Chief Executive Carrie Lam today visited Shanghai, where she attended the Hong Kong & Shanghai cultural and creative co-operation conference.

Together with Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences President Zhang Daogen, with whom she met in the morning, Mrs Lam witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Shanghai Culture Research Center and Zuni Icosahedron from Hong Kong at the conference.

The MOU covers the setting up of a joint cultural talents exchange and training centre for the Belt & Road Initiative.

Mrs Lam then delivered a keynote speech on Hong Kong’s role in the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

At noon, Mrs Lam met CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee Secretary Li Qiang and Shanghai Mayor Ying Yong.

Mrs Lam said she looks forward to the Shanghai Week to be organised by Shanghai in Hong Kong next year which will further strengthen cultural co-operation between Shanghai and Hong Kong.

She then visited the China Welfare Institute to learn about their welfare services for women and children.

In the evening, Mrs Lam attended the opening ceremony for Festival Hong Kong 2019 - A Cultural Extravaganza@Shanghai.

She said the festival is the first major cultural activity organised in the Mainland by Hong Kong since the 2010 Shanghai Expo.

The event covers stage performances, film screenings, exhibitions and an outdoor carnival with the aim of demonstrating the vitality and creativity of Hong Kong’s arts and culture to people in the Mainland and abroad.

Mrs Lam will proceed to Nanjing tomorrow to continue the visit programme.