Beijing urges Hong Kong to tap global connectivity and help drive national recovery
- Local members of country’s top political bodies lay out key prescriptions for financial centre delivered during annual ‘two sessions’ in Beijing
- Hong Kong must ensure it remains international, while also further integrating with national goals, they quote top officials as saying
The local members of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), who have started their new five-year terms, were also expected to play a bigger role in tackling pressing livelihood issues at home as Beijing was set to streamline its governance of Hong Kong.
The change, which would involve elevating Beijing’s top office overseeing Hong Kong affairs from a ministerial-level body to one answering directly to the Communist Party’s Central Committee, was expected to be announced after the meeting concludes on Monday.
At this year’s sessions, which began last weekend, state leaders set a target of about 5.5 per cent growth for the year, outlined policy priorities and unveiled institutional reforms. The twice-a-decade leadership transition also saw Xi Jinping secure an unprecedented third term as president.
Top mainland Chinese leaders also held closed-door meetings with members of the Hong Kong delegation, and a speech by Beijing’s top envoy in the city was made public, which together offered a glimpse of how the central government envisions the next stage of the financial centre’s future.
A key message, according to delegates interviewed by the Post, was that Hong Kong needed to take advantage of its global connectivity to help advance the national economic and political agenda, as Beijing has made growth in the post-pandemic era a priority.
“I kept hearing about [the message that] Hong Kong has to remain international,” said NPC deputy Kennedy Wong Ying-ho, also a local legislator.
