Chinese vice premier expresses 'four hopes' for HK as Belt and Road Summit opens

The 8th Belt and Road Summit launched in Hong Kong on Wednesday with Chinese vice-premier Ding Xuexiang expressing "four hopes" for the city, which included looking forward to Hong Kong to deepen regional cooperation in expanding economic and trade networks.

The 2-day summit, which gathered senior government officials and business leaders from countries and regions along and beyond the Belt and Road, is a platform for exchanging insights on multilateral cooperation and exploring concrete business opportunities along the region.

Delivering a keynote video speech during the opening session of the summit, Ding said Hong Kong has made use of its unique advantages and promotes the Belt and Road Initiative.

He mentioned "four hopes" for Hong Kong. The first is to expand its economic and trade networks via strengthening regional collaboration, adding that the central government supports Hong Kong for early accession to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and explore the signing of free trade and investment agreements with more countries.

Ding also suggested the city should improve its financial services to boost its financial connectivity, in order to better serve the Belt and Road Initiative's diverse financing demands.

The vice-premier hoped that Hong Kong could gather professional services to leverage its wealth of talent while also enhancing its cultural exchanges to promote people-to-people bonds.

"The central government encourages Hong Kong to expand its collaboration with Belt and Road countries in education, technology, tourism, and other areas to attract more students and scholars to study in the city."

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, who also attended the summit, expressed gratitude to Ding for his speech and firm support.

"We are deeply encouraged by Vice Premier Ding's remarks," Lee said. "which stated that the prospect of Hong Kong's participation in and contribution to the Belt and Road Initiative are broad and promising."

Lee added that Hong Kong would continue to enhance its connectivity with the mainland and the rest of the world to attract talent and nurture a diverse local talent pool while making good use of its status as an international financial, trade and shipping center to leverage the advantages of its professional services that are in line with international standards.