The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, met the Standing Committee Member of the CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee, Secretary of the CPC Hangzhou Municipal Committee, Mr Zhou Jiangyong, at Government House this morning (September 15).

     Mrs Lam welcomed Mr Zhou and his delegation for visiting Hong Kong to attend a promotion activity by the Hangzhou Municipal Government on economic and trade cooperation, culture and food to be held next Monday. She said she visited Hangzhou in August last year and was deeply impressed by the city’s rapid development in recent years, particularly in e-commerce, innovation and technology (I&T) and smart city. She noted that with the successful hosting of the G20 Hangzhou Summit in 2016 and  the Asian Games to be held in Hangzhou in 2022, the city's international status is rising.

     Mrs Lam said Hong Kong and Hangzhou have always been close and share a lot of similarities with very active private enterprises in both places. Coupled with the vibrant development of I&T and the creative industries in Hong Kong, she said there is huge room for collaboration between the two places. Noting that Hong Kong is an international financial centre with a highly open and international market, robust and comprehensive regulatory regime as well as quality professional services, she said Hong Kong has all along been a foremost platform to help Mainland enterprises to "go global" and encouraged enterprises in Hangzhou to leverage on Hong Kong's advantages to explore together the global market.

     On measures being rolled out by the Central Government to facilitate Hong Kong residents to live, work and study in the Mainland and the announcement last month allowing Hong Kong residents living in the Mainland who meet the relevant criteria to apply for residence permits, Mrs Lam expressed her gratitude to the Hangzhou Municipal Government for implementing the measures proactively. She said she hoped the measures would further facilitate exchanges between young people in both places, and help Hong Kong young people who aspire to develop in I&T and the creative industries to identify opportunities for development in Hangzhou where the relevant industries thrive.

Ends/Saturday, September 15, 2018
Issued at HKT 14:42

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