Working together: Hong Kong & Macau Affairs Office Director (Shanghai) Li Mingjun and Secretary for the Civil Service Denise Yue sign the third agreement for civil service exchange between Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Secretary for the Civil Service Denise Yue has signed the third agreement for the exchange of civil servants between the Hong Kong and Shanghai Municipal Governments today.

Up to five civil servants from each city will be attached to the other government for up to eight weeks over the next two years.

The programme will allow the sharing of knowledge and expertise, and foster a better understanding and closer partnership between the two cities.

The first staff exchange pact was signed in July 2002, with 36 departments of Hong Kong and Shanghai and 57 middle or senior ranking civil servants involved from 2002 to 2008.

The scope of exchange includes construction, city planning, environmental protection, landscaping, transportation, port administration, public housing, public health, food safety, water supplies, public security, information technology, education and civil service management.