Beijing’s top man for Hong Kong ‘says central authorities confident in West Kowloon arts hub’s ability to drive growth’
- District board chairman Henry Tang reveals Xia Baolong, head of Beijing’s top office overseeing local affairs, made the assurance during duty visit to the capital by executives
- Xia believes Hong Kong has ‘excellent growth potential’ as an international metropolis, according to the arts hub
Central authorities have “full confidence” in the ability of Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District to drive growth in creative industries, the head of Beijing’s top office overseeing local affairs has said, according to the chairman of the arts hub’s board.
Henry Tang Ying-yen on Thursday revealed that Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council, made the assurance during a duty visit to the capital by executives of the district two days earlier.
“Given that arts and culture, and creative industries are one of the important pillars of Hong Kong’s future economic development, Director Xia hopes that [the] West Kowloon Cultural District will drive the growth of the relevant industries in Hong Kong,” Tang said.
“The central government has full confidence in this and is pleased to see it come to fruition.”
The arts hub said Xia believed that Hong Kong had “excellent growth potential” as an international metropolis, adding that developing cultural and creative industries aligned with the city’s situation and development trends.