At 11:00 am today (October 16th), Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam delivered the 2024 Policy Address, which has attracted high attention from all sectors of society. It is understood that this is Li Jiachao's third Policy Address during his term, and also the first Policy Address after Hong Kong completed the local legislation of Article 23 of the Basic Law. The theme of the report is "Reform and Development Together, Benefiting People's Livelihood and Building the Future". Li Jiachao introduced that the team held over 40 consultation meetings for this purpose, and spent about three months entering the community to communicate and listen to opinions from the public. They also collected more than 9500 opinions from different channels. The multiple contents mentioned in the report, such as the request for the central government to restore Shenzhen's "one sign, multiple lines" policy and the development of the Hetao Hong Kong Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park, are closely related to the connectivity of the Greater Bay Area, especially the cooperation between Shenzhen and Hong Kong. Requesting the central government to restore Shenzhen's "one visa, multiple trips" policy. Since the beginning of this year, the number of visitors to Hong Kong has repeatedly reached new highs, and the trend of "going north and south" continues. Regarding this, Li Jiachao stated that the SAR government has submitted a request to the central government to further optimize mainland residents' travel visas to Hong Kong, including restoring Shenzhen's "one visa, multiple travel" individual travel visa and expanding the pilot cities for the "one week, one travel" individual travel visa policy. Relevant departments of the central government have stated that they will actively study and accelerate the promotion. Li Jiachao announced at the meeting that Hong Kong will completely cancel the requirement for passengers to submit arrival or departure declaration forms, making entry and exit more convenient. In addition, in terms of culture and tourism, the Policy Address also proposes to expand characteristic tourism products, including promoting yacht tourism; Actively promote panda tourism, horse racing tourism, etc. It is mentioned that the Hong Kong SAR Government's Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau will promote Sha Tau Kok cultural and ecological tourism route products; The Security Bureau will increase the daily travel limit of the Sha Tau Kok Open Plan to 3000 people within this year, and use facial recognition technology to allow residents and workers living and working on Chung Ying Street to try out a "seamless" way to enter and exit Chung Ying Street. It will also study the application of relevant technology to support the future tourism development of the open Chung Ying Street. Promoting the development of the Hetao Hong Kong Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park is located in the Hetao Cooperation Zone, which covers an area of approximately 3.89 square kilometers on both sides of the Shenzhen River. It is the most direct docking point for Shenzhen Hong Kong technology innovation cooperation, including the Shenzhen and Hong Kong parks. Li Jiachao revealed that the Hong Kong Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park Steering Committee, chaired by the Chief Executive, has been established to lead the government in formulating the overall strategy, plan, and layout deployment for the development of the Hong Kong park. The Development Outline of the Hong Kong Park of the Hetao Shenzhen Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone will be released within this year. The Hong Kong Industrial Park will be developed in two phases from west to east. We are currently speeding up and increasing production, doubling the total floor area of the first phase to 1 million square meters. The first three buildings will be completed gradually from the end of the year. The first batch of tenants from pillar industries such as life and health technology, artificial intelligence, and data science in the park will start moving in next year, and the remaining five buildings will be completed in the next five years. He stated that the SAR government is exploring with relevant national departments to implement convenient measures for innovation in the Hetao Shenzhen Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone, such as facilitating the transit of specific personnel between the Hong Kong and Shenzhen industrial parks; Utilizing unmanned low altitude transportation to facilitate cross-border flow of materials; Facilitating cross-border fund transfers for mainland enterprises settling in Hong Kong industrial parks. Reserve at least 80 hectares of land for the development of the North University Education City. In response to the highly anticipated development plan for northern Hong Kong, this Policy Address proposes that the northern metropolitan area is the new engine of Hong Kong's development, with approximately 60000 housing units to be completed in the area over the next five years and around 150000 units to be completed in the second five years. Li Jiachao said that the Hong Kong SAR government has reserved at least 80 hectares of land in Beidou to develop the Beidou University Education City, encouraging local tertiary institutions and well-known Chinese and foreign universities to explore more branded courses, research cooperation, and exchange projects through flexible and innovative models. Flexibility will also be reserved in the planning process to facilitate the development of student dormitories, and the development outline of the Beidu University Education City concept is planned to be announced in the first half of 2026. At the same time, the Greater Bay Area Youth Employment Plan will be optimized, with eligibility relaxed to those aged 29 or below and holding associate degrees or above. The upper limit of employment subsidies for enterprises will be raised to 12000 yuan per month, and two-way arrangements will be explored. Hong Kong announces the expansion of the Gaocai Tong plan. Li Jiachao introduced that the estimated shortage of manpower in various industries in Hong Kong in the next five years is about 180000 people. In order to establish a high-quality talent pool to support development, the SAR government will reform various mechanisms for importing talents, including updating the "talent list" and adding talents needed to promote the "eight major centers"; Expand the list of universities under the "High end Talent Pass Program" to include 13 top universities at home and abroad to 198, and extend the first visa period for high-income talents in the program from two years to three years; Optimize the 'General Employment Policy' and the 'Mainland Talent Import Scheme', and add new channels to attract young and experienced professionals in designated technical occupations with extremely scarce manpower to come to Hong Kong. The new arrangement will establish quotas; Establish a mechanism under the "Excellent Talent Entry Plan" to actively invite top talents to develop in Hong Kong and promote the gathering of international high-end talents in Hong Kong; Extend the trial arrangement for Hong Kong universities to include graduates from Greater Bay Area campuses in the "stay/return to Hong Kong employment arrangement" for a period of two years. Li Jiachao also announced that Hong Kong will launch a two-way civil servant exchange program with mainland cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Wuhan, and Hangzhou. (New Society)