Chief Executive Carrie Lam met acting Mayor of Beijing Chen Jining at Government House today.
Mrs Lam welcomed Mr Chen's first visit to Hong Kong with his delegation in his new capacity, saying she looks forward to officiating at the 21st Beijing-Hong Kong Economic Cooperation Symposium opening ceremony with him tomorrow.
She said Hong Kong and Beijing have long enjoyed strong ties with close collaboration between their governments, enterprises, education sectors and non-government organisations.
She thanked the Beijing Municipal Government for its staunch support for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government to hold the Exhibition in Celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the Return of Hong Kong to the Motherland at the National Museum of China and a series of other celebration events in recent months.
Noting Hong Kong is an international financial, trading and shipping hub, and has the edge in professional services, innovation and technology, and creative industries, while Beijing is the centre for politics, culture, international exchanges and innovation and technology, Mrs Lam said she believes both places can give full play to their strengths to complement each other for mutual benefits.
She hopes Hong Kong and Beijing enhance exchanges and co-operation in areas ranging from innovation and technology to creative industries, city management, youth development and education.
She also hopes the Beijing Municipal Government continues to support the implementation of various measures rolled out by the Central Government to help Hong Kong people study, work and live in the Mainland.
She also congratulated Beijing on becoming the first city to host both the Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics and wished great success for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing.
