Collaborating for Science and Technology Under "One China, Two Systems"

Since Deng Xiaoping's implementation of the "One China, Two Systems" policy, mainland China and the other Chinese regions of Hong Kong and Macau have cooperated in various ways to work towards successfully developing China's overall economy and industries. Particularly, cooperation between Guangdong Province and adjoining Hong Kong have been contributing to China's development, and this study explores their industry conditions including their current two governments policies designed to promote collaboration. The two partners were in a cooperative relationship even before the handover of Hong Kong, beginning with a "front shop, back factory" model built on their respective comparative advantages in labor-intensive industries in the 1980s. This cooperation effectively propelled the Pearl River Delta Region's industrialization process and enabled Hong Kong to transform from a manufacturing industry-based economy to a service industry-based economy. From the early 2000s, Guangdong and Hong Kong diversified their collaboration project from culture to high-tech. Also, both authorities produced several types of policies not only to promote both industries but also to harmonize their two different economic levels and models. As a result, the Guangdong and Hong Kong economies have developed remarkably well during the past two decades and continue to form future plans that carry plenty of optimism. Nonetheless, this study showed discrepancies between engineers and scientists from the two areas in their perception of their technology and science cooperation. Hong Kong experts were more negative in their responses but noted some successes of the collaboration, while Guangdong's group showed overall positive responses. This difference results from an unbalanced role in cooperation. Hong Kong's side responds to cooperation plans and takes on leading roles with more frequency than Guangdong's side in actual cooperation project processes.