Flora Chang (R), a financial services partner at EY Hua Ming LLP Shenzhen Branch, and Mabel Li, a tax & business advisory services partner at EY Qianhai (Shenzhen) Advisory Co. Ltd. Lin Jianping
With strong complementarity between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, the two cities are expected to synergize their strengths to build a better world-class bay area economy in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), according to Flora Chang, a financial services partner at Ernst & Young (EY) Hua Ming LLP Shenzhen Branch, a subsidiary of EY, one of the Big Four accounting firms in the world.
Chang made the remarks during an interview with Shenzhen Daily on Monday. Speaking of Shenzhen’s financial strengths, Chang said that Shenzhen is oriented towards a huge market and has a sound ecosystem.
According to Chang, finance ultimately serves the real economy and is a catalyst for enterprises’ development. “As Shenzhen’s key industrial clusters develop, the city’s financial industry will thrive and have more space to grow,” she said.
Hong Kong, on the other hand, has a legion of financial professionals and a global vision, as well as a more international and well-developed financial system. “With each city having their respective strengths, we expect they will have more in-depth collaboration to drive economic growth in the GBA,” Chang said.
She added that Shenzhen’s policies to boost the high-quality development of its financial industry can consolidate the city’s unique position in financial reforms and expedite the aggregation of financial resources.
“Whether from the perspective of serving the GBA or promoting the city’s high-quality development, we believe Shenzhen’s financial industry can play a more significant role,” Chang said.
According to official preliminary statistics, the added value of Shenzhen’s financial industry hit 473.88 billion yuan (US$70.7 billion) in 2021, up 7.6% year on year and accounting for 15.4% of the city’s GDP. The average growth rate in the last two years reached 8.3%, significantly higher than the national average of 5.3%.
Shenzhen has also been spearheading a number of key financial initiatives, including the reform of ChiNext, China’s NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, the pilot registration-based IPO system, the Cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect, the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect and a cross-border link for exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Additionally, qualified Hong Kong and Macao tax-related professionals can now practice in Shenzhen’s Qianhai cooperation zone after registration. In the past, they needed to pass a qualification exam before being allowed to practice.
Mabel Li, a tax & business advisory services partner at Ernst & Young Qianhai (Shenzhen) Advisory Co. Ltd., also a subsidiary of EY, lauded such an innovative initiative.
“On the one hand, the policy galvanizes more overseas tax professionals to practice in Qianhai, especially talents with rich experience in providing services for multinational corporations,” Li said, adding that these talents can play a vital role in helping companies navigate the complex tax policies regulating businesses.
She added: “On the other hand, these overseas tax professionals in Qianhai can provide professional cross-border services. They act as facilitators in promoting the connection and integration of such services.”
This initiative is also a booster for cross-border talent mobility in EY, according to Li. Since 2019, EY has launched a GBA internship program which aims to help young Hong Kong and Macao people have a comprehensive understanding of the GBA and broaden their horizons.
“EY has also set up its GBA assurance team, which recruited a number of professionals who have an international vision and a good knowledge of Hong Kong, Macao and mainland markets,” Li said.
Li disclosed that EY will put into use a tech incubation lab in Qianhai this September in a bid to assist enterprises in digital transformation and contribute to improving GBA’s technological innovation level.