Financial Secretary Paul Chan will depart tomorrow for visits to Tianjin and Beijing, and return to Hong Kong on Thursday.

Mr Chan will lead a delegation from the innovation and technology sector to attend the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2025 in Tianjin. He will participate in several thematic sessions to deliver speeches and engage in discussions.

The delegation includes senior executives from the Science & Technology Parks Corporation, Cyberport and the Hong Kong Investment Corporation as well as leaders of startups under their umbrella specialising in artificial intelligence, biomedicine technologies, green and new energy technologies and aerospace technologies.

The Annual Meeting of the New Champions gathers leaders from governments, businesses, think tanks, academia and representatives from international organisations. Around 1,700 participants from over 90 countries and regions will discuss how entrepreneurship and innovation can drive economic growth in rapidly changing geopolitical and economic landscapes.

Mr Chan will also meet officials from relevant central authorities, leaders of Tianjin as well as political and business leaders from other regions to brief them on Hong Kong's latest developments and its new advantages and opportunities.

In Beijing, the Financial Secretary will attend the 10th annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and meet other governors in addition to officials from relevant central authorities.

Meanwhile, Secretary for Financial Services & the Treasury Christopher Hui will depart for Beijing today. He will attend some activities of the AIIB's Board of Governors annual meeting.

During Mr Chan and Mr Hui’s absence, Deputy Financial Secretary Michael Wong and Under Secretary for Financial Services & the Treasury Joseph Chan will be acting secretaries respectively.