Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor meets the press at Central Government Offices on Oct 27, 2020. (Photo by PARKER ZHENG/China Daily)
Hong Kong's chief executive will visit Beijing in wake of pandemic's damage
Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, said on Tuesday that she will travel to Beijing next week to secure more opportunities to revive the city's virus-battered economy.
A meeting with central authorities will be held after the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China concludes on Thursday with the formulation of suggestions for the country's next five-year plan.
Lam said at a weekly news briefing ahead of an Executive Council meeting that she will attend a coordinating meeting held by the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council and related central government departments, at which they will address Lam's requests.
In a previous interview, she said that support will be sought mainly in four areas: financial services, innovation and technology, aviation and projects to improve people's livelihoods.
Stanley Ng Chau-pei, president of the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions, Hong Kong's largest labor group, said the timing of Lam's visit is quite good. After the plenary session, the central authorities will have a clearer position on Hong Kong's role in national development, which will facilitate policymaking involving cooperation with the mainland, Ng said.
After leaving Beijing, she will also visit Guangzhou and Shenzhen to discuss the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and cooperation plans between Hong Kong and Shenzhen.
Samuel Yung Wing-ki, founding president of Hong Kong Professionals and Senior Executives Association, said help is being sought from the central government to better leverage Hong Kong's strength.
Yung said he hopes that Lam's trip will accelerate the implementation of the central government's 30 initiatives supporting financial services development in the Greater Bay Area.
Lam will be accompanied by five principal officials in charge of pandemic control, innovation and technology development, transport and housing, financial services and mainland affairs.
She will travel to Shenzhen next Tuesday for virus testing and may leave for Beijing on Wednesday. The whole mainland trip may last four to five days.
On Tuesday, Lam also announced a series of measures for resuming travel in and out of the city in the wake of subduing the pandemic situation.
They include allowing mainland-based Hong Kong residents to return to the city without needing a 14-day quarantine starting next month.
Limited returnee quotas will be adopted at first, Lam said. Currently, only two land checkpoints are in operation.
