Hong Kong is the city we aspire to be top, Shenzhen official tells Chief Executive Carrie Lam as pair bond over special relationship
- Lam calls two cities ‘loving brothers’ during visit as 160-strong delegation stops en route to Beijing for talks on future development
- While Shenzhen party secretary Wang Weizhong hails Hong Kong’s influence in development over past 40 years
Hong Kong will still set the pace for Shenzhen’s future direction, the metropolis’ communist party boss said on Saturday, as he welcomed Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and her 160-strong delegation who were en route to Beijing to mark the 40th anniversary of economic reforms and opening up.
Returning the compliment, Lam said Hong Kong and its neighbouring city enjoyed a uniquely close relationship. “Hong Kong and Shenzhen are neighbours, we are loving brothers,” she said.
Some 60,000 Hong Kong firms are based in Shenzhen, she noted, making the city one of the biggest investors there. Shenzhen party secretary Wang Weizhong thanked Hong Kong for being instrumental in its development over the past four decades.
“Hong Kong is still Shenzhen’s role model, it is still the goalpost of our development,” Wang said.
“We will not forget, that one of the central government’s important considerations of setting up the Shenzhen special economic zone, is the unique advantages of Shenzhen being a neighbour of Hong Kong’s.”