Consumption drive on hold as VIP set to fly in from Beijing

James Lee

The HK$20 million Happy Hong Kong campaign to stimulate local consumption - supposed to start with an opening ceremony today - has been postponed to make way for the arrival of top Beijing official Xia Baolong.

Xia, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, is landing for a six-day stay. That is expected to start with visits to financial institutions, with local officials accompanying him.

So the ceremony for the local consumption drive ahead of the distribution of the HK$3,000 e-voucher on Sunday will be held off at least until after Xia leaves on Tuesday.

The schedule for activities under the campaign - including food fairs, gourmet marketplaces and a sea-land summer carnival - will be released next week, Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak Mei-kuen said.

A statement from the administration said Xia will attend the opening ceremony of the National Security Education Day at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, where extra barriers were erected yesterday. The ceremony will be followed by seminars on national security challenges, financial and cyber security, and the rule of law.

Sources said Xia is expected to fly in from Beijing this morning and land at Hong Kong International Airport, where he will be greeted by officials from the government and the Liaison Office.

In 2011, then-director Wang Guangya arrived by land, with then financial secretary John Tsang Chun-wah and then-Liaison Office deputy director Li Gang welcoming him at the Shenzhen border.

It is understood Xia will visit financial institutions as Wang did 12 years ago - including the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the stock exchange.

Xia is also set to hold meetings with local officials and legislators, visit innovation and technology facilities and light public housing projects, and talk to residents and educators.

At a meeting on "Xi Jinping Thought" in Beijing on Monday, Xia emphasized the importance of large-scale research initiatives to "solve new problems and new situations" in Hong Kong and Macau.

He said the HKMAO will have to uphold in Hong Kong the "two establishes and two safeguards" - a political slogan to reinforce President Xi's rule - and form an "army of steel" to deal with affairs in the two SARs.

Xia said he will remain deputy leader of the HKMAO's parent body, the Central Leading Group on Hong Kong and Macau Affairs, even after stepping down as vice chairman of the 13th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Starry Lee Wai-king, chairwoman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, welcomed Xia's visit.

"Xia Baolong's visit will bring news of the central government's expectations for Hong Kong's development and of opportunities and challenges that Hong Kong and its people may face to show the way forward for future development," she said.

Lee, who is Hong Kong's sole delegate to the National People's Congress Standing Committee, added that Xia's trip is long enough to allow him to speak to people from all walks of life.

cjames.lee@singtaonewscorp.com