Xia ‘fully recognises’ Hong Kong’s I&T efforts, urges city to seize opportunities
Beijing official visits Northern Metropolis sites, including Yuen Long microelectronics centre and Hetao hub
Beijing’s point man on Hong Kong affairs has recognised the local government’s efforts to push ahead with innovation projects in the Northern Metropolis and has called on the city to seize national opportunities.
Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, began a two-day study tour on Tuesday with a briefing by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu. It was attended by Chief Secretary Eric Chan Kwok-ki, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po and selected members of the establishment, including the city’s property tycoons.
His first day’s itinerary focused on the Northern Metropolis megaproject, which aims to transform 30,000 hectares of land along the border with mainland China into a housing hub and economic engine. Xia visited the Hong Kong park of a cross-border innovation hub in Hetao, a microelectronics centre in Yuen Long and the site of a data facility cluster to be built in Sandy Ridge.
A source said Xia had lunch with central government liaison office director Zhou Ji, the city leader and other top local officials at the Gold Coast Yacht and Country Club in Tuen Mun, where they also studied yacht tourism and marina developments in Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area.
Implementation details of a policy to allow Hong Kong-registered yachts to berth more easily at designated mainland ports in the bay area are expected to be announced by Beijing in mid-June at the earliest.
Xia also visited AsiaWorld-Expo to learn how Hong Kong can transform major events into new economic drivers to help the city seize the development opportunities of the country’s 15th five-year plan.