
Beijing’s top official overseeing Hong Kong affairs has concluded his second visit to the Greater Bay Area in three weeks, a trip 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 Shenzhen, Dongguan and Huizhou.
State-run media said his four-day “research tour” 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”.
Advertisement
Xia visited Guangzhou, Zhaoqing and Foshan on a similar mission in late March.
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.
Advertisement
Pictures released by Xia’s office also showed he was joined in Shenzhen or Dongguan 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.

Don't Miss:
-
Chinese crystal ‘paves way’ for GPS-free thorium clock navigation
-
Russia and Ukraine begin 32-hour ceasefire for Orthodox Easter
-
Israeli spy firm Black Cube involved in Cyprus corruption probe
-
Gucci shoes worth HK$11,000 stolen from shopping centre restroom in Hong Kong
-
Vaccine coverage gaps spur Bangladesh’s deadly measles outbreak

The “Chokubi” Crisis
Bhutan’s ‘Mindfulness City’ to Link to India by Rail
Cracks in the Sand: Gulf Monarchies’ Economic and Geopolitical Peril