Greater Bay Area plan not a solution to rising property prices in Hong Kong, real estate developers say
- Chinachem chief executive officer Donald Choi says Greater Bay Area plan will not curb Hong Kong’s red-hot market
- He suggests government convert agricultural land to residential properties to address housing crisis
The ambitious Greater Bay Area plan will not curb Hong Kong’s soaring property prices, two veteran property developers have said.
“We cannot force people to go north to live across the border. You can offer them initiatives and opportunities, but Hong Kong is their home,” Chinachem chief executive officer Donald Choi told the audience at the South China Morning Post’s China Conference on Wednesday.
“The elephant in the room is confidence in social institutions. Not just about property, but also about the health system, food safety, education and so on,” Choi, also a former managing director of real estate major Nan Fung Development, added.
The Greater Bay Area initiative is a part of Beijing’s ambitious plan to transform Hong Kong and 10 cities around the Pearl River Delta into a thriving global centre of technology, innovation and economic activities.
Hong Kong, Macau, Shenzhen and Guangzhou would be the four key cities, while Beijing has regarded a closer integration between mainland China and Hong Kong as one of the five main strategies for the initiative.
Hong Kong and Macau are governed by the principle of “one country, two systems” which offers these two cities separate legislative and legal systems, and allows free flow of information and certain rights that are not enjoyed in mainland China.
