Shenzhen and Hong Kong took the lead in launching the civil servant exchange and cooperation project, and 10 Hong Kong civil servants went to Shenzhen for three months.

On the afternoon of December 18th, the launching ceremony of the civil servant exchange and cooperation project between Shenzhen and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region was held in Qianhai, Shenzhen. Ten middle and senior civil servants from the Hong Kong SAR Government will be stationed in relevant government departments and statutory bodies in Futian District and Qianhai District of Shenzhen for a three-month exchange and cooperation.

"Do our best to promote exchanges between the two places"

As an important task of Shenzhen-Hong Kong cooperation class, this exchange and cooperation project is the first civil servant exchange project between the mainland and Hong Kong since the resumption of customs clearance, and it is an important measure to take the lead in implementing the Agreement on Civil Servant Exchange and Cooperation between Greater Bay Area City in the Mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

It is understood that the 10 middle and senior civil servants selected by the Hong Kong SAR Government come from different departments, including administrative officers, administrative officers, engineers, town planners, environmental protection officers and information technology system managers, and have rich professional knowledge and experience. Starting from mid-December, they will exchange and study in Shenzhen for three months in various fields such as regional governance, scientific and technological development, urban planning, transportation and environmental protection.

Dai Like, a senior engineer from the Transport Department of the Hong Kong SAR Government, will go to Futian Administration of Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Transportation for exchange and study. "I am mainly responsible for transportation strategy research in Hong Kong. One of the main directions is to promote closer ties between Hong Kong and mainland cities in Greater Bay Area, including strengthening the construction of transportation infrastructure and promoting the connectivity of transportation services between the two places. I believe I can give full play to my unique advantages in this exchange study and do my best to promote exchanges between the two places."

Zhou Darong, Assistant Commissioner for Home Affairs, Sai Kung District Office, Home Affairs Department of the Hong Kong SAR Government, is mainly responsible for regional governance and community building. This time, he will be the special assistant to the deputy head of Futian District Government. "I am full of expectations for this exchange learning journey. More than 10 years ago, I worked as an intern in Beijing for half a year, and I was deeply impressed by the country’s development achievements at that time. Now that the Greater Bay Area of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao is booming, the SAR government is also accelerating the development of the northern metropolitan area. I will do a good job in liaison during this exchange to promote mutual understanding between the two places. "

Shenzhen-Hong Kong cooperation has made all-round progress.

The first batch of 10 Hong Kong civil servants came to Shenzhen for an exchange for about three months, which marked the official implementation of the civil servant exchange and cooperation project between Greater Bay Area and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and the in-depth exchange and cooperation between Guangdong and Hong Kong civil servants entered a new stage.

It is understood that since 2002, the Hong Kong SAR and mainland provinces and cities have jointly organized the "Civil Service Exchange Program", and Guangdong Province also participated in it from 2005 to 2013.

In September this year, Guangdong and Hong Kong signed the Project Agreement on Civil Servants’ Exchange and Cooperation between Greater Bay Area City and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in the Mainland, to carry out the exchange of civil servants between mainland cities in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The exchange period was extended from the past four weeks to three months, giving Hong Kong civil servants the opportunity to temporarily stay in the Mainland for a long time to exchange and deeply experience the development of cities in the Mainland of Greater Bay Area and the work of the resident government.

Shenzhen is the first mainland city in Greater Bay Area to participate in the exchange program. The exchanges between Shenzhen and Hong Kong have a deep foundation. Cheng Buyi, member of the Standing Committee of Shenzhen Municipal Committee and Minister of Organization Department, said that the fields of Greater Bay Area’s construction and Shenzhen-Hong Kong cooperation are constantly expanding, and Shenzhen-Hong Kong cooperation has moved from economic cooperation in the past to all-round cooperation, ushered in a new era of all-round acceleration and all-round promotion. "In the field of exchange of public officials, our two sides have experienced cooperation from the working level of ecological environment and border policing, to the normal and frequent exchanges and docking under the Shenzhen-Hong Kong cooperation special class mechanism, and then to this in-depth exchange and cooperation." Cheng Buyi said that this exchange and cooperation will first try in the fields of scientific and technological innovation, ecological environment, urban planning and transportation planning, and will also explore ways to strengthen in-depth exchanges and cooperation between civil servants in the two places in more fields in the future.

Li Huanchun, Party Secretary and Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of Guangdong Province, said that the exchange and cooperation between civil servants in Shenzhen and Hong Kong lasted for three months. The two sides learned from the major platforms "promoting connectivity", "hard connectivity" of infrastructure and "soft connectivity" of institutional mechanisms. In-depth exchanges and close cooperation will certainly further promote win-win cooperation between Shenzhen and Hong Kong and promote the "heart connectivity" of the people of the two places. "I believe that with the joint efforts of the civil servants in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, the civil servants from Hong Kong to Shenzhen will certainly bring advanced administrative management and service concepts to Shenzhen while achieving fruitful learning results. The exchange and cooperation between the civil servants in Shenzhen and Hong Kong will also lay a good foundation for the in-depth development of exchanges and cooperation between Guangdong and Hong Kong." She said.

Yang Hebeiyin, Director of the Civil Service Bureau of the Government of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Special Administrative Region, said that the exchange would enable Hong Kong civil servants to have a deep experience of Shenzhen’s development and better cooperate with’s development strategy in the future. She hopes that the exchange personnel will link the information gained from this exchange with the situation in Hong Kong and apply it to their work in the future, and at the same time play an active role in the future cooperation between Hong Kong and Shenzhen. (Ceng Meiling)

(Nanfang Daily)

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