Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office, arrived in Hong Kong on Tuesday morning and inspected the Hung Shui Kiu and Light Public Housing projects in Yuen Long.
The itinerary is part of a two-day visit to inspect Hong Kong's alignment with the national 15th Five-Year Plan and the advancement of the Northern Metropolis. Crossing the border via the Shenzhen Bay Port, Xia spent the morning touring multiple development zones within the Northern Metropolis by car.
Accompanied by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, Liaison Office director Zhou Ji, and other officials, he first visited the Hung Shui Kiu/Ha Tsuen New Development Area Community Liaison Centre before inspecting the proposed site for the planned University Town.
After a roughly half-hour stay, the delegation proceeded to the Light Public Housing project on Yau Pok Road in Yuen Long, with Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho Wing-yin guiding Xia through the site.
Ho led him on a tour of a community center to outline the progress of the housing projects and visited a resident who had moved in over a year ago.
She also briefed Xia on the Modular Integrated Construction (MiC) method used for the Light Public Housing, revealing that the building materials were manufactured in factories across Greater Bay Area (GBA) cities such as Zhuhai, Huizhou, and Jiangmen.
She noted that, backed by the region's large-scale factories and mechanized facilities, Hong Kong is better equipped to tackle its housing issues, fully leveraging the combined strengths of the city and the broader GBA.
However, Xia did not respond when asked by reporters for his views on Hong Kong's first five-year plan.
