New liaison chief meets SZ leaders, vows closer ties

HONG KONG - The new liaison chief in Hong Kong, Luo Huining, pledged to promote closer cooperation with Shenzhen while strictly upholding the "one country, two systems" principle, as he visited the mainland city on Wednesday during his first week in office.

Luo, director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, met with Party Secretary of Shenzhen Wang Weizhong, city Mayor Chen Rugui, and other leaders of Shenzhen's administration, legislature and political advisory body.

This is Luo's first public meeting with mainland officials since his appointment as liaison chief in the SAR on Saturday.

During the meeting, both sides vowed to strictly uphold the "one country, two systems" principle, and jointly promote cooperation between the two cities in various sectors, including youth innovation and entrepreneurship and economy and trade.

They also agreed to facilitate both sides' role in the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and promote the two cities' shared prosperity.

Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China in the HKSAR Xie Feng, and five deputy directors of the liaison office were also among those attending the meeting.

Luo is reportedly going to make his first official meeting with Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on Thursday afternoon.