Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Non-Fiction 2020complete | Page 89

with local cohorts. These young people will not only be observing the world’s fastest emerging superpower
up-close, they can also serve as seedlings in an ever-growing greenhouse of ideas, a sphere containing
blossoming intellectual exchange that will fertilise China’s next generation of big ideas.
However, all of that intellectual discourse would not be as valuable if it did not materialize in different areas
of society. To meet the burgeoning demand for dissemination of information, many state-of-the-art
lecture halls and libraries would have to be built, which could be a steady stream of modern facilities being
erected, such as the futuristic Shenzhen Library which boasts more than 2 million books and 1 million
online reading materials. Sharing a complex with the neighbouring Shenzhen Concert Hall, its sheer size
and proximity to residential areas makes it a bustling cultural hub. In addition, in order to showcase their
ideas to the public, more exhibition centres will be constructed in the future. A prominent example of this is
the Guangzhou International Convention & Exhibition Center, which provides world-class exhibition
infrastructure for a myriad of activities, including technology exhibits and artificial intelligence summits.
Another area where expertise shines is in robotics: Shenzhen hosts a Robomaster competition annually, a
tournament which attracts talent from across the globe to compete in a variety of engaging battles, with job
opportunities at DJI — the sponsor of the championship, and the largest drone manufacturer in the
world — as the top prize. Not only does this provide learning opportunities for many youngsters, the
enhanced level of public awareness forms yet another virtuous cycle of discourse when more people are
cognizant of the latest breakthroughs in different walks of life.
To fully utilize the advantageous geography of the Area and to add on to its growing human capital,
cutting-edge infrastructure would be necessary to act as a catalyst for economic growth. The poster boy of
China’s economic boom, the Chinese high-speed rail system, is already at the forefront of the world: China
now owns more high-speed rail than any other country, and with the opening of the Hong Kong Express
Rail Link, which pledges trips from the West Kowloon station to the Shenzhen Futian station in less than
fifteen minutes, the creation of a "one-hour sphere of living" is already approaching reality. When a scale
model of a train capable of travelling at 1000 km/h was unveiled at the National Mass Innovation and
Entrepreneurship Week turned heads, it is no longer ludicrous to imagine a world where due to higher
levels of education, the perception of convenience could be redefined. On a shorter time frame, as the
Shenzhen-Zhongnan Bridge edges closer to completion in 2024, the two cities will be connected by trips
less than 30 minutes, a stark departure from now which requires around three hours to cross the bay. This is
accompanied by the recent culmination of the Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport: often compared to
the venerable Hong Kong International Airport and Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, the hub offers
ferry trips to its Hong Kong counterpart where passengers do not need to pass through immigration,
alongside a fourth terminal that could meet demand up to 2045. Although greater caution should be
exercised before construction — the Guangzhou Baiyun expansion of a new runway is seen to be in direct
competition with the Foshan airport — competition will still inevitably provide users with better facilities,
better hospitality and better quality as a whole.
Secondly, business and technology will also thrive in the foreseeable future. Combined with the rising
education levels and the proliferation of infrastructure, other factors will also contribute to the region’s
rise. The most documented one would certainly be Hong Kong, with its laissez-faire economic market
which is consistently one of the most open in the world. As one of the most highly regarded financial
centres in the world, Hong Kong could strengthen its status as an offshore Renminbi business hub, or
provide trading services for mainland conglomerates such as Tencent due to its independent financial system
and its high credibility. In addition, Hong Kong’s medical system is also heralded as one of the leaders in the
industry, and the expertise is already being cross-pollinated to other cities: from 2012 to 2017, a University
of Hong Kong-backed hospital in Shenzhen has assisted more than 4 million patients, introducing
sophisticated technology such as cutting-edge anaesthesia that enables liver transplants along the way.
This progress is in direct refutation to the criticism that some opponents might bring up: they believe that
further integration would be detrimental to the Region’s autonomy, which is stipulated in the city’s miniconstitution,
the Basic Law. It is critical to note that Hong Kong’s success as an entrepot and a free trading