Hong Kong elite expected to attend as Shenzhen hosts President Xi Jinping for September celebration of special economic zone’s 40th anniversary

While city leader Carrie Lam will be present, it is not yet known if she or the Hong Kong delegation will secure a meeting with the president

Analysts suggest their success in doing so will signal the city’s ongoing relevance to the neighbouring tech hub despite its recent travails

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Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to travel to neighbouring Shenzhen in September to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the tech hub’s status as a special economic zone. Photo: Wolfgang Kumm/DPA

Published: 4:02pm, 24 Aug 2020Updated: 11:29pm, 24 Aug 2020

Chinese President Xi Jinping will head to neighbouring Shenzhen in September to officiate the 40th anniversary celebration of the technology hub’s special economic zone, according to sources.

Xi is expected to reiterate China’s commitment to its “open-door” policy and chart the direction for what had been dubbed China’s Silicon Valley amid ongoing tensions with the United States.

Hong Kong’s business and political elite were expected to be invited to the event, and the delegation could meet Xi, a Shenzhen official told the Post.

Chinese President Xi Jinping visits a Shenzhen exhibition on Guangdong province’s development over the past 40 years in 2018. Photo: Xinhua

The official said the delegation would include Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor as well as Hongkongers who had made “significant contributions” to Shenzhen’s development.

The last time Xi met Lam was in December, when he “fully acknowledged” the work of the chief executive, who travelled to Beijing to deliver her annual report as a year plagued by anti-government protests drew to a close.