Chief Executive Carrie Lam continued her visit to Wuhan in Hubei Province today by meeting the city leaders and attending an exchange session with Hong Kong businessmen in the province.

Mrs Lam met CPC Wuhan Municipal Committee Secretary Guo Yuanqiang and Wuhan Mayor Cheng Yongwen and attended a lunch hosted by them.

She expressed her gratitude to the Wuhan Municipal Government for its long-standing support for the work of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government's Economic & Trade Office in Wuhan (Wuhan ETO).

She also thanked the municipal government for its full support and assistance to Hong Kong residents in Wuhan at the height of the COVID-19 epidemic early last year and its help for the Hong Kong SAR Government to arrange for chartered flights to bring those residents home.

The Chief Executive said she was pleased to learn that flights from Hong Kong to Wuhan, which have been suspended due to the epidemic, will resume soon. This will help enhance the flow of people and goods between the two places.

Wuhan holds a leading position in innovation in the country's central and western regions and is actively developing a modernised city. It is also a renowned city with a rich culture and history.

Mrs Lam noted that the Hong Kong SAR hopes to enhance co-operation and exchanges with Wuhan on all fronts including economic and trade, innovation and technology, arts and culture, and youth development.

She emphasised that encouraging Hong Kong young people to work and set up businesses in the Mainland is an important part of the Hong Kong SAR Government's youth work, which can also enhance their understanding of the nation's latest developments.

She expressed hope she would be able to take stock of the Hong Kong SAR Government's experience in promoting young people to work and establish businesses in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and in future, with the Wuhan Municipal Government's support, set up innovative and entrepreneurial bases in Wuhan to provide opportunities for the young people of Hong Kong and Macau.

Meanwhile, Mrs Lam visited the new exhibition hall of Hubei Provincial Museum to learn more about local archaeological and heritage preservation work. She viewed the artefacts in the hall and watched a chime bell performance organised by the museum.

Pointing out that the Hong Kong Palace Museum will open in mid-2022, she hoped to enhance collaboration with the Hubei museum in areas like heritage conservation, exhibition of precious artefacts and education.

The Chief Executive then visited the Museum of Wuchang Uprising of 1911 Revolution, which is a national patriotism education demonstration centre.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China and the 110th anniversary of the 1911 Revolution. Mrs Lam was pleased that the Wuhan ETO and relevant units arranged a visit to the museum for new Hong Kong students in Hubei last month to enhance their understanding of national history.

During her trip today, Mrs Lam toured the East Lake High-tech Development Zone, also known as the optics valley of China, and some major technology firms there. She also visited a nucleic acid testing vehicle and a vaccination vehicle.

With the allocation of substantial resources to promote innovation and technology development by the current-term Hong Kong SAR Government and its commitment to develop research and development platforms for life sciences and innovative healthcare, she believes that Hong Kong and Wuhan can explore room for co-operation.

In the evening, the Chief Executive attended a seminar hosted by the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce in Hubei to exchange views with representatives of Hong Kong enterprises and learn more about their operations, employment and lives in the province.

She also joined the chamber's annual gala dinner and officiated at the launch ceremony of a centre which provides entrepreneurial services for Hong Kong youth in Hubei.

Under the improved electoral system of the Hong Kong SAR, the Election Committee (EC) has been expanded and is composed of 1,500 members, with new subsectors to include representatives from associations of Hong Kong residents in the Mainland.

Mrs Lam said the representative of the chamber is also an EC member, making the committee more broadly representative.

She added that the Hong Kong SAR Government announced yesterday the arrangement to set up polling stations at Heung Yuen Wai, Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau Spur Line boundary control points to facilitate Hong Kong residents in the Mainland to vote in the 2021 Legislative Council General Election on December 19.