Focus on economy not politics, Chinese vice-president tells Hong Kong business leaders

Chinese Vice-President Li Yuanchao said on Tuesday that Hong Kong had an irreplaceable role to play in national development, urging the city to divert energy from political controversies to economic issues.

In a meeting with a delegation of Hong Kong businessmen in Beijing, Li said the most outstanding and important problem facing the city was how to speed up its development.

He was later quoted as saying that the city needed to transform and innovate, as it had spent a lot of energy on political issues recently and this might have shaken people’s confidence in Hong Kong’s ruling principle of “one country, two systems”.

“The central government is very concerned about Hong Kong’s development,” Li said, adding that Hong Kong had an “irreplaceable status and function” in the 2016-20 national development plan, as well as the “Belt and Road Initiative” and the Greater Bay Area plan for Hong Kong, Macau and nine cities in Guangdong.

“I hope different sectors in Hong Kong can grasp the valuable opportunities and tie in Hong Kong’s strengths with the needs of the country,” Li said as he hoped the city could take a seat in the “express train” of national and regional development .

Li also said that the “one country, two systems” principle was “widely recognised as a success in the international community”, describing it as the best system to ensure the city’s long-term prosperity and stability.