Secretary for Environment & Ecology Tse Chin-wan today kicked off a visit to Beijing by visiting agricultural facilities and meeting officials.

In the morning, Mr Tse visited the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and toured various facilities to learn about national developments in agro-technology.

In the afternoon, he paid a courtesy call on the General Administration of Customs (GACC) and met GACC Vice Minister Zhao Zenglian. 

Mr Tse expressed gratitude to the GACC for its support in safeguarding food supplies to Hong Kong and its assistance in the implementation of a customs clearance facilitation arrangement in relation to Hong Kong food exports.

He said that the facilitation arrangement, which launched in May last year, is operating smoothly and has significantly shortened the time required for customs clearance. He added that its introduction is appreciated by Hong Kong food manufacturers.

Both sides expressed the hope that the arrangement can be applied to more food categories in the future.

Afterwards, Mr Tse met representatives from the Ministry of Ecology & Environment (MEE), the National Center for Climate Change Strategy & International Cooperation, and the BRI International Green Development Coalition to exchange views on topics such as co-operation on ecological and environmental matters and combating climate change.

He said that with the MEE’s strong support, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government was involved in a successful Side Event at the China Pavilion during the 29th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) last year.

The environment chief added that he hopes to continue telling good stories about Hong Kong’s and China’s efforts to combat climate change at COP30 this year.