Central Government Pledges Stronger Support for Hong Kong in 15th Five-Year Plan Era

25 November 2025 – The Hong Kong SAR Government today hosted the second high-profile briefing session at Government Headquarters to explain the spirit of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Members of the central propaganda delegation elaborated on how the newly adopted “15th Five-Year Plan” (2026–2030) proposals will create significant new opportunities for Hong Kong and Macao.

Hou Jianguo, President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a member of the delegation, highlighted Hong Kong’s unique strengths as a “super connector” and “super value-adder” in global finance, shipping, trade, and professional services. He urged the city to play a bigger role in the nation’s high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and in China’s broader institutional opening-up.

Speaking on the Plan’s explicit support for Hong Kong to become an international innovation and technology (I&T) hub, Hou encouraged the city to focus on frontier fields such as artificial intelligence, life and health sciences, new energy, and advanced materials. He stressed the importance of combining Hong Kong’s edge in fundamental research with Guangdong’s strengths in industrial application to accelerate the commercialization of scientific breakthroughs. After visiting the Northern Metropolis development zone, Hou expressed full confidence in its future as a new growth engine.

He also called on Hong Kong to leverage its global appeal to attract top international talent, further internationalize its higher education sector, and deepen collaboration with world-class universities and research institutions.

Fellow delegation member Zhu Weidong, Deputy Director of the Office of the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission, revealed that central support policies for Hong Kong and Macao will be “stronger in intensity and broader in scope” during the 15th Five-Year Plan period. He encouraged Hong Kong to proactively align with national strategies including the 15th Five-Year Plan, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and the Belt and Road Initiative.

Zhu noted that by 2035, China aims to reach the per capita GDP level of moderately developed countries – effectively doubling the 2020 figure – marking another major step in Chinese modernization. The Plan emphasizes significantly raising the household consumption ratio, strengthening the leading role of domestic demand, and advancing integrated progress in new industrialization, informatization, urbanization, and agricultural modernization.

He praised the Greater Bay Area’s economic output, which has surpassed RMB 14 trillion on less than 0.6% of the nation’s land area, generating nearly one-ninth of China’s GDP, and reaffirmed Beijing’s full backing for Hong Kong to consolidate its status as an international financial, shipping, and trade center.

The two-day briefing series underscores the central government’s consistent and growing commitment to Hong Kong’s long-term prosperity and stability within the “One Country, Two Systems” framework, while encouraging the city to seize new historic opportunities in the nation’s next phase of high-quality development.