Hong Kong’s top officials to take more day trips to Greater Bay Area to promote integration, John Lee says before visit to Guangzhou and Shenzhen
- Chief executive says such same-day missions will do away with need to assign acting officials while increasing efficiency
- He is also eyeing more overseas trips in coming months to raise competitiveness and develop business opportunities
Hong Kong’s top officials will conduct more frequent day trips to the Greater Bay Area to promote integration into national development, the city’s leader has said ahead of a visit to neighbouring Guangzhou and Shenzhen this week.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu on Tuesday added that such visits could save the need to assign acting officials, and a same-day return – made possible under a “one-hour living circle” vision by enhanced regional transport – could allow representatives to promote city developments with efficiency.
Lee is set to travel to Guangzhou and Shenzhen on Wednesday and Friday respectively to attend “Guangdong-Hong Kong Cooperation Week” events co-organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council.
“My senior officials and I will frequently travel between Hong Kong and mainland China on the same day from now on without the need to appoint other colleagues to acting positions in our absence,” he told reporters before the weekly meeting of the Executive Council, his key decision-making body.
Lee will head to Guangzhou on Wednesday morning for the opening of the SmartHK forum, which will focus on Hong Kong’s international network and innovative professional services.
He will then go to Shenzhen on Friday to kick off the “Chic Hong Kong” event that will showcase offerings from city enterprises in a bid to propel them into the domestic mainland market.
“We are committed to promoting Hong Kong’s advantages on the mainland and around the world, opening up opportunities for Hong Kong, and striving for our economy, for development as well as for competitiveness,” Lee said.
He added he was eyeing more visits to tap into the vast potential of the 86-million population of the bay area, an ambitious plan by Beijing to integrate Hong Kong, Macau and nine southern mainland cities into an economic powerhouse.