Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu speaks to the media ahead of an Executive Council meeting on May 9, 2023. (PHOTO / HKSAR GOVERNMENT)

HONG KONG – Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu will lead a delegation of principal officials to visit Chongqing for three days starting Wednesday to establish a mechanism of cooperation between the SAR and the Chinese mainland city.

Speaking ahead of the weekly Executive Council meeting on Tuesday, Lee said he would attend the first High-Level Meeting cum First Plenary Session of the Hong Kong/Chongqing Co-operation Conference.

“Hong Kong and Chongqing have always maintained close exchanges and a specific cooperation mechanism between the two places will be established through this visit. Both places will deepen cooperation comprehensively and achieve complementarity and mutual benefits, enabling the development of both places to reach new heights,” Lee said.

It would also help deepen Hong Kong’s integration with the national development, Lee added.

Hong Kong and Chongqing have always maintained close exchanges and a specific cooperation mechanism between the two places will be established through this visit. Both places will deepen cooperation comprehensively and achieve complementarity and mutual benefits, enabling the development of both places to reach new heights.

John Lee Ka-chiu, Chief Executive of the HKSAR

“The new Chongqing-Hong Kong collaboration mechanism will be the first one to be established with the mainland since the new term of the government came into office and it will also be the third one created after the mechanisms in Beijing and Shanghai,” the chief executive said.

Members of the government delegation will include Chief Secretary for Administration Eric Chan Kwok-ki; Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Algernon Yau Ying-wah; Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry Sun Dong; and Under Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Clement Woo Kin-man.

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Lee and the delegation will meet with leaders of Chongqing and visit local facilities and projects including those related to innovation and technology, and logistics, according to a government statement released on Tuesday.

Lee said the SAR established the Chongqing Liaison Unit in 2012 and had attached great importance to the cooperation with Chongqing, adding that Hong Kong was also the largest source of the non-local direct investment in Chongqing.

Chongqing was favorably located as the intersection of the Belt and Road Initiative and the Yangtze River Economic Belt, said Lee, adding that the city also connected the northwestern part of the country with other Asian countries.

Ｗith the Chengdu‑Chongqing economic circle and the SAR's international environment, it would become a good start for more opportunities to various sectors in Hong Kong, Lee added.

Asked about Hong Kong’s policy of green energy supply, the CE said it had been a long-standing policy that the government sets the goals for carbon reduction and ensures stable power supply at a reasonable price.

The SAR government would consider importing clean energy from other places and was looking for other ways to achieve its goals, Lee added.

Meanwhile, he said the Housing Bureau was concluding its plan for private sectors to participate in housing development and further details would be announced soon.

READ MORE: Lee vows to deepen collaboration with other GBA cities

Regarding British Minister for Investment Dominic Johnson’s visit to Hong Kong, Lee said he welcomed government officials from other countries to visit the city to promote business, trade and also people-to-people relationships, adding that Hong Kong’s success relied on international cooperation and the city should focus on economic development.

The next destinations Lee would be visiting would be the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, because they were the closest partners and the economic co-operation would be enhanced through communication, dialogues and interpersonal exchanges, the CE added.