Chief Executive John Lee today met Chongqing Mayor Hu Henghua at Government House to exchange views on strengthening Hong Kong's co-operation with Chongqing.

Welcoming Mr Hu's visit to Hong Kong with his delegation, Mr Lee said Hong Kong and Chongqing have maintained close ties, adding that Hong Kong has long been the largest source of foreign direct investment in Chongqing.

He highlighted that since the establishment of the Hong Kong/Chongqing Co-operation Conference mechanism in May last year, both governments have actively taken forward the implementation of co-operation initiatives in various areas, which have yielded fruitful results.

The Chief Executive pointed out that the framework arrangement signed by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government’s Department of Justice and the Chongqing Municipal Justice Bureau last month on legal services co-operation between Hong Kong and Chongqing deepens the cities' exchanges and co-operation in legal services, enabling lawyers in the two places to better serve economic development.

He also believes that with the joint efforts of Chongqing and Hong Kong, co-operation and exchanges between both sides in such areas as legal services, trade and investment, technology innovation, education and youth development will definitely make steady progress to achieve complementarity and mutual benefits.

Noting that Chongqing is the focus for the country in developing the western region, Mr Lee said Hong Kong will continue to work with Chongqing to jointly facilitate the two key national strategies of the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area development, to make greater contributions to the country's high-quality development.

Also attending the meeting were Chief Secretary Chan Kwok-ki and Director of the Chief Executive's Office Carol Yip.