Xi's recognition gives HK confidence a boost

President Xi Jinping's recognition of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government's work this year has boosted the city's confidence about its future and pointed the direction for its development, people from various sectors said.

On Wednesday, Xi gave full recognition to Hong Kong's new electoral system and the SAR's effort to integrate with national development, after Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor presented him with a report on the progress of her government's work over the past year.

It was the last duty visit of Lam's current five-year term, which will end on June 30. It was also the first face-to-face meeting between Lam and Xi in Beijing in two years, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

At their meeting, Xi said the elections for Hong Kong's Election Committee and Legislative Council, both held under the city's new electoral system, had been successful, creating a new political landscape with wide and balanced participation from all social groups and constituencies.

Highlighting the advantages of the new electoral system, Xi said it provides strong institutional support for the steady and sustained development of the "one country, two systems" principle and Hong Kong's lasting prosperity and stability.

Agreeing with Xi's comments, Lam called the electoral revamp a "necessary" move to improve Hong Kong's democratic system.

She added that Xi's remarks showed he is quite familiar with Hong Kong's situation, and effectively refuted the smearing of the Legislative Council election by some Western countries.

Echoing Xi, the Hong Kong Coalition, a group founded last year by two former Hong Kong chief executives, said in a statement that the revamped electoral system fully reflected the principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong", which guarantees the democratic rights of Hong Kong residents and broad and balanced political participation.

Based on the experiences and lessons that Hong Kong has learned since its return to the motherland, any form of democracy that goes against the city's actual situation and the principle of "one country, two systems" would be empty talk and would only bring chaos and political confrontations in the city, it said.

Brave Chan Yung, a Hong Kong deputy to the National People's Congress who won a Legislative Council seat in Sunday's election, said Xi's concern for the poll reflected his attention to Hong Kong residents' livelihoods.

Calling for a united effort by all 90 lawmakers-elect to improve Hong Kong people's livelihoods, Chan said the SAR government needs to improve the efficiency of governance to solve deep-rooted problems in a timely manner.

Lo Sui-on, another Hong Kong deputy to the NPC, agreed with Xi that Hong Kong should collaborate deeply with the Chinese mainland to seek greater development. He urged the city to actively leverage its advantages in financial, legal and other professional services to open up the market in cooperation zones such as Qianhai and Hengqin in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Fabrizio Goldoni, an Italian manager who has been living in Hong Kong for three decades, spoke positively about the government's work in the past year after hearing about Lam's duty visit to Beijing.

But the challenges the city faces, like a shortage of housing, still require long-term solutions, he said.

Goldoni also highlighted the importance of Hong Kong promoting cooperation with other cities in the Bay Area, saying the region will provide vast opportunities for developing high-tech industries like artificial intelligence, which are critical for Hong Kong's future development.