Chinese Premier Li Keqiang urges Hong Kong to meet needs of nation, local residents as he praises city leader John Lee’s hard work
- Premier Li Keqiang says ‘fate of Hong Kong and China linked together’, as he calls for further expansion of city’s technology, finance industries
- State leader also praises Hong Kong’s chief executive for ‘leading government in actively responding to society’s concerns, making efforts to reboot economic vibrancy’
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has urged Hong Kong to meet the country’s needs and further integrate into its national development plan while improving the well-being of local residents, as he also acknowledged the city leader’s hard work in resolving deep-seated problems.
Meeting Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu on Thursday at the Chinese government’s headquarters, the Zhongnanhai compound, the state leader said central authorities there would continue to support Hong Kong’s administration in implementing the “one country, two systems” governing principle in accordance with the law and to protect the city’s prosperity and stability.
“[We will support the administration in] implementing Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong with a high degree of autonomy, comprehensively implementing the central government’s jurisdiction over Hong Kong, as well as ‘patriots administering Hong Kong’,” he said.
Li, the first senior official to meet Lee during the second day of his maiden duty visit to Beijing, also laid out his expectations for Hong Kong during the exchange.
“The fate of Hong Kong and the nation are linked together. I hope the Hong Kong government will be united and lead the vast majority of residents to meet the needs of the country and integrate into the overall development of the country and give full play to the unique advantages of the city,” the premier said.
He added that Hong Kong must continue to consolidate its status as an international financial, trading and shipping hub, as well as develop itself as a global technology centre.
Li urged Hong Kong to bring prosperity to residents by further “expanding the high-level openness” of the city’s economy, referring to industries such as finance and technology, amid backing from mainland China while on the world stage.
