Xie Xiaohua: Collaborative legislation in the Greater Bay Area needs support from the national constitution and basic law to ensure the distinction between the legal systems of the two regions

Recently, the Legislative Council discussed the proposal for "Research on Coordinated Legislation in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area." The Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Xie Xiaohua, stated at the meeting that regional coordinated legislation mainly operates at three levels: inter-provincial, intra-provincial municipal, and cross-provincial municipal domains. The relevant laws are not national laws implemented in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Coordinated legislation must be supported by the national Constitution and the Basic Law, maintaining a clear distinction between the legal systems of the mainland and Hong Kong while establishing connections between the systems to fully leverage the unique advantages of Hong Kong's common law system and serve the overall interests of the country.

He mentioned that in terms of legal and judicial cooperation, the legal departments of the three regions will jointly explore pathways to promote the formulation of model arbitration rules for the Greater Bay Area in the future. They also support the establishment of a commercial mediation and arbitration platform for the Greater Bay Area, actively promoting the nomination of mediation and arbitration institutions from the three regions to join the platform and jointly adopt and promote the "Bay Area Standards."

Regarding the promotion of capital connectivity within the Greater Bay Area, policies such as "Cross-Border Wealth Management Connect," cross-border account opening services, cross-border financing and credit cooperation, and "equivalent recognition" of cross-border vehicle insurance have been successively implemented and are well received by the industry and residents of the Greater Bay Area.

As for the "Bay Area Standards," Xie Xiaohua pointed out that there are currently 270 "Bay Area Standards" announced, covering multiple fields, including food quality and safety, Cantonese cuisine, prepared dishes, transportation, and electromechanical products, which relevant industries can voluntarily adopt to enhance product and service quality, promote connectivity and integrated development among the three regions, and deepen economic and trade exchanges and cooperation between Hong Kong, the mainland, and Macao.

In terms of talent, he mentioned that the Development Bureau is collaborating with relevant departments in Guangdong Province to formulate arrangements for incorporating Hong Kong's professional talents in the construction engineering field into the mainland's "Professional Title Evaluation" system. This arrangement has now been normalized and covers a total of 10 construction and engineering professional categories, with approximately 580 Hong Kong professionals having obtained professional titles in the mainland to date