Beijing’s top official for Macao and Hong Kong is urging Hong Kong to focus more on national integration and aligning itself with the Greater Bay Area (GBA) initiative, the South China Morning Post reports.
On Tuesday, the SAR’s chief secretary Eric Chan said that Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO), was “very, very concerned about Hong Kong.” Xia’s comments came after meeting with the city’s top officials over the weekend – part of a two-day trip that included a visit to Hengqin and meetings with Macao’s top officials on Saturday.
Xia urged Hong Kong to “try our very best to integrate into the mainland’s national policies, especially the Greater Bay Area initiative,” Chan said.
[See more: Xia Baolong’s weekend visit renews calls for greater integration with Hengqin]
Xia visited the Shenzhen-Hong Kong technology zone in Hetao on Sunday, where he learned about development plans for the zone and was briefed about Hong Kong’s economic situation.
The HKMAO head weighed in on the SAR’s economic strategy and gave guidance on how the city could collaborate more effectively with the nine cities of Guangdong Province that are included in the GBA, the Standard reported.
Chan said the visit was an opportunity to better understand how the central government was thinking about Hong Kong, “especially how we should make good cooperation with our Guangdong counterparts.”
