The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government will proactively align with the nation's 15th Five-Year Plan to seize new opportunities, the city’s leader said as he began his Beijing visit on Tuesday.

John Lee Ka-chiu made the statement when he called on Song Zhiyong, administrator of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), to exchange views on deepening cooperation in civil aviation, according to a government statement.

Noting that the SAR is an international aviation hub, connecting to more than 200 destinations worldwide, Lee said traffic volume reached 61 million passenger trips, while yearly cargo throughput reached 5.07 million tonnes in 2025.

Pointing out that the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) has been named the busiest cargo airport in the world 14 times since 2010, he said that new momentum will be injected into Hong Kong's aviation development with the full commissioning of the Three-Runway System and the new passenger departure facilities at the airport’s Terminal 2 coming into operation this year.

To further enhance its competitiveness as an international aviation hub, the city will continue to reinforce its top global ranking in cargo throughput and advantages as a transit hub in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, accelerate the expansion of its aviation network and develop itself into the first aircraft parts processing and trading center in Asia, the CE added.

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Lee expressed his hope that the HKSAR government and the CAAC would deepen cooperation and promote the complementarity of the airport cluster in the GBA, jointly contributing to the country's goal of building a strong civil aviation sector.

While meeting Zhang Yuzhuo, chairman of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC), the CE welcomed state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to participate in gold trading and the construction of related industrial chains in the city, saying that the SAR government is actively promoting the city’s development into an international gold trading center.

Lee encouraged them to capitalize on Hong Kong's strengths as a platform for fundraising and financing, professional services, risk management and a corporate treasury center to develop and strengthen their international businesses.

Pointing out that the Northern Metropolis serves as a new engine driving Hong Kong's future development, he thanked the SASAC for its support for the SAR government in driving the full-speed development of the metropolis.

He also encouraged SOEs to participate in large-scale land disposal in the metropolis and establish a presence in the Hetao Hong Kong Park to develop innovation and technology industries, jointly developing new quality productive forces.

During the meeting with the SASAC chief, the CE struck a confident note that more SOEs would tap into opportunities in the metropolis, making good use of Hong Kong's role under the “one country, two systems” principle in connecting with both the Chinese mainland and the world and leveraging Hong Kong as a springboard to explore overseas markets, achieving complementarity and mutual benefits.