Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu (left) and Secretary of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee Huang Kunming shake hands as they met in Guangzhou, China on Feb 23, 2023. (PHOTO COURTESY OF HKSAR GOVERNMENT)

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu made his maiden visit as the city’s leader to mainland cities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area on Thursday, reaching consensus with local officials on how to boost talent exchange, innovative technology, trade and logistics for the region’s high-quality development.

To strengthen the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s ties with other GBA cities after the full resumption of cross-boundary travel, Lee visited Guangzhou and Shenzhen on Thursday. He said he will visit Macao next week, and will lead a delegation of Hong Kong legislators to mainland GBA cities in April at the earliest to expand ties.  

In the meantime, Guangdong will continue to roll out favorable policies to help Hong Kong residents, especially young people, to live, study and pursue careers on the mainland, Huang added

Guangdong officials will visit Hong Kong in March, and the government hopes to take the opportunity to hold the Hong Kong/Guangdong Co-operation Joint Conference, Lee said.

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Accompanied by several government department heads, Lee took a high-speed train to Guangzhou on Thursday morning and met with Huang Kunming, Party secretary of Guangdong province, and Wang Weizhong, governor of the province.

Lee said the trip marks a new start to Hong Kong-Guangdong cooperation. Officials agreed that the scope for collaboration is “unlimited”, and said they will strive to jointly promote industries important for the region’s high-quality development, such as scientific research, finance, trade, shipping, intellectual property protection, education and medical services.

Huang said the resumption of cross-boundary travel will bring new momentum to Guangdong-Hong Kong cooperation, adding that both places should grasp this historic opportunity and continue to build the GBA into a world-class cluster.

Huang said he hopes the two sides will continue removing institutional barriers and strengthening connectivity through major infrastructure projects. He also envisions taking better advantage of the Qianhai and Nansha pilot free trade zones to give full play to the region’s strengths.

READ MORE: GBA Task Force furthers legal cooperation between HK and mainland

In the meantime, Guangdong will continue to roll out favorable policies to help Hong Kong residents, especially young people, to live, study and pursue careers on the mainland, Huang added.

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee meets Secretary of the CPC Shenzhen Municipal Committee Meng Fanli (right), in Shenzhen, China. Mr John Lee led a delegation to visit Guangzhou and Shenzhen on Feb 23, 2023. (PHOTO / HKSAR GOVERNMENT)

Lee introduced Guangdong officials to Hong Kong government’s newly founded Steering Group on Integration into National Development. He also thanked Guangdong province for providing timely resources and manpower support to Hong Kong amid the city’s fifth wave of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Chief Executive John Lee (center), accompanied by members of the Hong Kong delegation, meets the media in Guangzhou, China on Feb 23, 2023. (PHOTO / HKSAR GOVERNMENT)

After concluding his visit to Guangzhou, Lee arrived in Shenzhen on Thursday afternoon and met local officials. He will return to Hong Kong on Thursday night.

Contact the writer at williamxu@chinadailyhk.com