Beijing’s top official overseeing Hong Kong affairs has concluded his second visit to the Greater Bay Area in three weeks, a move that analysts view as a push from the central government to speed up the city’s integration with national development.
Xia Baolong, director of the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, was in Guangdong province earlier this week, visiting several mainland Chinese cities in the bay area.
State-run media described the four-day trip as a “research tour” covering Shenzhen, Dongguan and Huizhou. The trip focused on supporting Hong Kong and Macau “in proactively aligning with the national 15th five-year plan, deepening their participation in the development of the Greater Bay Area, and better integrating into and serving the country’s overall development strategy”.
Xia last carried out a similar mission in late March when he visited Guangzhou, Zhaoqing and Foshan.
On both occasions, Xia was accompanied by his deputy Xu Qifang, and Zhang Yong, deputy director of the central government’s liaison office in Hong Kong.
Pictures released by Xia’s office also showed he was joined by Hong Kong health minister Lo Chung-mau, deputy finance minister Michael Wong Wai-lun, financial services secretary Christopher Hui Ching-yu, and transport minister Mable Chan in Shenzhen or Dongguan.