Editor’s note: Since its establishment in 1997, China Daily Hong Kong Edition has been a witness, facilitator and contributor to the city’s dazzling economic progress, growing international influence, and stronger integration with the Chinese mainland. Let’s stroll down memory lane with CDHK by revisiting select front pages — snapshots of historical moments — to mark with CDHK the days of joy, happiness and sadness.

(PHOTO / CHINA DAILY)

July 1, 2017 Anniversary

When Hong Kong marked the 20th anniversary of its return to the motherland on July 1, 2017, President Xi Jinping visited Hong Kong for the second time — and his first inspection tour of the city since he was elected as the country’s leader.

Hong Kong people have made tremendous contributions to the country’s reform and opening-up in the past decades, which the whole nation will never forget, Xi said.

On the same day, Xi attended the inauguration of the fifth-term government of the Hong Kong SAR, and swore in then-chief executive-designate Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor.

(PHOTO / CHINA DAILY)

Sept 23, 2018 Rail Link

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ushered in an exciting new era, then-chief executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said at West Kowloon Station to mark the opening ceremony of the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link on Sept 22, 2018.

The Hong Kong section of the rail link, 26 kilometers long, channeled the city into the nation’s 25,000-km high-speed rail network. It also connected Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou, three poster cities driving the rapid development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

When it officially opened to passengers on Sept 23 that year, Hong Kong opened a new chapter, welcoming countless opportunities.