“The second thing is to enhance our liaison with the mainland cities … It also indicates our increasing efforts to deepen our mutual trust and consensus about the future development of the Greater Bay Area cities to strengthen our collaboration.”

Lee noted that it was also the first large-scale visit by the government to mainland bay area cities after the border fully reopened with the mainland.

The delegation, with Chief Secretary Eric Chan Kwok-ki and Legco president Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen as deputy leaders, will visit various facilities, enterprises and projects involving innovation and technology, environmental protection, youth development, arts and culture, and sports.

Leung said he hoped to develop new ideas with lawmakers to rejuvenate the city’s economy by exploring opportunities in the bay area.

“This trip is very meaningful … We will seek to raise new ideas to inject vitality into the city’s economy by understanding Greater Bay Area development,” he said.

The delegation arrived in Shenzhen on Friday night and dined with municipal officials, including party chief Meng Fanli and mayor Qin Weizhong.

Meeting the media after the dinner, Chief Secretary Chan said the Shenzhen officials had briefed the delegation about the city’s economic and I&T development.

“I think this is a very good opportunity for us to understand more about the achievements Shenzhen has made recently,” Chan said.

One lawmaker, who wished to remain anonymous, said Lee had described Hong Kong and Shenzhen as “brothers that have a lot in common”, a phrase that caught the most attention at the dinner.

Lau Siu-kai, a consultant of the semi-official Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies think tank, said the joint trip sent a strong signal to Beijing that the government and lawmakers were fully committed to pushing the bay area’s development.

“In the past, officials and lawmakers were half-hearted about promoting the Greater Bay Area. They tended to pay lip service rather than taking concrete action,” he said.

“Now in view of the strategic importance Beijing has placed on the bay area to improve Hong Kong’s economy and livelihoods, they want to show their full commitment and sincerity on enhancing collaboration with the bay area with concrete measures. They want to gain Beijing’s trust.”

Lau said the trip had tasked officials and lawmakers with a mission to put forward new ideas to promote the bay area and create opportunities for Hong Kong.

On Saturday, lawmakers will spend most of the day in Shenzhen visiting technology companies including electric-vehicle maker BYD, drone manufacturer DJI, internet giant Tencent and the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Youth Innovation and Entrepreneur Hub before splitting into two groups heading to Dongguan and Foshan respectively in late afternoon.

The Dongguan trip on Sunday, led by Legco president Leung, will focus on hi-tech applications, with destinations including a logistic park, telecoms giant Huawei’s innovation town and a company that excels in advanced dentistry. They will also have lunch with Dongguan-based Hong Kong businesspeople.

The Foshan tour, led by the chief secretary, will visit two robot companies, and a residential and commercial project, Foshan Lingnan Tiandi, by Hong Kong-based Shui On Land.

The two groups will join up in Guangzhou on Monday and visit a local water purification plant and meet municipal and provincial officials.

Lawmaker Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, who is in the Foshan group, said the tour was of “great importance” for the integration of all bay area cities and injecting new development momentum into Hong Kong-mainland collaboration.

“I would like to get to know more about hi-tech development on the mainland, like artificial intelligence and robots. Meanwhile, I also want to push more cooperation between Hong Kong and Foshan, which is my hometown,” she said.

Lawmaker Johnny Ng Kit-chong, who is also in the Foshan group, described the four-day tour as “unprecedented” as nearly all legislators were joining.

“We will meet two local robot companies and try to see if there is any chance for future collaboration. On the other hand, I will also talk to local officials to see if rules could be relaxed for Hong Kong youth to run internet businesses on the mainland,” said Ng, who is also the founding president of Hong Kong Youth Synergy Foundation.

Those who could not make trip include the only non-pro-establishment lawmaker, Tik Chi-yuen, who said he was running in the London Marathon.

That prompted a dig by former city leader Leung Chun-ying, who wrote on his Facebook page that Tik should consider early retirement as a lot of people opted for such a move to accomplish “life plans” such as running a marathon or travelling around the world.