The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, the National Development & Reform Commission (NDRC) and relevant central ministries today held the ninth Joint Conference on Advancing Hong Kong's Full Participation in & Contribution to the Belt & Road Initiative in Beijing.

Secretary for Justice Paul Lam, in his capacity as chairperson of the Working Group on Belt & Road Development under the Steering Group on Integration into National Development, led a delegation to attend the conference.

NDRC Vice Chairman Zhou Haibing also attended the meeting, alongside representatives from the commission, the Hong Kong & Macao Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, and the Supreme People's Court.

Other attendees included representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Commerce, the People's Bank of China, the State-owned Assets Supervision & Administration Commission of the State Council, the National Financial Regulatory Administration, the State Administration for Market Regulation, and the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong SAR.

Addressing the conference, Mr Lam said the Hong Kong SAR Government has been taking forward Belt & Road co-operation to achieve deeper and more concrete outcomes, fully participating in and contributing to the initiative under the guidance of major national steps to support high-quality co-operation and integrate into national development.

He expressed gratitude to the central government for its staunch support for hosting the International Organization for Mediation headquarters in Hong Kong, emphasising that this will strengthen the city’s role as an international dispute resolution services centre as well as a hub for international mediation. 

He added that public consultation is underway on formulating Hong Kong's First Five-Year Plan, which outlines directions to deepen participation in the initiative and enable the city to better leverage its unique advantages under "one country, two systems".

Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Algernon Yau, who serves as the Hong Kong-side Convenor of the Joint Conference, highlighted the Hong Kong SAR Government’s commitment to promoting all-round, multifaceted cooperation under the initiative.

During the meeting, Mr Yau reported on relevant work progress, including forging additional free trade and investment agreements, advancing plans to establish a new Economic & Trade Office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and accelerating the work of the Task Force on Supporting Mainland Enterprises in Going Global to help Mainland businesses expand overseas through Hong Kong's platform.

Today’s session also covered work proposals submitted by the Hong Kong SAR Government for consideration by central ministries, alongside Hong Kong’s key priority areas for future participation in the initiative, while representatives from relevant Mainland ministries detailed their supportive measures and provided feedback on the proposals.