Overview
- Hong Kong is a regional design centre providing a rich source of innovative products and design talents.
- Hong Kong is a window to the world of the trends and styles of Asia, making it a great city to institute a well-established design community.
- Hong Kong is at the crossroads of Asia, and is a key gateway to the Chinese mainland. Meanwhile, Hong Kong's design industry is increasingly export-oriented.
- The Create Hong Kong Office has subsumed the DesignSmart Initiative within CreateSmart Initiative since June 2011 to ensure resources are used in a more co-ordinated manner.
- Under Supplement VII to CEPA, a new sector named “Specialty Design” is added, with the corresponding CEPA provision stating that Hong Kong Service Supplier (HKSS) can set up wholly owned enterprises on the mainland to provide specialty design services, effective from January 2011.
Range of Services
The design industry in Hong Kong encompasses a broad range of disciplines: product design, graphics design, interior design and fashion design. In recent years, design management has been taking shape as a new discipline in Hong Kong. Design management deals with the management of projects with a high content of design. Design management can be widely applied to projects related to fashion, product, graphics and interior design, though more applications are found in interior and product design whereby designers oversee the entire process from conceptualisation to production. In addition to their core services, some Hong Kong design firms also provide other design services including shop front design, advertising and promotion design.
According to a report released by Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC) in March 2011, the number of employment in design services reached 15,920 in 2009, up 22% compared to 2006.
Service Providers
Most of Hong Kong’s design service providers are engaged in the multimedia, visual and graphic design sector (35% of share), followed by the interior and furniture design sector (32%) and the industry design sector (11%), according to the HKDC report.
Hong Kong's design practitioners are organised into various professional associations, including the Chartered Society of Designers (CSD), the Hong Kong Designers Association (HKDA), the Interior Design Association (IDA) and the Hong Kong Fashion Designers Association (HKFDA).
HKDC is an establishment with the joint efforts of the four associations (HKDA, CSD, IDA and HKFDA). It aims at promoting design as a value-adding activity, and raising Hong Kong's image as an innovation and creative hub. As a major contributor to the development of the InnoCentre, HKDC organises an annual event called "Business of Design Week" (BODW). BODW, a week-long event with conferences, forums, award presentations, exhibitions and outreach programme, is now the largest annual design event in Asia and one of the leading design events in the world. BODW 2010, held with Japan as the partner country, attracted over 50,000 visitors, including business executives, designers, manufactures and students. With the success of BODW 2010, HKDC has secured Germany as the BODW partner country in 2011.
Exports
Many Hong Kong designers are exporting their services. Export content varied among different design industries, and the Chinese mainland is the biggest export market for Hong Kong's design services. Hong Kong designers have been paying increasing attention to the mainland market.
While many Chinese mainland enterprises are expanding, some of them are seeking services from Hong Kong design firms for re-designing their brands with the aim of better catering to the international market. They believe that Hong Kong design firms can bring in an international perspective, and the fees are more reasonable than hiring foreign design firms.
Industry Development and Market Outlook
The demand for Hong Kong's high-end design services is rising in light of a more flourishing China market. Many international companies, large and small, rely on Hong Kong designers to tailor products for the Chinese mainland and Asian markets. Hong Kong designers can satisfy the demand for quality-assured creative services, which match international standards and at the same time, take into consideration Chinese tradition and design.
On the other hand, many of Hong Kong's light industrial products, such as toys, electronics and garments, are highly favoured in the international market. Hong Kong designers have participated in these industries for a long time and they maintain close working relationship with overseas companies. They understand fully the demands of overseas markets and therefore can capitalise on their international vision in designing products, and assisting the Hong Kong companies to advance from Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) to Original Design Manufacturers (ODM) and/or Original Brand Manufacturers (OBM).
With the affluent China market growing more sophisticated, more and more mainland enterprises are keen to stay ahead of the game in the local market while making inroads into the world market. Renowned as a stylish cosmopolitan and design hub in Asia, Hong Kong has always been a forerunner which mainland enterprises look up to their excellence in design, branding, and marketing.
Hong Kong’s design services sector is expected to be further strengthened in light of various related government measures and the city’s enhancement in cultural and creative development.
The Hong Kong government's "Create Hong Kong Office" (CreateHK) was set up in June 2009 to drive the development of Hong Kong's creative sector. The role of CreateHK includes administrating and managing three funding schemes, namely the CreateSmart Initiative, DesignSmart Initiative, and Film Development Fund. To rationalise funding arrangements and enable resources to be used in a more co-ordinated manner, CreateHK has subsumed the DesignSmart Initiative within the CreateSmart Initiative since June 2011. In order words, funding request for design-related initiatives will be considered under the CreateSmart Initiative under the new arrangement.
The "DesignSmart Initiative" scheme comprised the Design Support Programme (DSP) and InnoCentre. The Design Support Programme finances projects in four categories: promoting and honouring design excellence, design research, design/business collaboration, and design professional continuing education. As at end-2010, there had been 530 applications for funding under the DSP, among which 365 projects were approved, with total funding amounting to around HKD162 million. The InnoCentre, a one-stop shop for designer clusters, had admitted over 70 incubatees as at end-2010.
Furthermore, the West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD) Development Project, aiming to turn the 40-hectare waterfront site situated in the southern tip of West Kowloon into an integrated art, cultural and entertainment district, will enhance the development of art and culture in Hong Kong. WKCD is expected to become an arts hub with 17 venues including an opera house, offering good platforms for all the designers.
According to the 2009-2010 Policy Address, the Hong Kong government announced developmental framework of Six Industries, which include the cultural and creative industries. In the 2010-2011 Policy Address, the government promised to support artists and arts groups under the Arts and Sports Development Fund, into which over HK$3 billion has been injected. Continued support from the government to the design industry is expected, including the funding schemes aforementioned and revitalisation of decommissioned factory buildings.
For instance, the Hong Kong government has turned a decommissioned factory estate in Shek Kip Mei into the Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre, where there are art galleries, a black-box theatre and other communal facilities, to provide a more enabling environment for Hong Kong designers. The Creative Arts Centre was opened in September 2008 and is providing 150 artists and art groups with workspace to practise and showcase their works.
Since January 2006, the Chinese mainland has implemented zero tariff policy on imported goods from Hong Kong according to CEPA. As of June 2011, 1,630 types of products were on the list of zero-tariff policy. Complying with the CEPA origin rules (ROO), Hong Kong manufacturers can apply for zero-treatment on their goods exported to the Chinese mainland. This policy can boost demand for high value-added processes, such as product design in the city.
Specialty design under CEPA
Consistent with the general thrust of developing Hong Kong’s creative industries in the course of promoting the six new industries, Supplement VII also consists of many liberalisation measures concerning the creative industries. In particular, a new sector named “Specialty Design” is added, with the corresponding CEPA provision stating that HKSS can set up wholly owned enterprises on the mainland to provide specialty design services. The service liberalisation has come into effect since 1 January, 2011.
Under the United Nations Central Product Classification (CPC), specialty design services refer to interior design as well as the aesthetic design of products and complete design of products which do not require complex engineering (e.g. furniture). China made no specific commitments under its WTO accession protocol to include specialty design services, and the Supplement VII measure is therefore beyond China’s WTO commitments.
