The outline of the 15th Five Year Plan has upgraded Hong Kong's positioning from "integration" to "integration and service" to the overall development of the country, which has attracted widespread attention from various sectors in Hong Kong in recent days. Multiple interviewees analyzed that this reflects the precise anchoring of Hong Kong's strategic value by the country under the profound changes in the global landscape. Hong Kong, backed by the solid backing of the motherland and holding the unique key to connecting the world, is sailing towards high-quality development in the new journey of the 15th Five Year Plan, and will better contribute to national development with a new attitude.
The outline of the 15th Five Year Plan proposes to support Hong Kong and Macao to better integrate into and serve the overall development of the country. Compared to the previous five-year plan, a new positioning of "service" has been added on the basis of "integrating into the overall development of the country".
Li Shuying, Dean of the Education Research Institute at Shenzhen University, said that "integration" is the fundamental stage for Hong Kong to connect with the overall development of the country, while "integration and service" allows Hong Kong to bid farewell to its passive follow-up attitude and become a service provider and contributor to the overall development of the country with its unique international advantages.
The global political, economic, and technological landscape is being deeply reshaped, and the high-quality development and high-level opening up of the country urgently require professional international service support. The positioning of Hong Kong's role in the "15th Five Year Plan" not only reflects the full trust of the country, but also opens up a broad space for Hong Kong to break through development bottlenecks and move towards new heights, "said Huang Jinhui, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and Vice Dean of the School of Engineering at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Hong Kong has unique advantages and can play a special role in serving the overall development of the country. Hong Kong ranks third among global financial centers, with an average daily transaction volume of $883.1 billion in foreign exchange trading and handling approximately 80% of offshore RMB settlements worldwide, making it the world's largest offshore RMB center. By 2025, the IPO fundraising amount will reach 37.4 billion US dollars, ranking first among global new stock financing centers. In terms of shipping, Hong Kong has been ranked first in the world in terms of air cargo volume for several consecutive years, fourth in the world in terms of registered tonnage of ships, and fourth in the world in the International Shipping Center Development Index for six consecutive years.  
Chen Xiaofeng, a member of the National People's Congress and the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, stated that as the country expands its high-level opening-up to the outside world, Hong Kong, as an international financial, shipping, and trade center, precisely meets the key needs of national development and can achieve resonance between its own development and national strategy.
Hong Kong should continue to strengthen its headquarters economy and capital bridge function, rely on its unique advantages of common law and low tax rates, attract mainland enterprises to establish international operation centers in Hong Kong, and guide international capital to invest accurately in key areas in mainland China. Meng Lihong, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and Vice Chairman of Qifu Group, proposed that Hong Kong should also enrich its offshore RMB business and strengthen green finance, so that its financial advantages can continue to be released in the high-level opening up of the country.
The field of innovative technology is an important track for Hong Kong to serve the country and accelerate high-level technological self-reliance and self-improvement. Hong Kong has great potential for technological development, ranking third in the world in terms of digital competitiveness. Five universities have entered the top 100 in the world and are continuously strengthening their efforts in cutting-edge fields such as AI, robotics, and quantum computing. They plan to establish the "AI+and Industrial Development Strategy Committee" and promote the Shaling Data Park project.
Huang Jinhui believes that Hong Kong is making every effort to build an international innovation and technology center. It should make good use of its strong basic scientific research strength, do a good job in "0-1" technology invention and research and development, and rely on the mature industrial chain of the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area to complete the transformation of innovation and technology achievements, achieve "1-to-N" mass production and commercialization, so that Hong Kong's innovation and technology can truly root in China and go global.
Hong Kong has obvious advantages in national technology strategic needs such as AI, life and health, and new materials. ”Li Shuying said that by building an international innovation and technology center, Hong Kong can make up for some of the basic research gaps and weaknesses in the forefront fields of the mainland, help the country's key core technology breakthroughs, and become an important source of original innovation for the country.
The outline of the 15th Five Year Plan proposes to support Hong Kong in accelerating the construction of the northern metropolitan area. The northern metropolitan area will become a key lever for Hong Kong to serve the overall development of the country. This land, spanning across the northern part of Hong Kong and bordering Shenzhen, with a total area of approximately 300 square kilometers, will provide over 500000 new residential units and create around 500000 new job opportunities in the future.
The construction of Beidou not only solves the problem of land and housing shortage in Hong Kong, but also serves as an important pivot for Hong Kong to deeply participate in the integrated development of the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area, better integrate and serve the overall development of the country. Chen Xiaofeng said that in terms of legal services, Beidou has the conditions to host more cross-border legal service institutions and arbitration centers facing the Greater Bay Area, forming a professional service cluster complementary to the core business district of Hong Kong Island.
Cai Guanshen, President of the Hong Kong Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, stated that Hong Kong can take the opportunity of building a northern capital and collaborate with Shenzhen to plan and create a Hong Kong Shenzhen super cooperation zone that integrates technological innovation, high-end manufacturing, and modern services. This will form an ecosystem that integrates government, industry, academia, research, and investment, and help mainland enterprises go global.
In Meng Lihong's view, Hong Kong serves the overall development of the country, and more importantly, it is important to establish a bond of mutual understanding between people. She suggested strengthening the top-level design of livelihood areas such as the silver economy and cross-border medical connections in the Greater Bay Area, upgrading the "one hour living circle" in the Greater Bay Area, and promoting people to people connectivity through the integration of livelihood. We can also build a broad platform to support Hong Kong youth to exchange and start businesses in mainland China, achieve deep complementarity of talent needs in the Greater Bay Area, and make Hong Kong's role as a 'super contact' more valuable