Chief Executive John Lee met Secretary of the CPC Shandong Provincial Committee Lin Wu at Government House today to discuss strengthening Hong Kong’s co-operation with Shandong.

Welcoming the visit of Mr Lin and his delegation to Hong Kong, where they will attend and officiate at the 2024 Hong Kong-Macao-Shandong Week, Mr Lee said  economic and trade relations between Shandong and Hong Kong have always been close and that the city is a major source of foreign direct investment in the province.

Highlighting that Hong Kong enjoy the distinctive advantages of having strong support from the motherland and being closely connected to the world under “one country, two systems”, Mr Lee said more enterprises from Shandong are welcome to leverage the city's platform to go global and attract foreign investment.

The Chief Executive also mentioned that since March the Individual Visit Scheme has included the city of Qingdao, in Shandong, meaning that its residents can travel to Hong Kong more flexibly and conveniently.

He stressed that, with a population of over 10 million and a gross domestic product of over RMB1 trillion, Qingdao is a source of high value-added overnight visitors to Hong Kong due to the high incomes and spending power of its residents.

Mr Lee added that more tourists from Qingdao are welcome to visit Hong Kong and experience its unique charm as an East-meets-West metropolis, thereby promoting cultural integration and people-to-people bonds between the two places.

He also pointed to Hong Kong’s cultural co-operation with Shandong, including through jointly organising “Harmony of Rites & Music: Exploring the Qilu Culture through Shandong Relics”, an exhibition showcasing Chinese civilisation and the long history of the province.

Mr Lee said the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government will continue to deepen co-operation with Shandong in such areas of finance, economics and trade, innovation and technology, culture, and youth development through the Shandong Liaison Unit.