President Xi Jinping has made an important instruction in response to a letter written to him by 24 Hong Kong academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, expressing concern about cross-border remittance of science and technology project funding to Hong Kong. The Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Finance have promulgated provisions on opening up science and technology funding of the Central Government for application by higher education institutions and research institutions in Hong Kong, which include the arrangements on cross-border remittance of approved project funding to Hong Kong, with a view to further enhancing the role of the local technology sector in promoting national technological advancement. The HKSAR Government welcomes the initiative.
A Government spokesman said today (May 14), "We are very thankful to President Xi for personally making the instruction which affirms that Hong Kong has a solid technological foundation and a pool of quality scientific and technological talents, and recognises the significant contribution made by Hong Kong’s science and technology sector to the development of Hong Kong and the country. The instruction also mentions that the Central Government will promote collaboration between Hong Kong and the Mainland on the technology front and support Hong Kong to become an international innovation and technology hub. All these have been most encouraging to the science and technology sector in Hong Kong.
"We welcome and much appreciate the Central Government's support to allow universities and research institutions in Hong Kong to apply for science and technology funding of the Central Government and use the funding here in Hong Kong. This is not only a significant breakthrough in Mainland-Hong Kong technological collaboration, but also a response to the calls of the local academia and research sector. The current-term Government is committed to promoting scientific research and the development of innovation and technology. We believe that the new policy on allowing cross-border remittance of research funding will inject further impetus into our research sector and encourage local technology talents to collaborate with the Mainland and participate in major technology missions of the country. Besides, it will help leverage Hong Kong’s advantages in scientific research and its internationalised position in pooling together innovation resources in the Bay Area and across the world, and jointly developing the Bay Area into an international innovation and technology high ground."
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