作為中國為數不多的沿海省份，福建不僅擁有豐富的海洋、森林等自然資源，在中國與外界通商中也一直扮演著重要的角色。雖然福建與廣東同時在1979年被選為改革開放前沿，卻由於沒有完整工業體系、被珠三角與長三角擠壓、潛在戰爭因素等原因，經濟發展緩慢，被廣東遠遠拋在後面。

五年規劃是政府通過行政手段干預市場經濟、給市場經濟發展提供導向的重要手段。鑒於福建近年來的表現強差人意，省政府通過五年規劃等方式針對自身發展的薄弱環節制訂系列方針，力圖後來居上，盡快步入中國一線強省行列。與其他泛珠三角地區相比，福建在「十五」期間的表現可圈可點。根據目前省人均地區生產總值判斷，福建將在「十一五」期間面臨發展瓶頸，如何在人力、資源、環境制約的情況下保持目前發展步伐，將是福建面臨的重大考驗。

福建與香港地緣相近、人緣相親，香港居民中超過一成半有福建血統，兩地的經貿合作更是源遠流長。香港長期以來穩坐福建對外貿易與外資來源地的首座。2004年確定的閩港全面合作「八大平台」為兩地未來的合作指明方向。

雖然，近年來香港在內地經濟中起的作用有減弱的趨勢，不過就閩港合作而言，由於台灣關係的特殊局面、兩地相對的地理位置，以及香港在很多方面不可取代的區域優勢，香港的發展前景依然光明。

The Pan-Pearl River Delta Region and Hong Kong under the Eleventh Five-year Plan Research Series: IV. Fujian and Hong Kong

As one of the few coastal provinces in China, Fujian not only has abundant natural resources, but also has played an important role in China’s trade and affairs with the outside world. Fujian was selected along with Guangdong as the first testing ground for economic reforms in 1979, but has experienced far slower economic growth than its southern neighbour due to such factors as the lack of a developed industrial system to support massive production, as it is not part of either the Pearl River Delta (PRD) or the Yangzi River Delta regions, and the possibility of war breaking out in the Taiwan Strait.

In a market economy, all resources should be allocated by the market. However, the government sometimes has to intervene in economic activities so that the economy can develop along desired directions. To address the problems that have been hindering Fujian’s development, the local authorities have set up development goals through the Five-year Plans that the central government has launched since the early 1950s. Although Fujian’s performance in the Tenth Five-year Plan is far from the worst among the nine Pan-PRD provinces, it still has a long way to go to achieve its development goals. In the Eleventh Five-year Plan, Fujian will face bottlenecks to its development and will have to address the challenge of pursuing development in the face of constraints of manpower, resources, and the environment.

Over the years, Fujian and Hong Kong have developed a close relationship, as more than 15% of Hong Kong’s residents originate from that province. Economic activities have been carried out between the two regions for centuries, and Hong Kong has long been Fujian’s leading trade partner and source of foreign direct investment. In 2004, the authorities of both places established an Eight-Platform plan to provide guidelines for enhancing future cooperation.

In recent years, Hong Kong has been playing a less central role in the mainland’s economic development than it had in the past. But as far as Fujian-Hong Kong relations are concerned, Hong Kong still retains its irreplaceable advantage because of its strategic geographic position as a go-between Taiwan and the mainland. The prospect of development for Hong Kong remains propitious.