Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor (first row, fifth right) attends the High-Level Meeting and the Second Plenary Session of the Hong Kong/Sichuan Cooperation Conference in Chengdu on Sept 23, 2021. (PHOTO / HKSAR GOVERNMENT)

The High-Level Meeting and the Second Plenary Session of the Hong Kong/Sichuan Cooperation Conference was held in Chengdu on Thursday to review the achievements made since the last meeting and agree on the directions for future cooperation.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and Communist Party of China Sichuan Provincial Committee Secretary Peng Qinghua led the delegations of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Sichuan governments at the session, with Hong Kong & Macao Affairs Office Deputy Director Huang Liuquan as special guest.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and CPC Sichuan Provincial Committee Secretary Peng Qinghua led the delegations of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Sichuan governments at the session

“The Hong Kong/Sichuan co-operation mechanism was established by the current-term government in May 2018, which has then become an important co-operation platform for the two places,” Lam said.

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“It is precious to witness the holding of this high-level meeting twice in three years' time; especially as both sides have been unremittingly promoting economic and trade exchanges in the time of epidemics,” she added.

Lam said Hong Kong will continue to capitalize on its strengths and, by leveraging the opportunities of the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle development, Hong Kong and Sichuan “will flourish through a deepening win-win collaboration.”   

Both places reached a consensus on numerous areas of cooperation, including the Belt & Road Initiative, finance, civil aviation, maritime transport and logistics, professional legal services, cultural and creative industries and tourism.

At the meeting, Chief Secretary John Lee Ka-chiu and Sichuan province Vice-Governor Li Yunze signed a memorandum on the Hong Kong/Sichuan Cooperation Conference. This is in addition to three cooperation agreements signed by government departments and statutory bodies of both places.

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