Beijing tasks Hong Kong with fast-tracking Northern Metropolis, boosting integration

Hong Kong should speed up the construction of the Northern Metropolis megaproject near the border with the mainland and the development of a commodity trading ecosystem, according to the draft outline of China’s 15th five-year plan.Other priorities included stronger integration with national development on the economic, technological and social fronts, especially deepening cross-border connections of financial markets.The draft, which sets China’s economic and social development targets for 2026 to 2030, was tabled on Thursday at the opening of the National People’s Congress (NPC), the country’s top legislature.While the draft echoed the previous blueprint’s support for Hong Kong’s “eight centres” strategy, it particularly highlighted the Northern Metropolis, a megaproject transforming 30,000 hectares of land near the city’s border with the mainland into an economic powerhouse and housing hub.“[The plan] supports Hong Kong in developing into an international innovation and technology hub, advancing its role as a centre for international legal and dispute resolution services, a regional intellectual property trading centre, and a hub for arts and cultural exchanges between China and the rest of the world, while accelerating the development of the metropolis,” the draft read.The draft also backed the city’s efforts to consolidate its role as an international centre for finance, trade and shipping, and aviation.