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A telephone survey was conducted from 24 to 27 May 2016 by the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong to gauge public views on the Belt and Road Initiative in Hong Kong. 712 respondents aged 18 or above were successfully interviewed, with a response rate of 38.7%. The sampling error is + or – 3.67 percentage points at a confidence level of 95%. 

Major findings are summarized as follows: 

The respondents were asked whether they had heard about the Belt and Road Initiative. The vast majority (91.6%) of the respondents had heard about it, while only 7.0% said that they had not. Over two fifths (44.1%) of the respondents expected that the Belt and Road Initiative would have net benefits to the Hong Kong economy, while 10.7% expected that there would be more harm than good. Another 29.5% expected that the effect would be small. For the economic benefit to the respondents and their families, about two-third (67.0%) of the respondents expected little effect, 15.4% foresaw some net benefits, while 7.3% foresaw some net losses. 

Regarding the involvement of the Hong Kong government, only about one-third (31.0%) of the respondents supported the government to allocate more resources for projects related to the Belt and Road Initiative, another one-third (35.3%) did not support the government to do so, while 26.7% said “in-between”. When asked whether the respondents agreed that the Hong Kong government should give a higher priority to projects related to the Belt and Road Initiative, nearly half (47.9%) of them said that the government should not give them a higher priority, only 15.7% said the government should, and another 29.4% said “in-between”. 

Respondents were also asked whether they agreed that if Hong Kong involves in the “Belt and Road Initiative”, the connecting role of Hong Kong between China and the Belt and Road countries and regions can be strengthened. About two-fifth (39.9%) agreed to this statement, 25.0% disagreed and 27.7% said “in-between”. Concerning who can benefit most in the involvement in the Belt and Road Initiative, about three-fifth (60.6%) agreed that the Initiative would mostly benefit businessmen and professionals rather than the general public. 15.1% disagreed to this, and another 14.8% said “in-between”. 

When asked whether Hong Kong people should go out and visit the Belt and Road countries and regions for various activities, 53.4%, 47.9%, 39.5% and 31.9% agreed that Hong Kong people should go there for travelling, doing business, studying or having internship, and staying for employment respectively. Conversely, 64.5%, 57.1%, 37.3% and 24.2% of respondents agreed to welcome more people from the Belt and Road countries and regions to come to Hong Kong for travelling, doing business, studying or having internship, and staying for employment respectively.