Victor Lo (R), Mandy Tam (C) and Fung Leung

Farming fish and growing vegetables are the common interests of Victor Lo, Fung Leung and Mandy Tam, who call themselves professional farmers. The three young people are graduates of Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Hong Kong Shue Yan University, respectively. They are also former classmates of a middle school in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

In 2014, the trio began their fish-vegetable symbiosis experiment at a rooftop farm in Hong Kong. Fish-vegetable symbiosis is the frontier technology of modern agricultural production, and it features a green, organic and ecological cycle, high yields and low-energy consumption.

The fish-vegetable symbiosis system can transform nutrient-rich water, produced by intensive fish farming, into nutrients that vegetables are able to absorb through a water-treatment system, and that can boost the growth of organic, hydroponic vegetables, says Leung.

The rooftop farm was no longer adequate for their research after they expanded their experiment. In 2016, they began looking for an agricultural base in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). After they visited several cities in Guangdong Province, they finally settled on Jiangmen, and they reached an agreement with Jiangmen Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Center, under the Jiangmen Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

The center agreed to provide financial and policy support to make it easier for them to start a business, and the center offered a 200 -square-meter greenhouse and various experimental equipment, for free, at Jiangmen Agricultural Science and Technology Park. The center also provided them with dorm rooms.

"Jiangmen is an agricultural city, with an advantageous geographical environment, advanced facilities and a complete agricultural-industry chain," Leung says.

Starting a business was not easy, and they encountered many difficulties. During their most difficult time, many of the locals, and some agricultural experts, gave them a lot of help.

After more than three years of persistent efforts, the fish-vegetable symbiosis experiment was finally declared a success. The team collected more than 5,100 sets of water-quality data, cultivated more than 220 varieties of vegetables, and obtained four national invention patents and three national utility model patents.

The team also established a fish-vegetable-symbiosis-production system, with independent intellectual property rights, and that production system has laid the scientific foundation for the domestic industrialization of fish-vegetable-symbiosis technology.

In 2019, they established an 8,000-square-meter smart greenhouse, with an annual output of 400 tons of vegetables. In November that year, the trio's team won the gold prize for their fish-vegetable-symbiosis project during a national youth innovation and entrepreneurship contest hosted by the Central Committee of the Communist Young League.

As a team, each has played an essential role; for example, Tam raises the fish, Lo grows the vegetables, and Leung designs and operates the water-circulation system.

The trio are at work.

To improve Hong Kong youth's understanding of GBA, the team has organized more than 4,300 youth from Hong Kong to visit agricultural bases and enterprises in Jiangmen during the past few years. In 2020, Guangdong's provincial government presented the Guangdong Youth May 4th Medal to the trio.

"The past few years have witnessed progress in the GBA. For example, with Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge open to traffic and the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link open to passengers, travelling between Hong Kong and Jiangmen has become more convenient," Tam says.

Lo says Guangdong's policies that benefit Hong Kong and Macao's young entrepreneurs are very powerful. "The GBA has brought us many opportunities. We have witnessed the development of the GBA, and the GBA has also witnessed our growth. We will continue to develop our business here. We also hope more young people will come to the GBA to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams," Lo says.

During the morning of July 1, more than 20 young entrepreneurs, including Lo, watched the live broadcast of the ceremony in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC). They watched the event at a startup incubation base in Guangzhou.

"As young people born in the 1990s, we are standing at a new starting point. We will participate in the nation's development, and we will witness the realization of the second Centenary Goal (of building a modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced and harmonious by 2049). We shoulder great responsibilities. As youth from Hong Kong who started a business in GBA, we feel honored and proud that we are pioneers in developing the GBA," Lo says.

Lo adds he is deeply impressed by the people-centered development concept of the CPC. "We have associated with many CPC members in Jiangmen during our process of starting a business. They have helped and served us wholeheartedly. I really appreciate them. China is becoming stronger and stronger under the leadership of the CPC. As youth from Hong Kong, we are proud of our motherland," he says.

A photo for trio

Photos Supplied by the Interviewees

(Women of China English Monthly September 2021 issue)