Shenzhen should make better use of its existing high-tech industrial park to increase cooperation in science and technology with Hong Kong, the deputy director of PKU-HKUST Shenzhen-Hong Kong Institution has said.

"The formation of an innovation circle covering Hong Kong and Shenzhen can be started at the institution level," Zhang Keke, who is also a member to the municipal committee of the CPPCC, told the Shenzhen Daily yesterday.

The concept of the two-city innovation circle was raised by the Shenzhen government and scholars last year and reiterated by Mayor Xu Zongheng during the NPC meeting in Beijing, which ended Feb. 27.

While universities in Hong Kong are building closer ties with institutions of higher education and research in Shenzhen, the municipal government needs to take more initiative to stimulate and facilitate joint science and technology research efforts, Zhang said.

To give an example, Zhang said a group consisting of Shenzhen institutions and led by a specific government body, such as the industry and commerce bureau, could be established to oversee liaison, coordination and cooperation with similar institutions and government agencies in Hong Kong.

He urged the government to review its policies restricting the flow of scholars and research equipment between the two cities. "So far, executives of large companies have the privilege in obtaining Hong Kong visa due to their high export volume, but professors have no such rights," he criticized.

Editor: Yan