Borrowing Hong Kong’s international standards: A steppingstone for the Chinese “Belt and Road” going out?

When the Chinese government proposed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2015, Hong Kong was positioned as a “super-connector” responsible for bridging the mainland and global markets and was planned to integrate into the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macau Greater Bay Area. The objective of this article is to analyze the Chinese designs to promote its BRI collaboration through Hong Kong to enhance foreign confidence and ensure that the related institutional transplantation is sustainable in other countries and that it is on par with international standards. However, the rise of neighboring cities and the changing Sino–American relationship in recent years has provided uncertainties for the future development of Hong Kong. Due to these factors, this article argues that Hong Kong may not effectively share the functions in the BRI planning designed by the Chinese authorities. Because Hong Kong’s role and how it influences the policy outcomes within the BRI framework have not been thoroughly studied, this article will supplement the current literature vacuum on this specific issue and its future development.