- Mutual recognition agreement for planners and quantity surveyors
(May 2005).
- Mutual recognition agreement between Mainland constructions supervising
engineers and Hong Kong building surveyors (June 2006)
- According to an analysis of the economic impact of CEPA I conducted by HKSARG in April 2005:
- About 29,000 new jobs (2,280 in trade in goods, 10,153 in trade in services and 16,588 in Individual Visit Scheme) were forecast to be created for Hong Kong in the first two years of implementing CEPA I.
- CEPA is also estimated to have generated $5.4 billion in services receipts and induced $5.5 billion in capital investment during the first two years of implementation.
- As at 31 May, the Individual Visits Scheme had been implemented in 44 Mainland cities, with 13,210,000 visiting Hong Kong under the scheme since implementation at end-July 2003.
- In 2004, companies in the 18 sectors covered by CEPA I increased capital investment in Hong Kong by $1 billion due to CEPA.
|
OPRS June 29, 2006 |
