Following is the transcript of remarks by the Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, at a media session in Beijing this afternoon (November 12):
 
Reporter: Mrs Lam, this morning when President Xi talked about the irreplaceable role that Hong Kong played in the past and will still play in the future, what exactly do you think he was talking about? And does Hong Kong need Article 23 legislation or even a new Chief Secretary to achieve that?
 
Chief Executive: First of all, we have not touched on at all the two issues that you have raised. As far as President Xi's remark on the very important role of Hong Kong throughout the four decades of the country's reform and opening up, of course everybody in the delegation was very excited and very gratified that our contribution over the years has been fully recognised by the leaders, and I think this really covers a wide range of areas. It's not just in terms of bringing in more investment to the Mainland. It's also in terms of bringing new experience and professional expertise, in terms of city management and other issues, and more recently also in terms of higher education collaboration and science and technology. We have made that contribution, which is well recognised by the Central Authorities, and it is even more comforting to hear from President Xi that he is very assuring that we will continue to play that very significant role. So I have received very positive feedback during lunch that members of the delegation were all very encouraged by those very positive remarks.
 
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)  

Ends/Monday, November 12, 2018
Issued at HKT 17:16

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