Hong Kong facilitates trade with China

New road links enhance opportunities KEVIN MAYHEW WITH ITS price sensitivity, competitive nature and sound infrastructure, the joint trade area of China and Hong Kong can create solutions that can trim the logistics costs of exports and imports by up to 20%. According to the new regional director for Western Europe and Africa of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, Lawrence Yipp, this allows overseas manufacturers to establish a presence through Hong Kong but export or import from Chinese ports directly if necessary. Yipp paid his first visit to South Africa recently to address business and the media on the topic ‘Hong Kong – Turning China Into Opportunity’. “We have a long history in the area of creating solutions that compete with the world’s best. It is well known that China is a huge manufacturing base for all kinds of consumer goods – possibly the workshop of the world and our logistics are geared to match our reputation for affordable prices on a global basis,” he said. Referring to the Pearl River Delta (PRD) development in China, he said it accounted for a third of China’s exports and imports with 25 000 goods vehicles and 600 cargo vessels crossing the boundary between Hong Kong and the Delta each day. Now road and rail links between the two centres will further enhance the role of the region as one of the world’s leading trading areas. Major transport projects being planned include a bridge linking Hong Kong, Macau and Zuhai, on the west side of the PRD. This will transform access to the less economically developed western side of the PRD, creating a new wave of business opportunities. “At present there are some 53 000 Hong Kong-registered enterprises in the Delta employing over 10 million people. This together with the other thousands of businesses operating throughout China make Hong Kong-based companies ideal partners for South African companies entering the giant Chinese market,” he said.