Top Beijing official overseeing Hong Kong affairs to start 7-day trip to city on Thursday to gauge views on economic development, district governance
- Xia Baolong will visit nerve centre of Hong Kong airport on Thursday morning as the first stop of his seven-day trip
- Government source says Article 23 national security legislation remains a key topic that Xia wants to get feedback on
Beijing’s top official overseeing Hong Kong affairs will begin a visit to the city on Thursday to gauge views on economic development and district governance, the government has confirmed, with sources saying a proposed security law is a key item on the agenda.
Government insiders said Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO), would visit the nerve centre of the city’s airport on Thursday morning as the first stop of his seven-day trip, before being briefed by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu and his cabinet on developments in the financial hub.
Lee extended his welcome to Xia for his second inspection in a year.
“Mr Lee also expressed gratitude to the central government for its care and concern for Hong Kong,” a government statement said on Wednesday.
It did not provide a detailed agenda of Xia’s visit, saying only that preparation work to ensure a smooth trip was under way.
The Post reported exclusively on Tuesday that the senior mainland Chinese official would visit Hong Kong to solicit views on the economic situation locally, residents’ livelihoods and proposed home-grown national security legislation, known as Article 23 of the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution.
A government source said on Wednesday that the legislation remained a key topic that Xia wanted to get feedback on, with a one-month consultation exercise by authorities running until next Wednesday.
A second insider said Lee and Chief Secretary Eric Chan Kwok-ki would receive Xia at Hong Kong International Airport before noon on Thursday. They would then accompany him on a tour of the Integrated Airport Centre, which was launched last year to support Hong Kong’s three-runway system.
Xia would have a working lunch with city officials and Airport Authority management before heading to government headquarters to be briefed by Lee and his cabinet in the afternoon, the sources said.
He would then attend a dinner at Government House hosted by Lee, with members of the Executive Council, the city’s key decision-making body, attending.
A highlight on Friday would be a closed-door exchange between Xia and the city’s tycoons in the afternoon, a source in the business sector said. A “handful” of attendees were expected to be called upon to give three-minute speeches specifically on Hong Kong’s business environment and prospects, the source added.
The senior mainland official is also set to visit the newly established International Organization for Mediation Preparatory Office, one of the government insiders said, calling it an important gesture to highlight Beijing’s support for the city’s status as a legal and dispute resolution services centre.
The source said Xia was also expected to meet young people and dine with residents under arrangements by pro-Beijing district groups.
Xia’s trip will conclude next Wednesday, the day Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po gives his annual budget speech. The government is under mounting pressure to come up with a blueprint to cut spending and expand revenue with Chan projecting the city’s deficit may exceed HK$100 billion (US$12.8 billion).
Executive councillor and lawmaker Jeffrey Lam Kin-fung said he expected Xia’s on-the-ground visit would help Beijing to assess Hong Kong’s post-pandemic economic situation.
Lam said he hoped there would be favourable policies to help Hong Kong businesses mitigate the effects of geopolitical challenges on local import and export firms, as well as manufacturers.
This will be Xia’s second trip to Hong Kong since Beijing announced the overhaul of the HKMAO that made it directly answerable to the Communist Party’s Central Committee rather than the State Council.
