At this year”s opening ceremony for the National Security Education Day in Hong Kong, Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, highlighted a key message: Hong Kong is not only a “safe harbor”, but also a “harbor for development”. This statement captures not only the city’s transformation since 2020, but also its future direction. The aim is to leverage the city’s high-level security to accelerate high-quality development during the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) period.
Since 2020, Hong Kong has undergone significant changes. The Hong Kong national security law ended a period of vulnerability and restored order and stability. The Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, passed unanimously by the Legislative Council in 2024, completed a long-overdue constitutional task. These measures did not limit Hong Kong’s future; they secured it. They stopped the political chaos that had paralyzed governance and disrupted livelihoods, and rebuilt the stability without which no city can prosper. Security rescued development from disorder and put it back on track.
The economic record in 2025 makes this point more convincingly than any slogan could. Hong Kong’s GDP reached over HK$3.3 trillion ($420 billion), registering a real growth of 3.5 percent. The city has regained its position as a leading global IPO center, with fundraising exceeding HK$280 billion and market turnover rising significantly. The Hang Seng Index also recorded strong gains over the year, reflecting improved investor confidence. These numbers reflect a city whose confidence and international role have been rebuilt on firmer institutional ground.
The business ecosystem has also strengthened. Over 11,000 companies with overseas or mainland parent firms now operate in Hong Kong, alongside a rapidly expanding family office sector. This shows that stability is an asset to leverage. In a world marked by geopolitical turbulence, fragmented supply chains and rising policy uncertainty, stability is increasingly scarce, and scarcity commands a premium.
This is what Xia meant when he spoke about “safe harbor” and “harbor for development”. The point is not simply that security protects development, but that under today’s conditions, security enhances Hong Kong’s competitiveness by making it more governable, reliable and, therefore, more investable. For Hong Kong, security is not the opposite of openness; it is what makes enduring openness possible. The city’s stability and attractiveness are underpinned by the broader strength of the country, emphasizing alignment with the country’s 15th Five-Year Plan and accelerating high-quality development.
Xia’s research visits to mainland cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area underscore this direction. Across Guangzhou, Foshan, Zhaoqing, Shenzhen, Dongguan and Huizhou, the focus was consistently on how Hong Kong can better integrate into the overall development of the Greater Bay Area and more effectively serve national development. The visits highlighted closer coordination across finance, logistics, advanced manufacturing, robotics and applied research.
Hong Kong’s next task is to move beyond old formulas. The “front shop, back factory” model served its time. The new approach should involve research in Hong Kong, transformation in the Greater Bay Area, and global market access through Hong Kong. Hong Kong’s role is to provide a highly internationalized platform, a separate customs territory, open capital flows, free information flows, a renowned common law system, and a highly developed services economy spanning finance, trade, shipping, insurance, law, accounting, arbitration and supply-chain management. These strengths make Hong Kong uniquely useful to the country and distinct from other mainland development platforms.
This is where the Northern Metropolis comes in — not as a side project, but as the spatial carrier of Hong Kong’s next takeoff. The 2025 Policy Address by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu identifies the Northern Metropolis as a new engine for economic development and accelerates its implementation. A dedicated working group has been established to advance the development of a university town with participation from leading institutions. To build new advantages in innovation and technology, the university town must be developed as a living ecosystem, integrating research facilities, laboratories, housing, transport links and community infrastructure.
Infrastructure is development policy in concrete form. The Northern Link and its spur line, along with the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Western Rail Link, are vital for connecting the Northern Metropolis with Shenzhen and the wider region. These projects determine how talent moves, industries cluster, and innovation ecosystems take shape. If the 15th Five-Year Plan period is to be one of acceleration, these links must be quickly delivered.
Seen in this light, the emerging “south finance, north innovation” pattern is not a slogan but a workable strategy. Southern Hong Kong should continue to consolidate and upgrade its position as an international financial, trade and shipping center. Northern Hong Kong should scale up new strengths in innovation and technology, international talent attraction, world-class universities, laboratories, and transformation capabilities. That is how Hong Kong can consolidate both its old advantages and build new ones, while better serving national development.
Following Xia’s guidance, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region should align more closely with the national five-year plan. Lee has announced that Hong Kong will formulate its first “broad, strategic and forward-looking” five-year plan. This plan must become a strategic and systematic framework that translates national direction into concrete action, and guides Hong Kong’s development over the next five years and beyond. In doing so, Hong Kong will show that being a safe harbor and a harbor for development are one and the same.
The author is a member of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies.
The views don’t necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
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