Looking back over 2004 and looking into 2005 the cooperation between Guangdong and Hong Kong is "full of good events and teeming with upsurges". Exciting news came one after another from the 4th working meeting of Guangdong-HK Cooperation Joint Conference held in Guangzhou Tuesday. Last year volume of trade between Guangdong and Hong Kong topped $246 billion increasing by 23 percent year on year. Cooperation between the two regions is growing stronger this year. In particular, cross-boundary infrastructure construction will have a soaring development.

Tang Bingquan, senior Vice-Governor of Guangdong province, said after the meeting that Guangdong and HK are gratified with the development and achievements of the cooperation last year, particularly in the economic and trade cooperation and port cooperation. After the economic and trade volume between the two sides grew by $40 billion in 2003 the year 2004 saw a net growth of $40 billion. Direct trade volume reached $72 billion.

The implementation of the CEPA made remarkable achievement. By December 2004 Guangdong has approved 1,238 private industrial and commercial entities of HK permanent residents, with registered capital exceeding 53.778 million yuan. Guangdong ports have accepted electronic original accounts of original producing areas issued by Hong Kong of 887 million HK dollars, with the import value reaching 768 million HK dollars, about 77.2 percent nationwide. In last year HK tourists from Guangdong holding private travel permits reached 4.93 million, who brought new consumption of about 16 billion HK dollars.

Port cooperation progressed smoothly. Three cross-boundary infrastructure constructions will hold completing ceremonies on January 18. They are Huanggang-Lok Ma Chau Crossing Bridge, Sha Tau Kok Crossing Bridge and Lo Wu Overbridge Renovation projects.

The emphases of Guangdong-HK cooperation in 2005 will still be put on infrastructure construction, service industry and manufacturing industry etc. Donald Tsang, Chief Secretary for Administration of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government (HKSARG), said work on the HK-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge connecting Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao is progressing smoothly. Construction feasibility report is being reviewed by experts. After the review it would be submitted to the central government for approval. Work on the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-HK High-speed Railway is also intensified. The west road connecting Shenzhen and Hong Kong would also be completed and put to operation by July, 2006. By then exchanges between the two regions would be sped up.

Apart from this the governments of Guangdong and Hong Kong have reached common understanding that with the regional cooperation in "pan Pearl Delta" as setting the two regions would intensify the joint promotion of "big Pearl Delta". They would, in appropriate times, hold joint promotion meetings in Canada and ASEAN countries. Particularly they would promote the Guangdong-HK cooperative tourism brand.

Based on above cooperation emphases the meeting determined on 20 cooperation projects in the near future and would implement them one by one. These projects include joint testing of regional air quality monitoring network, research on Guangdong-HK helicopter service and economic and technological cooperation exchange meetings etc.

By People's Daily Online