October 2020 / Hong Kong

While Hong Kong continues to undergo economic transformation and urbanisation, local agricultural activities have been on the decline. According to government estimates, agricultural land currently covers about 66 sq km, around 6% of Hong Kong’s total land area. In light of Hong Kong’s acute land shortage, one idea that has become popular in recent years is that of reforming traditional agriculture by revitalising industrial buildings to accommodate indoor urban farming. Farm66 Investment Ltd became the first indoor aquaponics farm in Hong Kong, devoting great efforts to researching new technologies for the development of urban farming. Its technologies and concepts have now attracted a number of overseas companies interested in co-operation. Gordon Tam, the founder of Farm66, talked to HKTDC Research about the difficulties encountered during the start-up process. He believes that, in order to boost the local scientific research ecosystem, Hong Kong should be updating its laws to keep pace with the development of innovation and technology.

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As Covid-19 continues to rampage around the world unchecked and the global economy goes into recession, the Chinese central government has put forward the “dual circulation” strategy to boost the country’s development. China will take the domestic market as the mainstay while letting internal and external markets boost each other. Against this backdrop, it is expected that expansion and upgrading of the mainland consumer market will be a major force driving the “dual circulation” model, with cross-border e-commerce (CBEC) retail imports serving as an important link connecting the domestic consumer market with the international supply chain. In early 2020 when the coronavirus swept through China, CBEC imports, providing mainland consumers with a fast, convenient and safe source of quality products from all over the world, were extremely popular. According to customs figures, from January to May 2020, the value of CBEC retail imports grew by 23% year on year.

In order to learn about post-pandemic opportunities in mainland CBEC retail imports, HKTDC Research talked recently with the Tmall Global Team. Tmall Global is a leading CBEC platform in China, featuring over 25,000 brands from 92 countries and regions. All these run B2C online stores on the platform selling goods to Chinese consumers. The company also runs a direct import supermarket called Tmall Global TDI Store. This store purchases imported goods directly from suppliers and sells them to mainland consumers in the form of B2B2C. The Tmall Global Team analysed the latest developments of China’s CBEC retail imports supply chain, explained how important it is for businesses to adapt to digitalised supply chains in the new retail era, and pointed out how small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can act as first movers in grasping opportunities in the mainland CBEC retail imports market.

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