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  CEPA
 
  Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement >> >> Print Version
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Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA)

Further Liberalisation Measures under CEPA in 2006

Taking all phases of CEPA together, the Mainland has agreed to provide preferential treatment to Hong Kong service suppliers in 27 service areas -

  • accounting services
  • legal services
  • advertising services
  • logistics services
  • airport services
  • management consulting services
  • audio-visual service
  • medical and dental services
  • banking services
  •  patent agency services
  • cultural services
  • professional qualification examinations
  • convention and exhibition services 
  • real estate and construction services
  • distribution services
  • storage and warehousing services
  • freight forwarding agency services
  • securities and futures services
  • individually owned stores
  • telecommunications services
  • information technology services
  • tourism services
  • insurance services
  • trade mark agency services
  • job referral agency services
  • transport services (including road freight/passenger transportation services and maritime transport services)
  •  job intermediary services

The Mainland and Hong Kong have agreed on 27 June 2006 that there will be 15 liberalization measures under CEPA spreading across 10 areas, namely legal, construction, information technology, convention and exhibition, audiovisual, distribution, tourism, air transport, road transport, and individually owned stores. The major measures include -
    1. Legal service - to waive the requirement on the number of full-time lawyers employed by Mainland law firms that operate in association with Hong Kong law firms (offices); to waive the residency requirement for representatives stationed in representative offices of Hong Kong law firms (offices) in the Mainland; to allow Hong Kong residents qualified for practice in the Mainland to act as agents in matrimonial and succession cases relating to Hong Kong; to allow Hong Kong barristers to act as agents in civil litigation cases in the Mainland in the capacity of citizens; and to allow Hong Kong residents who have acquired Mainland lawyer qualifications or legal professional qualifications to undergo internship in a branch office of a Mainland law firm set up in Hong Kong.

    2. Construction - to allow Hong Kong service suppliers to set up wholly-owned construction engineering cost consulting enterprises in the Mainland; and for these enterprises, the performance of the enterprise in both Hong Kong and the Mainland is taken into account in assessing their qualification in the Mainland.

    3. Tourism - to allow Hong Kong travel agents set up on a wholly-owned or joint venture basis in Guangdong Province to apply for operating group tours to Hong Kong and Macao for residents of Guangdong Province on a pilot basis.

    4. Air Transport - to allow Hong Kong air transport sales agencies to set up wholly-owned air transport sales agencies in the Mainland. The registered capital requirement will be the same as that for Mainland enterprises.

All the liberalization measures will take effect starting from 1 January 2007, and the Mainland will work out and promulgate the necessary implementation rules and regulations as appropriate.


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Last revision date: 03 July 2006