Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam will be traveling to Beijing on Nov. 3 to discuss relief measures for the SAR's ailing economy only weeks after meeting with China's Xi Jinping in Shenzhen.
"My trip to Beijing this time is solely in light of the economic situation, which of course is very serious in Hong Kong," Lam said at a Tuesday news conference. She also hinted at many policies soon to be introduced - which will bring the two region's economies closer than ever.
The coronavirus pandemic and social unrest since late 2019 have put a deep dent in Hong Kong's tourism and retail industries - which usually drive the economy. Foreign visitor arrivals in August were fewer than 5,000 - a 99.9% decline from the same period last year, according to government statistics.
"We need more support measures, especially in the light of the overall direction that Hong Kong should move to better integrate with the mainland of China especially in the Greater Bay Area," she said. "[Beijing] hopes to discuss the feasibility of these measures with me."
Lam previously proposed a trip to Beijing this week but plans were delayed because of the Chinese Communist Party's central committee meeting which started Monday.
The initial one-day visit has been extended into a three-day trip that will see Lam and other Hong Kong officials visit Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
Hong Kong's annual policy address, which was already delayed before Lam's meeting with Xi earlier this month, will be deferred again. "The publication of the Policy Address needs to be postponed," Lam said. But "I still plan to publish before the end of November."
The delays were widely regarded as an example of Lam taking policy advice from Beijing, in direct opposition of the One Country, Two Systems agreement.
"Chief Executive Carrie Lam's popularity is plummeting, but all she needs is to retain the support of one person...Xi Jinping," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of international rights watchdog Human Rights Watch.
In her Tuesday morning meeting with the news media, Lam hit back against the criticism. "Very unfortunately, Hong Kong has been caught in an international sort of campaign or tension, particularly vis-a-vis China," she said.
