The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, today (November 3) began his visit programme in Beijing. He visited the Beijing Municipal Administrative Center and met with officials of Beijing.
Mr Lee headed to the Beijing Municipal Administrative Center in the afternoon, where he visited the Beijing Library, one of the three major cultural facilities of the Center, and the planning exhibition hall located at the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee building. Through a sand table model, he learned about the overall planning, development, and the construction of cultural facilities in the Center.
Mr Lee said that the Beijing Municipal Administrative Center is one of Beijing's new "two wings" in the co-ordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. This plan promotes higher-quality development and demonstrates the country's forward-looking and systemic deployment. Hong Kong is going full steam ahead with the development of the Northern Metropolis (NM), which is a key new engine for Hong Kong's future development. It has four major development objectives, namely university town, technology, industry, and environment suitable for living, work, and travel. The Center's experience in areas including overall planning and development, supporting infrastructure, and the layout of public service facilities offers valuable insights for Hong Kong in further promoting the development of the NM.
Mr Lee then met with the Secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee, Mr Yin Li, and the Mayor of Beijing, Mr Yin Yong, to exchange views on deepening Hong Kong's co-operation with Beijing. The Executive Deputy Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, Mr Xu Qifang, also attended. Mr Lee said that Beijing, as the country's capital, is the national centre for politics, culture, international exchanges, and technological innovation. Hong Kong enjoys the unique advantage of connecting the Mainland and the world under the "one country, two systems" principle, and is Beijing's largest source of external investment. The two places have always maintained close co-operation. Over the years, Hong Kong and Beijing have strengthened exchanges and collaboration through the Hong Kong/Beijing Co-operation Conference mechanism. The Beijing Hong Kong Economic Cooperation Symposium, held alternately in the two places every year, is a platform for deepening bilateral economic and trade co-operation and promoting high-level mutual benefits. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government announced Hong Kong's First Five-Year Plan in September to proactively align with the National 15th Five-Year Plan and deepen regional co-operation with the Mainland. He looked forward to Hong Kong and Beijing continuing to complement each other's strengths, working together to strengthen collaboration, and promoting higher-level co-operation to jointly contribute to the country's high-quality development.
Mr Lee said that the HKSAR Government is vigorously advancing the building of the "four centres and one hub", and is actively deepening the work of the Task Force on Supporting Mainland Enterprises in Going Global and extending the Cross-sectoral Professional Services Platform to serve Mainland enterprises going global and attract international capital to Hong Kong. He welcomed more Mainland enterprises, including those from Beijing, to make use of Hong Kong's international professional capabilities, highly open capital market, and its roles as a "super connector" and "super value-adder" to flexibly meet the needs of their target markets and jointly explore more new business opportunities. In addition, building on the good foundation of youth exchanges between Beijing and Hong Kong, the HKSAR Government will continue to expand youth development work between the two places, supporting young people in seizing the opportunities of the country's development and better integrating into and serving the overall national development.
Mr Lee will attend the opening ceremony of the 29th Beijing Hong Kong Economic Cooperation Symposium and deliver a speech tomorrow (November 4), and will then depart for Shanghai.
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