Mao Weiming, deputy secretary of the CPC Hunan Provincial Committee and governor of the People's Government of Hunan Province, met in Hong Kong with John Lee Ka-chiu, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), on May 29th, 2023.
Eric Chan Kwok-ki, chief secretary for administration of the HKSAR government; Erick Tsang Kwok-wai, secretary for constitutional and mainland affairs of the HKSAR government; Zhou Haibing and Guo Zhenggui, Hunan provincial leaders; and, Qu Hai, secretary general of the Hunan provincial government, attended.
On the afternoon of May 29th, Hunan Governor Mao and HKSAR Chief Executive Lee met in Hong Kong.
Governor Mao thanked the HKSAR government for its long-term support to Hunan's economic and social development. He said that hosting the "2023 Hunan-Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) Investment and Trade Conference Week" is a practical action to thoroughly implement President Xi Jinping's important speeches and instructions on Hunan Province, and integrate and dovetail with the development strategy of GBA. Hunan and Hong Kong enjoy deep connections, close ties, multiple exchanges, and extensive cooperation. Hong Kong is Hunan's second largest trading partner, the main destination of outward investment, the main source of foreign capital utilization, and an important node on international trade corridor, he added.
In the past five years, Hunan has actually utilized 7.31 billion USD of Hong Kong capital, with an annual average growth of 48.5%. Hunan's imports and exports to Hong Kong grew by 6.2% annually to 56.11 billion USD last year. There are now 1,133 Hong Kong enterprises in Hunan Province, with a total investment of 76.83 billion USD. The conference week, restarted in Hong Kong after 4 years suspension, is Hunan's first major overseas investment and trade event after the epidemic. It aims at continuously strengthening the economic and trade collaboration and communication between Hunan and GBA; learning from Hong Kong the excellent experiences in such fields as science and technology, finance, trade and logistics; and, introducing the advanced ideas and unique advantages of Hong Kong to Hunan to assist self-development.
He expected the HKSAR government would continue to give strong support to Hunan; further deepen Hunan-Hong Kong partnership in finance and trade, culture and tourism, scientific and technological research and development, education and training, recreation and medical care, and platforms and exhibitions; and, explore a cooperation model of "scientific and technological research and development in Hong Kong, industrial base in Hunan". In particular, Hong Kong's advantages in the financial market, trade transit, international logistics, and the international settlement may provide greater support for Hunan enterprises to go global.
The meeting.
Mr. Lee welcomed the Hunan delegation to Hong Kong for the investment and trade conference week and wished the event a fruitful success. He remarked that Hong Kong and Hunan are close to each other in terms of geographical location and ancestral ties, and the people of Hong Kong are eager to experience the delicacies, sceneries, and vitality of Hunan.
He hoped both sides may give full play to their comparative advantages; innovate cooperation mode and expand cooperation fields in economic and trade, finance, and modern agriculture; and, deeply integrate into and serve the country's overall development. Hunan boasts rich tourism resources, while Hong Kong maintains a mature tourism service industry. Transportation between the two places is quite convenient, which enables both sides to jointly promote the "one route with multiple stops" tourism mode to overseas tourists. This would better boost tourism complementary advantages and achieve mutual benefits.
All the photos above were taken by Liu Shangwen from Hunan Daily.
This article is from the Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.
Translator: Yu Jiangjiang
Chinese source: hunan. gov.cn
