Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu speaks to the media before attending the weekly meeting of the Executive Council, at the Central Government Office in Hong Kong on Dec 13, 2022. (CALVIN NG / CHINA DAILY)

HONG KONG – Hong Kong will further relax social distancing measures including rules on banquets, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said on Tuesday, a day before his maiden duty visit to the nation's capital, Beijing.

During his Wednesday-Saturday visit, the CE will brief the State leaders on the latest economic, social and political situation in the special administrative region.

The authorities have been working closely with the central government, as well as the Guangdong provincial government, on issues relating to quarantine-free travel, the chief executive told the media before the weekly Executive Council meeting.

He added that Hong Kong is willing to cooperate with the mainland and take all measures needed to control the pandemic.

Hong Kong authorities have been working closely with the Chinese mainland and will proactively adopt relevant COVID-19 measures to align with the mainland’s pandemic policies, said Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu

“I will show to the central government Hong Kong residents’ desire for border reopening. I believe face-to-face communication can better reflect the actual situation in Hong Kong. ,” said Lee.

Macao Chief Executive Ho Iat-seng will also embark on his duty visit to Beijing on Wednesday to report on his work in the past year, and the Macao SAR’s administrative priorities for next year.

At the same time, the authorities needed to implement the relevant policies in an orderly manner in view of the COVID-19 risks, he said, expressing his hope to make fast progress.

ALSO READ: HK scraps all COVID-19 curbs for arrivals

The chief executive also said he would report to the central government about the issues various parties in Hong Kong cared about.

Director of the Chief Executive's Office, Carol Yip, and Private Secretary to the Chief Executive, Priscilla To, will join the visit, according to the government.

Lee also revealed that Hong Kong’s Health Bureau will announce details of further relaxing social distancing measures on Wednesday afternoon, including dropping the cap on the number of diners at banquets.

He noted that Hong Kong has relaxed more than 90 percent of its social distancing rules so far, and the reason for maintaining a small part of them is that the pressure on the medical system has to be reduced. He stressed that the local vaccination rate among children is still quite low.

ALSO READ: COVID: HK records 15,383 cases, 39 deaths

People cross the road decorated with national flags and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region flags above to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland in Tsim Sha Tsui on June 17, 2022. (CALVIN NG / CHINA DAILY)

The government will cooperate with Google to find a solution and convey correct information to the public. I hope Google, as a large responsible corporation, would take the issue seriously.

John Lee Ka-chiu, Chief Executive

Asked about the next course of actions after Google refused to ensure the correct search result of the national anthem, the CE termed it as a serious issue, which was not only about pieces of ordinary information. “A national anthem represents a country, the nation’s dignity and the people’s feelings. It needs to be taken seriously.”

The government understands that Google was capable of fixing the issue and the company had a clear policy that it would remove relevant contents in accordance with law, he said. 

The chief executive stressed that it was an insult to play the wrong national anthem, which was in violation of laws concerning the anthem.

The tech company has another policy that would not tolerate fake or misleading information, he pointed out, adding that the current search result was not correct and clearly misleading.

READ MORE: SAR to press Google again to avoid national anthem blunders

“The government will cooperate with Google to find a solution and convey correct information to the public. I hope Google, as a large responsible corporation, would take the issue seriously,” the chief executive said.