Beijing’s top official in Hong Kong pledges deeper integration with mainland China province Guangdong amid months of anti-government protests
- Luo Huining meets with province leaders to advance the Greater Bay Area plan, an economic blueprint for swathes of southern China
- The agreement comes with city taken to brink by protests that have seen radicals attack firms for mainland China links
Beijing’s new envoy to Hong Kong has pledged to work with Guangdong’s leaders to push forward regional cooperation and integration, even with the city in the grip of anti-government protests.
The agreement was made at a meeting between Luo Huining and the province’s leadership, which came after the new liaison office chief held talks with Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, her predecessors Tung Chee-hwa and Leung Chun-ying, as well as top officials in Shenzhen last week.
Luo replaced Wang Zhimin as director of the central government’s liaison office in Hong Kong in a surprise move unveiled on January 4.
In a statement posted on the liaison office’s website, it was revealed Luo met Guangdong’s top leaders – including party chief Li Xi, governor Ma Xingrui and deputy governor Zhang Xin – in Guangzhou on Sunday.
“Both sides pledged to insist on … implementing the ‘one country, two systems’ principle comprehensively and accurately, and work together to push forward the Greater Bay Area project,” the statement read, in a reference to Beijing’s ambitious plan to turn Hong Kong, Macau, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and seven other cities in Guangdong into an innovation and financial powerhouse to rival Silicon Valley.