Paul Chan, financial secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government, speaks at a signing ceremony of a document on amending the service trade agreement under the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) in Hong Kong, south China, Oct. 9, 2024. The Chinese mainland and the HKSAR have agreed to build closer ties in services trade, China's Ministry of Commerce said Wednesday. (Information Services Department of the Government of the HKSAR/Handout via Xinhua) 

The Chinese mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) have agreed to build closer ties in services trade, China's Ministry of Commerce said Wednesday.

Li Yongsha, an official with the ministry, and Paul Chan, financial secretary of the HKSAR government, signed a document on amending the service trade agreement under the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) in Hong Kong on Wednesday.

The agreement will take effect from the date of signing and will be officially implemented as of March 1, 2025.

According to the amendment, thresholds of market access for Hong Kong service providers in fields including finance, telecommunications, architecture and tourism, will be further lowered or removed.

Signed between the mainland and Hong Kong in 2003, the CEPA has significantly facilitated trade liberalization in both goods and services.

The amendment is an important measure to improve the mechanism for Hong Kong to play a better role in China's opening-up, said the ministry, adding that it is the second time the CEPA service trade agreement has been amended, the first time being in 2019. ■ 

Paul Chan (C), financial secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government, speaks to media after signing a document on amending the service trade agreement under the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) in Hong Kong, south China, Oct. 9, 2024. The Chinese mainland and the HKSAR have agreed to build closer ties in services trade, China's Ministry of Commerce said Wednesday. (Information Services Department of the Government of the HKSAR/Handout via Xinhua)