Latest news with #XiaBaolong
South China Morning Post
11 hours ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Remove barriers to speed up Hong Kong's Northern Metropolis, Xia Baolong says
Beijing's point man on Hong Kong affairs has urged local authorities to speed up work on the Northern Metropolis megaproject by removing barriers while also safeguarding national security against the threat of 'soft resistance', according to the city's leader. Advertisement Seeing off Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) director Xia Baolong at the border at the end of his five-day visit , Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said on Sunday that the city was told to take advantage of the stability and safety brought by the national security law's implementation five years ago by boosting development and the economy. Xia, whose inspection trip marked the fifth anniversary of the Beijing-imposed law, had set out the future directions of the city's development during the trip, Lee said. The city leader added that Xia had reaffirmed his support for the administration's work. Xia also praised the work of community care teams, who helped needy households, and encouraged them by composing a poem for the carers, Lee said. 'Director Xia reminded us to continue safeguarding national security,' Lee told reporters at the Shenzhen Bay crossing after Xia's departure. 'The risks still exist especially when the geopolitical situation is complex, and we should always stay vigilant against soft resistance. Advertisement 'We should work on security and development by taking advantage of the safety and stability.'
South China Morning Post
16 hours ago
- Health
- South China Morning Post
Xia Baolong meets Hong Kong district officers and visits ‘community living room'
Beijing's point man on Hong Kong affairs has met district officers and toured a 'community living room' on the final day of his inspection visit, the Post has learned. Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) director Xia Baolong spoke to the chairs of the city's 18 district councils at the government headquarters in Admiralty on Sunday morning, according to sources. He then headed to a community living room operated by the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals in To Kwa Wan at noon. Beijing liaison office chief Zhou Ji, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, and Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han were seen visiting the facility with him. The spaces are a government initiative to ease the pressure on the tenants of Hong Kong's subdivided flats by providing them communal areas for cooking, dining, studying, showering and doing laundry. There are now six such facilities, mainly in Kowloon.
South China Morning Post
16 hours ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong shoebox flat owners urged to comply with shake-up after years of profits
Hong Kong's housing minister has urged the owners of substandard subdivided flats to comply with a coming regulatory regime that is expected to cost landlords after years of huge profits. The appeal from Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho Wing-yin on Sunday came two days after the government gazetted the Basic Housing Units Bill, which aims to phase out subpar living spaces. The move follows calls from Xia Baolong, Beijing's top official on Hong Kong affairs, for the city to 'bid farewell to subdivided flats and 'cage homes''. Ho on Sunday said: 'When you subdivided a flat into many partitions back then, it was expensive … You still did it because [you] felt that the rental income provided a return. This was a market decision.' She also pointed out that landlords had enjoyed years of profits as a result of their investments. 'Our society has a demand and hopes that [low-income households], when in need, can have living spaces with basic sanitary conditions and a basic amount of room,' the minister said.
South China Morning Post
a day ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong must build on progress made as it enters latest chapter
The fifth anniversary of Hong Kong's national security law was marked yesterday with a high-level forum that reflected on the past but looked to the future. Xia Baolong, Beijing's top official overseeing the city's affairs, recognised the progress Hong Kong has made since 2020, noting it had entered a new stage of development. But he warned this is a critical period for the city, which needs to adapt, seize opportunities and rise to new challenges. Xia's five-day visit has included meetings with officials, politicians, business leaders, universities and foreign chambers of commerce. It is an important trip. When the national security law was passed by China's legislature, Hong Kong was a different place, facing unprecedented difficulties. Months-long anti-government protests in 2019 rocked the city. This was followed by the Covid-19 pandemic, which also battered the economy and restricted international engagement. Xia described the legislation as a good law that targeted a small minority, had restored order and provided the foundation for the city's recovery and renewal. Hong Kong has bounced back, attracting business, investment, tourists and talent, staging international conferences and a wide variety of 'mega-events'.
South China Morning Post
a day ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
How to answer Xia's call for Hong Kong? Tap global ties and lure talent, experts say
Hong Kong should maintain its international connectivity and attract talent to speed up its economic transformation, analysts and figures from the commerce sector have said, as they hailed the enactment of the national security law for improving the business environment. Some political analysts also called on government officials to take bolder steps and adopt new thinking, taking advantage of the social stability and order brought by the security law Beijing imposed on the city in 2020. Their suggestions came after the director of the State Council's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, Xia Baolong, said the implementation of the law was a 'watershed' for the financial hub that brought order after chaos. But Xia, who made the remarks at a forum on Saturday marking the anniversary of the implementation of the national security law, also warned against complacency, calling for unity to support the government and urging the administration to come up with innovative governance concepts to enhance effectiveness. Political scientist Hung Wing-lok of the School of Governance and Policy Science at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said: 'Hong Kong should seize the opportunity to attract more foreign talent to speed up its economic transformation. 'As tensions between China and the United States remain high, Hong Kong should continue to keep its international connectivity to maintain its status as a global financial hub.
