Chief Executive John Lee today met State Councillor Shen Yiqin at Government House.

Ms Shen is also Chairperson of the National Working Committee on Children & Women under the State Council, and President of the All-China Women’s Federation.

She is leading a delegation to attend the Hong Kong Family & Women Development Summit being held in the city today.

Mr Lee welcomed Ms Shen and her delegation to the summit and applauded her guidance. He said her support reflects the importance the country attaches to women’s affairs and family building in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

The Chief Executive said hosting the summit is a concrete action by Hong Kong to actively promote women and family affairs, and the extensive participation of various sectors of the community demonstrates Hong Kong’s strong cohesiveness in advancing the cause.

He said the current-term Hong Kong SAR Government has rolled out a series of innovative policies and measures on women’s development and family building, which have laid a solid foundation for the work on women’s development and family building in Hong Kong while nurturing a new generation of women’s power.

Such initiatives include the establishment of the Women Empowerment Fund, the launch of the “She Inspires” Mentorship Programme that matches female university students with women leader mentors, the implementation of the Funding Scheme on the Promotion of Family Education, the organisation of the Hong Kong Excellent Family Awards, and more.

Mr Lee said the National 15th Five-Year Plan clearly sets out its support for the promotion of gender equality and the all-round development of women, as well as the importance of dedicating efforts in upholding good family values and strengthening family building, family education and family virtues.

These demonstrate the country’s strong commitment to the development of women and family affairs, and provide an important guide for the Hong Kong SAR in planning its work on family and women's affairs.

Hong Kong will, Mr Lee iterated, proactively take forward the relevant work and strengthen planning efforts on family development with a view to promoting good family virtues, advancing the diversified development of women and fostering social harmony.

He highlighted that Hong Kong enjoys the advantage of being closely connected to both the Mainland and the world under the “one country, two systems” principle.

Hong Kong will continue to play its bridging role in promoting exchanges and co-operation between the country and the international community in women and family affairs, and make greater contributions to the national development and on the international stage, the Chief Executive added.