Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu met on Thursday with visiting Director-General of the World Trade Organization Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and said that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region remains firmly committed to the rules-based multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core.

Lee welcomed Okonjo-Iweala’s visit and noted that Hong Kong has been actively seeking early accession to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and signed a Free Trade Agreement with Peru last month.

He said that these moves will reinforce Hong Kong's distinctive advantages as a global city and the important role it plays in offering high value-added supply chain management services for international trade.

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The multilateral trading system remains at the core of Hong Kong's trade policy, and the HKSAR government will continue to expand the city's global economic and trade networks through various means including forging free trade agreements, he added.

Lee said that he is encouraged by the commendation from WTO members during the Trade Policy Review meeting in December last year, which recognized Hong Kong, China's commitment to promoting global trade liberalization.

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He noted that it also recognized the city's measures to enhance business facilitation, as well as the city's continuous efforts to reinforce its role as an international investment and trading hub.

WTO members last week agreed to appoint Okonjo-Iweala to a second four-year term during a special meeting of the WTO’s General Council.