On October 8, during a Legislative Council session, the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development of Hong Kong, Algernon Yau, delivered remarks as part of a combined debate on a motion concerning Hong Kong's First Five-Year Plan and a motion of thanks for the 2026 Policy Address (Section 4). He stated that Hong Kong must, on one hand, seize the opportunities presented by the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and deepen its economic and trade cooperation with the mainland, and on the other hand, continue to expand its international networks, leveraging its unique position as a bridge between the mainland and the world to translate cooperative opportunities into tangible outcomes.

Yau introduced that the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, or CEPA, serves as the most fundamental cornerstone for promoting economic integration and trade growth between the two sides. In 2025, total merchandise trade between the two places amounted to approximately HK$5.6 trillion, more than triple the level before CEPA was implemented in 2003, with an average annual growth rate of 6.1%. As of the end of August 2026, cumulative tariff concessions under CEPA for covered customs clearance goods had reached close to RMB 11 billion. In terms of trade in services, the mainland and Hong Kong have essentially achieved liberalization of services trade. The Five-Year Plan states that CEPA should be continuously upgraded comprehensively, and Hong Kong will continue to work with the Ministry of Commerce to advance the comprehensive upgrading of CEPA, deepen cooperation with the mainland's services sector, expand mainland market access and areas of openness, and seek to promote higher-level openness in the Greater Bay Area on a pilot basis.

On another front, the Hong Kong government is gradually advancing Phase Three of the Trade Single Window and strengthening interconnection with Guangdong's international trade single window to expand the application scope of the Single Entry, Double Declaration arrangement, facilitating customs clearance of goods between Hong Kong and Guangdong. Hong Kong will seize opportunities offered by various international platforms to strengthen exchanges with economies on trade, investment, and other economic issues. Currently, Hong Kong has signed nine free trade agreements with 21 economies and 25 investment agreements with 34 overseas economies.

Yau stated that over the next five years, Hong Kong will continue to deepen its presence in markets such as Europe, the United States, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and the Middle East, while actively exploring emerging markets in Central Asia and Africa. In line with the national 14th Five-Year Plan's requirement for Hong Kong to leverage its professional services strengths to help enterprises go global, the mainland enterprises going global task force, established in October last year, has so far assisted more than 340 mainland enterprises in setting up or expanding operations in Hong Kong, with about 30% of them establishing Hong Kong as their regional or international headquarters or corporate treasury center. Next, the task force will further deepen cooperation with industry associations and professional organizations in both Hong Kong and the mainland. At the same time, the task force will expand its cross-sector professional services platform by adding Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) services and optimizing the matching function between enterprises and Hong Kong professional services providers, in order to consolidate Hong Kong's role as a platform for going global.

Hong Kong will strive to become the preferred partner and multilateral cooperation hub for countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative. The 11th Belt and Road Summit held last month attracted more than 6,200 political and business leaders from over 70 countries and regions, during which more than 60 memoranda of understanding were signed. Together with new projects and transactions finalized before and during the forum, the total value exceeded US$3.1 billion. Hong Kong will enhance the forum's function as a key economic and trade cooperation platform to generate more practical cooperation outcomes, continue to organize trade delegations to Belt and Road countries to explore business opportunities, step up promotion of the Hong Kong-overseas project platform to Hong Kong enterprises, encourage and appropriately assist overseas entities in conducting roadshows in Hong Kong for suitable landmark projects, and strengthen Hong Kong's capacity-building platform for the Belt and Road Initiative.

In conclusion, Yau stated that looking ahead, the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau will continue to use the Five-Year Plan and the Policy Address as its action framework, strengthening both internal connectivity and external outreach so that Hong Kong can better integrate into and serve the overall national development strategy, while also creating more space for practical cooperation between Hong Kong and economies around the world.