The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, met the media in Gyeongju, Korea, this afternoon (November 1) after attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting and other related activities. Following are Mr Lee's remarks:

Reporter: Good afternoon, Mr Lee. How were your encounters with President Xi Jinping during the APEC summit? Was there any important message on Hong Kong? With Shenzhen being the host city for next year's APEC summit, any plans and expectations as to how Hong Kong can co-operate or facilitate with the summit? During this time, how would you capitalise on the outcomes that you have made during your time in Gyeongju? Thank you.

Chief Executive: President Xi cares very much about Hong Kong. And I was very glad that I could make use of this opportunity to report to him the latest social and economic developments of Hong Kong. We also very slightly touched on the political situation that we're facing. I feel all along the sincere care of President Xi  for Hong Kong and his staunch support for Hong Kong. I am very grateful for that. He is a very affectionate leader. Each and every time he will be encouraging me to continue to do my job well, so I sincerely thank President Xi for that.

     I'm of course very motivated to know that APEC 2026 will be held in our country - in Shenzhen. We're thrilled, particularly when Shenzhen is our very neighbouring city. Our relationship is very close. The Hong Kong SAR (Special Administrative Region) Government will do all our best to support and co-operate with all the possible arrangements that will be of help to the overall launching of the meeting. I believe that of course the Central Government will take into consideration the whole arrangement of different setups of the APEC conference, and also will make reference to the guidelines that is laid down by APEC in respect of the arrangement for the meeting. The Hong Kong Government is fully prepared and will be very excited to be able to take any part to support the arrangement and the successful conduct of the APEC conference.

     You asked about the achievements of my attendance at this APEC conference. We have made achievements in several areas. Through the participation in the APEC meeting, we contributed to the promotion of free trade and economic integration. First of all, the APEC economies jointly adopted and issued the Leaders' Declaration, which is very important, because its emphasis on economic co-operation, connectivity and also the building of resilient supply chains. The Declaration addresses the importance of shared opportunities and challenges facing us, and important goal of "Connect", "Innovate" and "Prosper".

     The second achievement is that, through the participation in these APEC meetings and activities, we further strengthened our ties with the host country – Korea. Different Secretaries of the Hong Kong SAR Government have attended APEC meetings in the two weeks prior to the actual summit, including the Financial Secretary, the Secretary for Justice, and also the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development. Korea is the fifth-largest trading partner of Hong Kong. And the trade has been increasing in the rate of 20 per cent year-on-year. On tourism, we welcomed , in 2024, 850 000 visitors from Korea. This is double the figure of the previous year. With the Kai Tak Sports Park opened, we have been welcoming a lot of K-pop performances, and we look forward to welcoming more Korean visitors as we have more exceptional performances. We signed an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the Busan Asian Film School in September to allow Hong Kong filmmakers to participate in an eight-month training course in Busan. Also, the number of flights between Hong Kong and Busan has increased by about 70 per cent year-on-year in October this year, pursuing the increase in the number of exchanges both ways. We also opened up a new flight route to Daegu in June this year.

     The third achievement is that we have strengthened relations and exchanges with various ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries. I had a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of Singapore, Mr Lawrence Wong. We touched on a wide range of issues that the immediate results of the discussions is that there will be a Hong Kong delegation comprising Permanent Secretaries to visit Singapore. This will be the second visit after the last visit in 2023 by Permanent Secretaries from the Singaporean Government. Also, I discussed with the President of Indonesia, and we agreed to explore the possibility of Indonesian cultural and arts delegations visiting Hong Kong to perform. In regards to the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (ETO) which we want to set up in Malaysia, I'm glad to be informed that, in the discussion with the Prime Minister of Malaysia, both of us are very keen and optimistic that the ETO will be in operation before the end of this year in Kuala Lumpur.

     The fourth achievement is that we have deepened exchanges and co-operation with the Middle East. I met with the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, and we talked about various issues. He indicated that Hong Kong is a very attractive place for investments, certainly one of the focus areas. And one important thing is Hong Kong is a bridge to Mainland cities, so he has indicated that he will be paying a lot of attention to the Hong Kong market. We welcomed that very much.

     The fifth achievement is that we have strengthened exchanges with the international organisation of IMF (International Monetary Fund). I met with the Managing Director, and I first of all talked about Hong Kong's strengths as an international financial centre. In fact, the IMF did an Article IV Consultation a year before, and confirmed Hong Kong's position as the one of the world's three major international financial centres and recognising the resilience and strengths that are in our regime.

     We will capitalise on the visit on this occasion, so that we will continue to strengthen ties with different economies and also follow up some of the issues that we brought up in the discussion.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the remarks.)

Ends/Saturday, November 1, 2025
Issued at HKT 18:58

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