Moderate lawmakers from the city’s opposition camp on Thursday said they would join a visit to Shanghai and Hangzhou in April as a “scouting mission” against Hong Kong’s competitors around the country. Details of the trip were unveiled on Wednesday a day after pro-democracy legislators boycotted a lunch with Chinese central government officials at Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong. The Legislative Council members said they had little interest in the meeting because there was no specific agenda. Relations between pan-democrat legislators and Beijing have been rocky in recent years, with several previously prevented from entering mainland China. However, all Legco members have been invited to the four-day visit from April 21 to 24, which has been organised by four panels within the legislature. The tour aims to help them study the latest economic, financial and technological developments in Shanghai as well as Hangzhou in China’s eastern Zhejiang province. The two cities form the heart of the Yangtze River Delta, a major economic hub which has drawn parallels with southern China’s Pearl River Delta, of which Hong Kong is a part. The plans for the trip came two days after Beijing released a development blueprint for the “Greater Bay Area”, a project to link 11 cities around the Pearl River Delta region to foster growth by boosting infrastructure, innovation, technology and finance. Hong Kong pro-democracy party chief Wu Chi-wai may give up Wong Tai Sin district seat after 20 years Officials from the Shanghai and Zhejiang governments were expected to dine with the lawmakers and brief them on regional developments. The legislators will visit the Shanghai Stock Exchange, Hangzhou Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone, as well as Alibaba Group, the parent company of the South China Morning Post . Last April nine Hong Kong pan-democrats and 23 pro-establishment lawmakers visited five mainland cities around the Pearl River Delta to learn more about the Greater Bay Area project. For the coming trip, lawmakers from the Democratic Party, Civic Party and Professionals Guild said there would be no politics involved. Civic Party leader Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu said they would only be there to study economic changes. “We still have to know what our competitors are doing,” Yeung said. Kenneth Leung, who represents Hong Kong’s accountancy sector in the legislature, said both competition and collaboration were needed with Shanghai and Hangzhou. Calmer political days in Hong Kong result in drop in donations for pro-democracy groups at Lunar New Year fair “We will explore both during the visit,” he said. “We must also however make sure that our separate system from the mainland’s is not compromised during the process.” Hong Kong has been governed under the “one country, two systems” formula since its return to Chinese sovereignty in 1997. The arrangement means the city maintains separate legal and economic systems to the rest of the nation. But Beijing has moved to emphasise its sovereignty in recent years as anti-mainland and pro-independence sentiment has gathered strength in Hong Kong. Six pro-democracy lawmakers were disqualified from the legislature in 2016 for improper oaths of office, some of which were altered to include anti-China messages. Election candidates advocating separatism have been barred from taking part in polls. Beijing’s top man in Hong Kong hails new era of patriotism and rationality, urging lawmakers to work with him on sovereignty, security and development More moderate democrats on Thursday said agreeing to the April trip did not mean there was hope of dialogue with Beijing on political reform and a path to universal suffrage. “These issues concerning the economy and livelihoods have an impact on Hong Kong,” Democratic Party leader Wu Chi-wai said. “But that doesn’t mean we’re trying to talk with Beijing on politics ... We are just trying to secure Hong Kong’s best interests before there’s any concrete solution on the political side.” Several localist lawmakers including Cheng Chung-tai, Raymond Chan Chi-chuen and Eddie Chu Hoi-dick saw little point in making the journey to the mainland. “This visit is no different to sightseeing and will not really help understand development,” Chu said. “And the price is it being seen as reconciliation with the central government.” However, pro-Beijing lawmaker Horace Cheung Kwok-kwan urged democrats to seize every opportunity to communicate with mainland authorities at all levels. He said they must not be distracted by radicals. “We can’t be judging China with the same mindset as we had 10 or 20 years ago,” Cheung said. “Even US President Donald Trump meets US Democratic Party lawmakers to discuss the issues.”