Selim Htavti Afp | Getty Images BEIJING – Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Hong Kong’s special administrative district on Thursday, state media reported. The trip is for the 25th anniversary on Friday of the handover of Hong Kong to China from British colonial rule. The visit marks Xi’s first trip from mainland China since the pandemic began more than two years ago. In a brief speech on arrival in Hong Kong, Xi said Beijing would stick to the “one country, two systems” policy, which it claimed would “ensure long-term prosperity and stability in Hong Kong”, according to an official English translation. broadcast by state media. The “one country, two systems” policy has allowed the Chinese city of Hong Kong to function as a semi-autonomous region under Beijing. Large-scale, violent protests in 2019 were initially sparked by a controversial extradition bill that many in Hong Kong claimed contradicted the “one country, two systems” principle. Retail sales in the region shrank in 2019 and 2020 as protests disrupted the local economy, even before a pandemic cut off Hong Kong from foreign and mainland tourists. Xi said on Thursday that Hong Kong had overcome “heavy tasks” and “a number of risks and challenges” in recent years, without going into details. In a 2020 speech in Shenzhen, Xi said that the city of mainland China should promote the development of Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao — the Greater Bay region — and enrich the new practice of “one country, two systems “. He did not specify what the “new practice” entails. This speech celebrates the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone in the southern province of Guangdong. Xi closed his remarks on Thursday, referring to his goal of building China into a greater power. “Hong Kong will make a significant contribution to the revitalization of the Chinese nation,” he said. Xi arrived in Hong Kong with his wife at West Kowloon Railway Station, according to a live broadcast on state media on Thursday afternoon. The stream showed a station full of children and adults shouting “welcome” to Mandarin and waving the Hong Kong and China flags. On Friday, Beijing loyalist John Lee will begin his five-year tenure as chief executive in Hong Kong, replacing outgoing CEO Carrie Lam. Lee was the sole candidate in the May election. – CNBC’s Su-Lin Tan contributed to this report.
