Hong Kong’s economy is expected to continue to maintain a positive growth of 2 to 3 percent despite a possible escalation in tariff war initiated by the United States, the special administrative region’s leader said on Tuesday.

Addressing the media ahead of the Executive Council meeting, John Lee Ka-chiu pointed out that Hong Kong's economy recorded a real growth of 3.1 percent in the first half of 2025.

Highlighting that the SAR has recently retained its status as the world's freest economy and third-ranked financial center, he said Hong Kong had weathered “countless storms”, with the national and global advantages under “one country two systems”.

He reiterated the seven measures announced by the government after the US administration announced its imposition of so-called “reciprocal tariffs" and its elimination of the duty-free “de minimis” treatment for covered goods from the SAR starting May 2.

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The SAR government will continue to “seize the opportunities brought by the national development and strengthen international exchanges to explore new markets”, Lee said.

The measures also included "accelerating industrial upgrading and transformation by developing high-value-added innovation-driven economic models", Lee pointed out, adding that the government will intensify efforts to develop technological innovation and attract top-tier talents to strengthen the city's competitiveness.

Hong Kong will also advance international financial cooperation, and seize the world's major trend of geographical risk diversification to attract foreign companies and capital to establish in the HKSAR, while continuing to provide support to help Hong Kong enterprises, said the CE.

The HKSAR served as a good platform for many enterprises to go global, and last week the Task Force on Supporting Mainland Enterprises in Going Global was launched to encourage enterprises to use the SAR as a springboard to expand globally, creating win-win opportunities for both the HKSAR and the Chinese mainland, according to Lee.

"As long as we work together to embrace change and also strive for innovation, Hong Kong's opportunities will outweigh challenges," he said, adding that the government will closely monitor the situation and respond pragmatically to safeguard the city's rights and interests.

Protecting tourist attractions

Asked about damages and pollution at Sharp Island and other country parks after the Golden Week holidays, the CE stressed that the government attached great importance to environmental protection and will strengthen management to strike a balance between nature conservation and tourism development.

“We made advance preparations on days when large numbers of tourists are expected, such as conducting joint operations at popular rural locations and erecting more signage urging tourists to protect the environment,” Lee said.

The government will promote messages about environmental protection through social media platforms, and will continue to appeal to both residents and tourists to comply with rules about ecological protection, he added.

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Hong Kong’s first Chinese medicine hospital

At the same briefing, the CE announced Hong Kong’s first Chinese medicine hospital and the Government Chinese Medicines Testing Institute will be commissioned in phase starting Dec 11.

The hospital will play three important roles, including providing residents with diversified and high-quality traditional Chinese medicine services, creating new opportunities for the development of TCM in the HKSAR, and helping the country promote Chinese medicine to the world, according to Lee.

A series of publicity activities were organized before the hospital commissioning to enhance public awareness of the hospital, the CE said, adding that the Health Bureau will announce more details later this week.

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Violation in light public housing project

Regarding construction flaws found at three light public housing projects, the CE emphasized that the government had set up a special group to find out the cause and prevent the same problem from happening again.

During an inspection conducted by the Architectural Services Department in late August, some screws had been found to be cut short without approval at the sites in Chai Wan, Siu Lam, and Tuen Mun, while holes linking metal panels had also been widened after the inspection, according to media reports.

“Contractors has the responsibility to perform high-standard workmanship and, if problems arise, they must come up with a solution. In addition, we must make up for the time and ensure that the project is not delayed. We will also hold the contractor accountable,” he added.