Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Edward Yau began his visit to Washington, DC today to promote Hong Kong's strengths in doing business and introduce its latest economic developments.

He first met experts from the Peterson Institute for International Economics to exchange views on issues such as global economic and trade relations, and the current situation and future prospects of multilateral and regional trading systems.

Mr Yau then called on Minister of the Chinese Embassy in the US Li Kexin to understand the latest situation of China-US relations.

He also joined a dinner hosted by the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office, Washington, DC that was attended by senior US government officials, think tank members and leaders of commerce and business chambers.

Mr Yau said he looks forward to fostering closer bilateral ties through high-level government and business delegation exchanges.

In 2017, total trade in goods and services between the US and Hong Kong was close to US$70 billion. The US was Hong Kong's second-largest goods trading partner, while Hong Kong ranked ninth-largest among US goods exports destinations.