Sports exchanges could help spur GBA development

Kenneth Fok Kai-kong, a national political adviser from Hong Kong, said on Monday that sports could serve as a means for young people in the special administrative region to better engage in the overall development of the Greater Bay Area.

Fok was speaking on the sidelines of the ongoing session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee, which opened in Beijing on Friday.

Hong Kong will co-host the 15th National Games in 2025 with neighboring Guangdong province and the Macao SAR, and it should seize the opportunity, Fok said.

More sports exchanges should be held and more sports industries should be encouraged in the development of the Greater Bay Area, so young people in Hong Kong can use sports as a starting point to contribute to the overall development of the area, he said.

Speaking about how to help Hong Kong youth further improve their sense of identity with the motherland, he said exchanges and cooperation programs for youth is a good way to carry forward patriotism.

"We need to ask ourselves whether these children's participation in the exchanges has increased their understanding of the country, cultivated their interest in a certain field and, more importantly, whether we have helped them solve some difficulties in front of them so that they can pursue their dreams," he said.

Hong Kong people are currently very worried about the latest COVID-19 outbreak, Fok said, adding that he feels deeply grateful to the central government and his fellow countrymen, especially mainland medical workers and experts who are at the front lines in Hong Kong.

"We're a family. Blood is thicker than water. As long as we stand united, there is no difficulty we cannot overcome," he said.