Hong Kong companies should be allowed to establish offshore operations in special zones in Shenzhen, allowing them to operate under Hong Kong law while encouraging capital inflows and outflows, an expert suggested at a forum Friday.

Such a special arrangement would allow companies registered in Hong Kong to operate in the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Services Industrial Cooperation Zone as offshore entities, said Xiao Geng, director of the Institute of Policy and practice at the Shenzhen campus of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. . This would subject them to supervision by Hong Kong regulators under mandate from Shenzhen authorities, he said at the Qianhai Forum in Shenzhen.

Foreign capital is increasingly attracted to China’s emerging industries, including cross-border e-commerce, which are mainly based overseas, Xiao said, adding that investors often prefer to keep their funds at home. ‘stranger.

Experts and former politicians at the forum called for more reforms to drive integration, from capital markets to technological innovation.

“I think Shenzhen and Hong Kong should establish a hub, but not just an ordinary research hub,” said Gu Shengzu, an economist and former politician. “It should be an international hub integrating large companies, technological innovation and talent.”