Development Focus

Transportation and Logistics

• To enhance the international competitiveness of the Pearl River Delta port cluster. Enhance Hong Kong's status as an international maritime centre, develop high value-added maritime services such as ship management and leasing, ship finance, marine insurance, maritime law and dispute resolution services, and provide such services to Mainland and Macao enterprises.
• To leverage Hong Kong's strengths in high value-added maritime and financial services, and develop specialised financial services such as marine insurance, reinsurance and ship finance.

Hong Kong Section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link

• To connect with the national high-speed rail network and greatly shorten the traveling time between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and other cities in the PRD. It consolidates Hong Kong's position as a regional transport hub.

Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge

• To incorporate the western side of the Pearl River Delta into a reachable three-hour commuting radius of Hong Kong will enhance economic development and connectivity among the Greater Bay Area cities and bring strategic significance for the development of the Greater Bay Area.
• To enhance Hong Kong's status as a regional logistics, trade and business hub and also accelerate the economic integration of the PRD and its neighbouring provinces.

Aviation

• To consolidate and enhance Hong Kong's status as an international aviation hub. 
• To support the construction of the third runway at Hong Kong International Airport. 
• To optimise the airspace management. 
• To further expand the Greater Bay Area's domestic and international aviation networks, and proactively take forward intermodal code-sharing services. 
• To develop high value-added freight, aircraft leasing and aircraft aviation financing services. 
• To steadily develop cross-boundary helicopter services. 
• To strengthen our role as an aviation training centre.

Agreement on Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Airspace Collaborative Development signed

Memorandum of Understanding to expand the Air Services Arrangement between the Mainland and HKSAR signed

Hong Kong is a premier logistics hub and springboard to and from the Mainland, thanks to its strategic location, world-class infrastructure and multi-modal transportation links. In recent years it has strived to develop high value-added maritime services and modern logistics. The Government will continue to consolidate and enhance Hong Kong's position as an international aviation hub, international maritime centre and regional logistics hub, with a view to promoting the economy's sustainable growth.

Aviation hub

• Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) has always been one of the world busiest international passenger airports and busiest cargo gateways. At present, more than 120 airlines operate more than 1 100 flights daily to over 220 destinations around the globe.
• The Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) commenced the construction of the three-runway system of the HKIA in August 2016 to meet long-term air traffic demand and is scheduled for completion by 2024.
• Airlines in Hong Kong and the Mainland may operate intermodal code-sharing services among Pearl River Delta (PRD) cities. A passenger travelling by air may take another means of transport (high speed ferries and cross-boundary buses) using the same air ticket, which will assist in travel planning.
• To create greater synergies between the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB), the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL) and the HKIA, AAHK has made available check-in services at the West Kowloon Station of XRL and the Hong Kong Port of HZMB. Such services are also available at various ports and stations in PRD cities and Macao. The coverage of such services will continue to expand in different locations in PRD cities in future to provide excellent and convenient services to passengers.
• AAHK plans to enhance its intermodal facilities, which included the development of the Inter-modal Transfer Terminal to provide air-to-bridge/bridge-to-air bonded bus service, to strengthen HKIA’s role as an aviation hub in connecting passengers from PRD region via the HZMB for outbound flight to the restricted area of HKIA direct. Overseas visitors can also benefit from the service.
• Transport and Housing Bureau and the CAAC have agreed to expand the scope of flight destinations to be served by cross-boundary helicopter services to and from Hong Kong to cover the whole Guangdong Province.
• To facilitate the development of air cargo industry, land has been reserved in the South Cargo Precinct of the HKIA to support the growth in transhipment, cross-boundary e-commerce and high value-added air cargo business. The expansion works will commence in Q4 2019. Expected to commission in 2022, the handling capacity of the express air cargo terminal will increase by 50% to 1.06 million tonnes per annum. In addition, the land parcel of about 5.3 hectares at Kwo Lo Wan in the South Cargo Precinct was awarded in June 2018 for the development of a premium logistics centre, which is expected to come into operation in 2023. The centre will address the need of warehousing and distribution of e-commerce more effectively and is conducive to unleashing the potentials of the HKIA as an aviation hub.
• The AAHK set up the Hong Kong International Aviation Academy in 2016. Until 2019, the Academy has provided different levels of trainings and programmes to over 18 000 participants, including summer day camps, internships, on-the-job training, certificate programmes and other professional programmes.
• Through the dedicated concessionary tax regime for aircraft leasing, the Government promotes the development of aircraft leasing, aviation financing and other related businesses in Hong Kong.
• The AAHK is actively taking forward the 'SKYCITY' development project by building an integrated retail, dining and entertainment destination so as to enrich travellers' experience and become a unique tourism attraction. The construction of the hotel development was almost completed and it is scheduled to open in the year 2020 to 2021. In addition, the first phase of retail, dining and entertainment, etc. development is scheduled to open in phases from 2023 to 2027.

