The 2015 China Urban Competitiveness Ranking was officially released at a ceremony in Hong Kong on Wednesday. The chart has been released here for 14 years in a row, but Hong Kong is no longer the leading city in terms of competitiveness. This year Shanghai and Hong Kong remain in first and second places on the competitiveness chart as they were for the previous two years, but Shenzhen has overtaken Beijing to finish in third place. On the Growing Competitiveness chart, meanwhile, Shenzhen has regained the top position from Tianjin, while Hong Kong is at a distant 15th.

Shenzhen owes its success largely to nurturing innovation, which is now a leading benchmark for growth potential and competitiveness. It is much younger than Hong Kong and still has a lot to learn and improve in terms of comprehensive development, but it is undoubtedly catching up fast. Hong Kong was on top of this competitiveness chart for 11 years but has relinquished the coveted position to Shanghai for what is now three years in a row. Now Shenzhen is in third place. Little wonder many observers believe it is only a matter of time before the neighboring boomtown nudges our city further down the chart.

Hong Kong has everything necessary to regain the No 1 spot. It has been the envy of most if not all large cities in the country for decades, but these cities have been progressing in recent years whereas Hong Kong finds itself struggling to move forward at a much slower pace. Admittedly it is not the SAR government's fault for the most part. Hong Kong society as a whole needs to know it can turn the situation around. The question is how?

The biggest obstacle in Hong Kong's way is efforts by forces both inside and outside the city to hold back - if not completely derail - its advancement. The recent controversy over the co-location of immigration and customs facilities for the much-needed Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link is but one example of how the opposition camp is trying to hamper the city's progress. And through filibuster ploys, they interrupt the normal operation of the legislature, which appropriates funds for infrastructure projects and provides a legal framework for policies supposed to propel the SAR forward. Aborting the legislature's assembly on Wednesday was the latest example.

The competitiveness survey was another wake-up call for Hong Kong people to do more if they want their city to regain its former dynamism.

(HK Edition 12/10/2015 page10)