BEIJING, July 1, 2022
/PRNewswire/ -- "Young people in Hong Kong can't be confined to Hong Kong. We'd better have a whole picture of
our motherland," said Tsang Yi, a
young entrepreneur from Hong
Kong.
Yi, who founded a hackerspace company in southern Chinese city
of Shenzhen, told CGTN that he
hopes to inspire more Hong Kong
youths to purse their career in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area
(GBA), saying "this is the best time for young people from
Hong Kong to integrate into
national development and to realize their value in life."
With the local job market under great pressure amid the COVID-19
pandemic, more and more Hong Kong
youngsters have turned to cities in the GBA to realize their
dreams.
Under the Greater Bay Area Youth Employment Scheme introduced by
the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government last
year, nearly 1,100 graduates in Hong
Kong have been hired by over 400 enterprises in the GBA.
Over the years, Chinese President Xi Jinping has repeatedly
demonstrated his concern for the well-being of the over seven
million Hong Kong residents, with
the growth of Hong Kong youths
pulling at his heartstrings.
"When the young people thrive, Hong
Kong thrives. When the young people grow, Hong Kong grows. When there is a future for
the young people, there is a future for Hong Kong," Xi noted at the meeting
celebrating the 25th anniversary of Hong
Kong's return to the motherland and the inauguration of the
sixth-term government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative
Region.
Calling for creating more opportunities for young people in
Hong Kong to grow and shine, Xi
said efforts should be made to help them overcome difficulties,
gain a keen appreciation of the underlying trend in both the
country and the world, and heighten their sense of national
pride.
Embracing opportunities in the GBA
The latest survey by the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups
shows that 64 percent of respondents are willing to join Greater
Bay Area-based work experience programs or internships.
The most attractive factors to these youths are career
prospects, market size, social networking and training
opportunities, the percentage of which stood at 84.1 percent, 84
percent, 70.7 percent and 70.4 percent respectively.
Promoting the development of the GBA has been an important part
of Xi's vision for the HKSAR, which is hailed as the best entry
point for Hong Kong to integrate
itself into the country's overall development.
The GBA is comprised of the two special administrative regions
of Hong Kong and Macao, and nine cities in neighboring
Guangdong Province. The total area
is around 56,000 square kilometers, and covers around 6 percent of
the Chinese population.
"The Greater Bay Area spans three customs territories in one
country that operate under two different social systems with three
different currencies. This is unprecedented in the world," the
Chinese president has said.
Gross domestic product (GDP) of the GBA hit 12.6 trillion yuan ($1.97
trillion) last year, 2.4 trillion
yuan more than in 2017. With less than 1 percent of the
country's land mass, the GBA created 12 percent of the national
GDP.
Consolidating HK's unique status
China released its 14th
Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) last year, the blueprint and action
agenda for the social and economic development of the country in
the next five years and Hong
Kong's economic and social development are also highlighted
in the plan.
The 14th Five-Year Plan continues to support Hong Kong's attempts to enhance its status as
an international financial, transportation and trade center;
strengthen its status as a global offshore Renminbi business hub,
an international asset management center and a risk management
center.
Xi on Friday reiterated the Central Government's full support
for Hong Kong in maintaining its
unique status on a long-term basis and called on the new HKSAR
government to live up to people's expectations and give top
priority to meeting the aspirations of the whole community.
"Hong Kong's fundamental
interests are consistent with the fundamental interests of the
country, and the heart of the Central Government and the heart of
our Hong Kong compatriots always
beat together," he added.
Since it returned to China in
1997, Hong Kong, under the "One
Country, Two Systems" principle with a high degree of autonomy, has
further consolidated its status as a leading international
financial and global trading center. It has been consistently rated
by global institutions as one of the freest and the most
competitive economies with a world-class business environment.
Wrapping up his speech on Friday, Xi expressed the conviction
that with the strong support of the motherland and the solid
implementation of "One Country, Two Systems," Hong Kong will achieve even greater
accomplishments.
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-07-01/Hong-Kong-youths-embrace-brighter-future-with-national-development-1bjfAEDSJkQ/index.html
View original
content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cgtn-hong-kong-youths-embrace-brighter-future-as-city-integrates-into-national-development-301579502.html
SOURCE CGTN