​The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, met the Secretary of the CPC Shandong Provincial Committee, Mr Lin Wu, at Government House today (May 29) to exchange views on strengthening Hong Kong's co-operation with Shandong. Also attending the meeting were the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki; the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Erick Tsang Kwok-wai; and the Director of the Chief Executive's Office, Ms Carol Yip.
      
     Mr Lee welcomed Mr Lin's visit to Hong Kong with his delegation to attend and officiate at activities of 2024 Hong Kong-Macao-Shandong Week. Mr Lee said that the economic and trade relations between Shandong and Hong Kong have always been close and that Hong Kong has been a major source of foreign direct investment in Shandong Province. Noting that Hong Kong has the distinctive advantages of enjoying the strong support of the motherland and being closely connected to the world under "one country, two systems", he said that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government welcomes more enterprises of Shandong Province to leverage Hong Kong's advantageous platform in "going global and attracting foreign investment", promoting Mainland enterprises' expansion to the global market and attracting more foreign investment to the country.
      
     Mr Lee pointed out that since March of this year, the Individual Visit Scheme has been expanded to Qingdao of Shandong Province, enabling local residents to travel to Hong Kong more flexibly and conveniently. He said that as a city with a population of over 10 million and a local Gross Domestic Product of over RMB1 trillion, Qingdao is a source of high value-added overnight visitors due to the high incomes and spending power of its residents. He added that the HKSAR Government welcomes more tourists from Qingdao to visit Hong Kong and experience the unique charm of the city as an East-meets-West metropolis, promoting cultural integration and people-to-people bonds between the two places.
      
     He noted that Hong Kong, as an East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchanges, has maintained exchanges and co-operation with Shandong Province. This includes the jointly organised exhibition entitled "Harmony of Rites and Music: Exploring the Qilu Culture through Shandong Relics" that opened yesterday (May 28), which showcases Chinese civilisation and the long history of Shandong Province to members of the public through the display of fine artefacts from Shandong and Hong Kong, he added.
      
     Mr Lee said that the HKSAR Government will continue to promote and deepen exchanges and co-operation with Shandong in such areas of finance, economics and trade, innovation and technology, culture, and youth development through the Shandong Liaison Unit, jointly making greater contributions to the country's development.

Ends/Wednesday, May 29, 2024
Issued at HKT 19:05

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