On December 9, the Third Postal Summit of Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong and Macao was held via video link in Beijing, Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR. Exchanges and discussions were carried out about the measures taken by the mainland, Hong Kong and Macao postal operators in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and their respective development, the implementation of the guidelines on postal development in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (the Greater Bay Area), the key issues of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) Congress and so on. Mr. Ma Junsheng, Director General of the State Post Bureau, Mr. Liu Aili, Chairman of China Post Group Corporation Limited, Ms. Cathy Chu Man-ling, Postmaster General of Hong Kong SAR, and Ms. Lau Wai Meng, Director of Macao Post and Telecommunications Bureau (CTT), attended the conference and made speeches. Mr. Zhao Min, Deputy Director of the State Post Bureau, presided over the conference.

Mr. Ma pointed out that the year 2020 is a highly extraordinary and challenging year. Thanks to its significant contributions to the balanced approach China has adopted to epidemic containment and economic and social development in the fight against COVID-19, the postal sector is praised by all walks of life as the “lifeline during the epidemic” and the “ferryman who maintains the normal operation of the cities”. Chinese mainland, Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR have, as always, worked closely together in spite of the epidemic. In particular, the 11 cities in the Greater Bay Area have accelerated their integrated development, thereby an international first-class bay area is taking shape.

For the upcoming postal development in Chinese mainland, Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR, Mr. Ma hopes that all parties should integrate the thoughts and actions into the major policies and decisions of the central government, and strive to foster the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area into a new engine to drive the high-quality development of the postal sector in the whole country. All parties should be pragmatic, strengthen foundation, promote cooperation and boost opening up and exchanges, so as to ensure the accomplishment of tasks and effective implementation of the measures under the cooperation mechanism of the three postal operators. All parties should be innovative, targeting the global science frontiers, pushing forward the deep integration of new technology with postal services, exploring the establishment of strategic alliances for technological innovation, and accelerating the digital transformation of the industry. All parties should broaden their horizons and strive to integrate into the overall situation of the country’s opening up and the process of economic globalization. They should strengthen the cooperation between postal operators of Chinese mainland and Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR under the framework of the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), and better transfer their experience to the practice of other free trade pilot zones, to the participation in the Belt and Road Initiative, and to the implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and other multilateral and bilateral agreements, thus making greater contributions to the new development paradigm of the country.

Mr. Liu Aili said that China Post has long been deepening practical cooperation with Hongkong Post and CTT, and playing a positive role together in serving the country, the market and people’s livelihood. Next, China Post, Hongkong Post and CTT will work closer together to improve the postal logistics system for the new development paradigm, develop postal service platforms for the supply of the public services, increase financial supply for the development of the Greater Bay Area, deepen cooperation in philately for the flourishing of the philatelic and cultural market, and strengthen anti-epidemic cooperation for the smooth flow of the postal channels.

Ms. Chu expressed the hope that the postal sector in Chinese mainland, Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR should develop rapidly and become the new engine to drive the high-quality development of the postal services nationwide. The development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is conducive to the development of postal, warehousing and logistics services in Hong Kong SAR. Hongkong Post will take its geographical and customs clearance advantages to serve the national strategy. She anticipated more cooperation among the three regions so as to deepen exchanges and achieve mutual complementarity and common development.

Ms. Lau Wai Meng said that during the epidemic CTT persisted in operation to serve the public and the delivery of the anti-epidemic fund checks provided by the government, and didn’t cut off the international mail routes thanks to the support of the State Post Bureau and China Post. In the next step, CTT will strive to support the cooperation of the three regions, fully leveraging the land transport infrastructure resources of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge to enhance transportation capacity, issuing stamps jointly with Chinese mainland to tell the story of “one country, two systems”.

After full consultations and discussions, Wen Shaoqi, Vice President of China Post Group, declared that the summit had reached four consensuses. The first is to adhere to the policy of "one country, two systems", deepen the postal summit mechanism between Chinese mainland and Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR, carry out cultural exchanges and cooperation, strengthen youth exchanges, and jointly promote the harmonious development of the postal sector. The second is to boost the complementary advantages of Chinese mainland, Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR, work together to promote the high-quality development of the postal sector in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and establish a special working group to strengthen coordinated planning and project cooperation. The third is to strengthen cooperation in the prevention and control of COVID-19, and make greater efforts in information sharing, policy communication and action coordination between China Post and Hongkong Post, CTT as well as other stakeholders. The fourth is to strengthen communication and coordination, participate actively in the affairs of the UPU and regional postal organizations so as to smoothly carry out negotiations on major issues, formulation and revision of standards, and other relevant work.