Deputy Secretary for Justice Cheung Kwok-kwan today attended the 8th China-Eurasia Expo in Urumqi, Xinjiang on behalf of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government.

Mr Cheung participated in the event to assist in fostering co-operation between the country and the Eurasian regions in the development of the Belt & Road Initiative.

Upon arrival in Xinjiang yesterday, Mr Cheung attended a welcome dinner to meet representatives from different countries and regions.

This morning, he met CPC Central Committee Political Bureau member and CPC Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Regional Committee Secretary Ma Xingrui before attending the expo’s opening ceremony and touring its exhibitions.

The China-Eurasia Expo is co-hosted by the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the People's Government of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

It has attracted the participation of a large number of countries, regions and international organisations as well as over 1,000 Chinese enterprises and organisations as exhibitors. There is also a dedicated pavilion for Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau enterprises at the expo this year.

Mr Cheung highlighted that under the “one country, two systems” principle, Hong Kong has the unique advantage of enjoying the motherland's strong support and being closely connected to the world, and is the only common law jurisdiction within the country.

The city can certainly play an active role in promoting the economic and trade co-operation and people-to-people exchanges between the country and Eurasian countries, he pointed out.

The Deputy Secretary for Justice noted that Hong Kong, being the key link for the Belt & Road Initiative, will be committed to providing enterprises and economies in the Belt-Road regions with high-quality professional services, in particular one-stop and diversified legal and dispute resolution services.

Enterprises can count on the city's strong professional support when participating in Belt & Road projects, he added.

Additionally, the Department of Justice is actively taking forward the establishment of the Hong Kong International Legal Talents Training Academy to provide training for talent in the practice of foreign-related legal affairs for the country, and nurture legal talent conversant with international law, common law, civil law and the country's legal system for the development of the Belt & Road Initiative.

Mr Cheung also said he hopes the enterprises will leverage on Hong Kong to participate in the initiative and take forward more high-quality development projects for mutual benefits.