Hong Kong leader John Lee wraps up Guangdong day trip with talent, I&T and financial services among key areas marked for tie-ups

John Lee, who led a government delegation to Guangzhou and Shenzhen, says he will head to Macau next week followed by visits to other bay area cities

He says both sides reached a consensus on identifying four key areas of collaboration – talent flow, innovation and technology, tertiary education and financial services

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John Lee (left) and Guangdong party secretary Huang Kunming in Guangzhou. Photo: Handout

Published: 7:40pm, 23 Feb 2023Updated: 9:23pm, 23 Feb 2023

Leaders of Guangdong province have pledged to enhance collaboration with Hong Kong in several key areas, especially the flow of talent, innovation and technology, and financial services, according to the city’s chief executive, who made his first official visit to the Greater Bay Area on Thursday.

John Lee Ka-chiu, who led a government delegation to Guangzhou and Shenzhen, also announced that he would head to Macau next week, followed by the remaining seven mainland Chinese cities in the bay area, envisioned as an integrated economic area in the national blueprint.

Guangdong leaders planned to visit Hong Kong next month, potentially for a high-level meeting, Lee added.

“This trip only lasts for a day, but has demonstrated how we have resumed face-to-face exchanges on topics with consensus after the border reopening,” he said after meeting Guangdong party secretary Huang Kunming and provincial governor Wang Weizhong.

Hong Kong leader John Lee, flanked by Deputy Chief Secretary Warner Cheuk Wing-hing (left) and constitutional affairs chief Erick Tsang Kwok-wai, speaks about Thursday’s trip. Photo: Elson Li

Lee also weighed in on an ongoing controversy in which Hong Kong authorities revoked a work visa granted under a new talent scheme to Chinese scientist He Jiankui, who was previously jailed on the mainland for illegally creating the world’s first gene-edited babies. The relevant departments had already learned from the lesson and improved the programme, he said.