Port development and logistics industry

• The Hong Kong Port is one of the world's top ten busiest container ports.
• Hong Kong has a natural deep-water harbour. The nine Kwai Tsing Container Terminals provide 24 berths operating round-the-clock. There are about 340 liner sailings every week connecting to about 470 destinations worldwide.
• To maintain the competitiveness of Hong Kong Port, the Government will continue to implement various recommendations made in the review of the use of port back-up land near the Kwai Tsing Container Terminals (KTCTs). Among all, the Government will release by phases the two sites in Tsing Yi and Kwai Chung through public tender for developing multi-storey port back-up and modern logistics facilities, so as to support port and logistics operations.
• The Government will continue to expand terminal yard space and provide additional barge berths in KTCTs in phases to enhance the container handling capacity.
• The Government has been identifying and releasing suitable sites for the development of high value-added third-party logistics services. To this end, a site of 3.17 hectares in Tuen Mun Area 49 for modern logistics uses was sold in May 2018, providing some 79 000 square metres of floor area for the logistics industry.

Maritime

• The Hong Kong Shipping Register is ranked fourth globally in terms of gross tonnage.
• Hong Kong-flagged ships enjoy preferential port tonnage tax treatment with up to nearly 30 per cent reduction in dues at Chinese ports.
• Hong Kong has entered into double taxation relief arrangements covering shipping income with 47 major trading partners.
• With a cluster of over 800 shipping-related companies, Hong Kong provides a range of quality maritime services, including ship agency and management, shipbroking, marine insurance, and maritime legal and arbitration services. With our many advantages, Hong Kong is well-positioned to serve as the maritime service hub for the Belt and Road economies.
• Hong Kong is a leading international ship finance centre in Asia – seven of the world's top ten bookrunners have offices in Hong Kong. On insurance, 12 of the 13 members of the International Group of Protection and Indemnity Clubs have presence in Hong Kong, making us the largest cluster outside London.

Cross-boundary infrastructure

• The Hong Kong Section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL), which commenced operation in September 2018, connects with the national high-speed rail network and greatly shorten the traveling time between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and other cities in the PRD. It consolidates Hong Kong's position as a regional transport hub. The MTR Corporation Limited continues to make improvement to the operating arrangements. Passengers are also getting used to using the XRL as a cross-boundary transport mode. As at June 2019, the average daily patronage of the Hong Kong Section of the XRL was over 54 000 during weekdays and 56 000 during weekends.
• Since the commissioning of the HZMB in October 2018, the operation has generally been smooth and the vehicular flow has been gradually increasing. The HKSAR Government has been discussing with the governments of Guangdong and Macao to gradually increase in an orderly manner the number of cross-boundary vehicle quota for using the HZMB, to tie in with the development of the Greater Bay Area and to further utilise the HZMB. At present, the total number of Hong Kong/Guangdong cross-boundary private car quota (for Hong Kong cross-boundary private cars) for using the HZMB has reached 14 500. Separately, 33 000 Hong Kong cross-boundary private cars with quota for using the other four land boundary control points connecting to Shenzhen are allowed, on a trial basis for two years, to use the HZMB for travelling between Hong Kong and Zhuhai without additional procedure. The three governments will continue to increase the number of quota gradually. 
• New management measures on the quota system of Guangdong-Hong Kong cross-boundary private cars, including relaxation of application criteria and strengthening quota management were introduced by the Guangdong Provincial Public Security Department (GDPSD) on 15 April 2019.
• The Liantang/Heung Yuen Wai Boundary Control Point (LT/HYW BCP) will be the seventh land boundary crossing between Hong Kong and Shenzhen boundary with direct access facilities for both passengers and vehicles. It connects with the Eastern Corridor in Shenzhen which will greatly shorten the travelling time to eastern part of Shenzhen, eastern part of Guangdong Province and other neighbouring provinces. The new BCP is one of the key infrastructures to strengthen the cross-boundary transport connectivity within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (Greater Bay Area), which can provide Hong Kong with more room for development, foster the flow of people and goods, and promote economic development and regional cooperation under the "one-hour living circle" in the Greater Bay Area. The new BCP will facilitate smooth and efficient people and cargo flows across the boundary, alleviate the busy traffic at the existing BCPs and play an important strategic role in supporting Hong Kong's long-term economic growth. 
• The Hong Kong and Guangdong governments have agreed to issue quotas of 2 000 and 200 for Hong Kong and Mainland cross-boundary private cars respectively before the commissioning of the Heung Yuen Wai Control Point. The Guangdong Provincial Public Security Department will accept new quota applications starting from 12 June 2019.

Source: Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau