Guangzhou is seeking closer ties with Hong Kong for the intermediary service industry development.

"Intermediary service industry will be a focal part of Guangzhou's strategy to accelerate the development of its tertiary industry in the coming five years," said Sun Lei, deputy director of Guangzhou Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Bureau, at a seminar in Guangzhou.

"More frequent idea exchanges and closer cooperations in the field will definitely boost the development of the city's intermediary service industry and will be win-win for both Guangzhou and Hong Kong," he said.

"Guangzhou will be able to benefit from Hong Kong's professional service and management experience, while Hong Kong will get access to many more business opportunities in Guangzhou," he noted.

Official statistics indicate that Guangzhou has 743 foreign-funded intermediary institutions, 404 of which, or 54 percent, are Hong Kong-invested ones.

He said that the intermediary services in the fields of legal affairs, accounting, management consultations, ad, design, market research, housing agency, trading platform and car service have much potential for development in Guangzhou.

And the fourth amendment of CEPA, to be effective from January 1, 2008, will make it possible for intermediary institutions and professionals in Hong Kong to involve more in the intermediary services in Guangzhou.

The amendment covers 38 different sectors and will allow Hong Kong service providers to operate more diversified service agencies in varied forms in Guangdong Province.

Several representatives from Hong Kong's service industry suggested that Guangzhou should step up efforts to secure qualified professionals and to improving related trainings programs in order to keep the development of the intermediary service industry on track.

"The most important essence of the intermediary service industry boils down to good human resources," they said.

Reliable sources say that Hong Kong investors have turned more to modern service industry than manufacturing industry since 2004 when the CEPA was implemented.

About half of the projects Hong Kong business people have invested in the past couple of years are related to the tertiary industry. (By Zhan Lisheng)