Shenzhen and Hong Kong can come closer by sharing resources, cooperating in education and creating infrastructure that promote exchanges between the two places, Shenzhen Deputy Mayor Liu Yingli said yesterday.

Speaking at a seminar on setting up a Shenzhen-Hong Kong innovation zone in Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Liu said the central government, too, supported closer collaboration between the two cities.

As neighbors, they can have deeper cooperation and share resources.

He said Shenzhen could learn from Hong Kong and serve the people of the SAR through cooperation.

Universities in Hong Kong had good research facilities, and their teaching staff were well qualified and could contribute to the development of the region, he said. "Some teaching staff in Hong Kong institutions have worked overseas. They are highly qualified."

But Shenzhen, too, had good human resources for development, he said.

Because of the country's reforms and opening-up policy, the city has attracted from other mainland cities many talents in business, academics and science and technology.

The two cities could cooperate on the education front, too, Liu said. They could mutually recognize study credits gained in their institutions and have professors of the two cities working on the same thesis.

Many Hong Kong universities had set up research institutes in Shenzhen. HKUST, Peking University and the Shenzhen government had jointly established an institute for industry, research and education in Shenzhen in 1999. Hong Kong Polytechnic University, too, had spent HK$60 million to set up a research centre on Chinese medicine, and would later spend HK$70 million on another research centre.

Infrastructure projects could also help promote exchanges between the two cities, Liu said. He cited as an example the completion of Shenzhen-Hong Kong Western Corridor, which will have a one-stop Customs and immigration clearance.

Chief Executive Donald Tsang, in his October policy address, had said that the two places should collaborate more in various areas.

Liu said the economy of Hong Kong had recovered from the Asian financial crisis, with the International Monetary Fund expecting economic growth for this year to reach 5.5 percent.

Liu conceded though that Shenzhen's development faced some problems that needed to be tackled. The city relied heavily on the information technology industry. It was also exhausting its natural resources.

For example, Shenzhen had 765 square kilometers for development, but 500 square meters of that have already been used.

(China Daily HK edition February 20, 2006)