The megaproject, featuring the city’s new innovation hub located in the northern New Territories, grabbed headlines again last month after a five-day visit by Beijing’s top official on Hong Kong affairs and subtle bargaining by the city’s major developers.
The 30,000-hectare (74,132-acre) development is not only a new engine to drive the city’s economy, but repeated calls from the central government to speed up the project also indicate it has become a testing ground for the administration to demonstrate its ability to govern, a political commentator has said.
“In the face of a volatile geopolitical environment and the city’s economic downturn, Hong Kong has to find its new economic impetus,” said Professor Lau Siu-kai, a consultant with Beijing’s semi-official think tank, the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies.
“[The project] can help Hong Kong expedite its economic transformation and upgrade and develop new industries so that Hong Kong has a better foundation for achieving sustainable economic growth.
“From Beijing’s perspective, it is a testing ground for the administration’s governing capability.”
