The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, met the Governor of Hebei Province, Mr Xu Qin, at Government House this evening (April 10). The Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Patrick Nip, also attended the meeting.
 
     Welcoming Mr Xu's first visit to Hong Kong in his capacity as the Governor of Hebei Province with a delegation, Mrs Lam said she was pleased to meet him for the fourth time since she took office, which is a testimony to the importance the two places attach to their relations. She said she attended with him the Hebei theme promotion conference "Sharing new opportunities in national strategy, creating a new chapter in Hebei-Hong Kong cooperation" earlier today, where response to the promotion activities was overwhelming. Adding that she was pleased to learn that the delegation will sign co-operation agreements with enterprises, organisations and institutions as well as attend different business matching activities, she said she believes that collaboration in economic and trade affairs and investment as well as other areas between the two places would be further enhanced.
 
     Mrs Lam said that the Central Government promulgated the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in February, and Hong Kong will leverage its advantages in areas such as finance and innovation and technology to play an active role in the Greater Bay Area development. Pointing out that the Central Government is also committed to advancing the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Cooperative Development in which Hebei plays an important role, she expressed the hope that Hebei will make use of Hong Kong as a platform to seek foreign investments and establish various kinds of support facilities to take forward its development blueprint and boost the cooperative development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

Ends/Wednesday, April 10, 2019
Issued at HKT 22:37

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