Financial Secretary John Tsang today signed an agreement between the Mainland and Hong Kong on achieving basic liberalisation of trade in services.
He signed it with Vice Minister of Commerce Gao Yan in Guangdong, under the framework of the Mainland & Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA).
It will be implemented on March 1.
Chief Executive CY Leung, Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Qiu Hong, and Guangdong Vice-Governor Zhao Yufang witnessed the signing.
The agreement is also the first one drawn up by the Mainland making reference to international standards and in the form of pre-establishment national treatment and a negative list, surpassing the previous CEPA measures in terms of breadth and depth of liberalisation.
It contains a most-favoured treatment provision which states any CEPA-plus preferential treatments the Mainland offers to other countries and regions will be extended to Hong Kong to ensure the city enjoys the most preferential liberalisation measures.
It enables Hong Kong investors to take early advantage of the opening up of the Guangdong market in various service sectors, and sets a model for basic liberalisation of trade in services nationwide next year.
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