Hong Kong chief executive to lead ‘Greater Bay Area’ integration study tour
Leung will act for first time in his new joint role of chief executive and CPPCC vice-chairman while promoting national development plan
Outgoing Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying will lead a major delegation, including six ministers, to six mainland cities as part of the “Greater Bay Area” plan, an integration scheme announced by Premier Li Keqiang in his annual work report last month.
Leung, whose term ends on June 30, was elevated to a vice-chairman’s post in the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference last month.
It would be his first time leading a delegation to the mainland under his unprecedented dual role.
The delegation will comprise non-official members of the Executive Council, Commission on Strategic Development and the Economic Development Commission. However, the only two pan-democrats on the commissions, Democratic Party veteran Dr Law Chi-kwong and lawmaker Joseph Lee Kok-long, said they would not join due to other engagements.
Officials joining Leung will include Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung Kin-chung and Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po.
The delegation will tour six cities under the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Bay Area: Guangzhou, Foshan, Zhaoqing, Jiangmen, Zhongshan and Zhuhai from April 19 to 21 to learn more about their latest developments in infrastructure, town planning, and innovation and technology, as well as to meet the cities’ leaders.
