Chief Executive John Lee said today that the eight actions announced by President Xi Jinping to support co-operation on the Belt & Road Initiative will offer Hong Kong more opportunities to contribute and benefit from the initiative and that the city will boost its efforts in parallel with steps taken nationally.

Mr Lee made the remarks as he concluded a trip to Beijing, where he participated in the third Belt & Road Forum for International Cooperation.

President Xi announced at the forum eight major steps China will take to support high-quality Belt & Road co-operation. Mr Lee said the eight action areas outlined perfectly match Hong Kong’s efforts in supporting the initiative to date.

“We are completely thrilled and excited because they offer even more opportunities for Hong Kong to develop, contribute and benefit from, because all these eight areas are exactly what Hong Kong has been doing, so they are in perfect alliance,” he said.

In relation to connectivity and openness, two areas of focus in Mr Xi’s speech in Beijing, Mr Lee highlighted that Hong Kong enjoys connectivity with the rest the world and is a strong advocate an open world economy, explaining that its status as an international city is underpinned by the “one country, two systems” principle.

He added: “All these eight areas are what we are doing already and we will of course strengthen our efforts in these areas and contribute as much as we can.”

The Chief Executive also cited agreements signed during the forum on co-operation in relation to medical technology, investment, and innovation and technology, as offering testament to Hong Kong’s international openness.

“The three agreements amount to the value of US$450 million,” he said. “These three agreements are just examples of areas of co-operation between Hong Kong and enterprises of other countries.”