Chief Executive John Lee arrived in Beijing this morning and began his visit programme by calling on the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) and the State Council's State-owned Assets Supervision & Administration Commission.

Mr Lee first met CAAC Administrator Song Zhiyong to exchange views on deepening co-operation in civil aviation.

The Chief Executive noted that Hong Kong is an international aviation hub, connecting to more than 200 destinations worldwide. Last year, traffic volume reached 61 million passenger trips, while yearly cargo throughput reached 5.07 million tonnes.

Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) has been named the busiest cargo airport in the world 14 times since 2010. With the full commissioning of the Three-Runway System and the new passenger departure facilities at HKIA's Terminal 2 coming into operation this year, new momentum will be injected into Hong Kong's aviation development.

Mr Lee said that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government will proactively align with the National 15th Five-Year Plan to seize new opportunities, continue to reinforce Hong Kong's top global ranking in cargo throughput and its advantages as a transit hub in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), accelerate the expansion of Hong Kong's aviation network, and develop Hong Kong into the first aircraft parts processing and trading centre in Asia, further enhancing the city's competitiveness as an international aviation hub.

He expressed hoped that the Hong Kong SAR Government and the CAAC would deepen co-operation and promote the complementarity of the airport cluster in the GBA, jointly contributing to the country's goal of building a strong civil aviation sector.

Mr Lee then met SASAC Chairman Zhang Yuzhuo to exchange views on strengthening co-operation.

He said that the Hong Kong SAR Government is actively promoting Hong Kong's development into an international gold trading centre, welcoming state-owned enterprises to participate in gold trading and the construction of related industrial chains in Hong Kong.

The Chief Executive encouraged them to capitalise on Hong Kong's strengths as a platform for fundraising and financing, professional services, risk management and a corporate treasury centre to develop and strengthen their international businesses, thereby contributing to the country's high-quality financial development.

Mr Lee pointed out that the Northern Metropolis serves as a new engine driving Hong Kong's future development, boasting significant development potential and economic value.

He thanked the SASAC for its support for the Hong Kong SAR Government in driving the full-speed development of the NM, and encouraged state-owned enterprises to participate in large-scale land disposal in the metropolis and establish a presence in the Hetao Hong Kong Park to develop innovation and technology industries, jointly developing new quality productive forces.

Mr Lee also expressed confidence that more state-owned enterprises would tap into opportunities in the metropolis, making good use of Hong Kong's role under the “one country, two systems” principle in connecting with both the Mainland and the world and leveraging Hong Kong as a springboard to explore overseas markets, achieving complementarity and mutual benefits.