Hong Kong launches activities to mark 27th anniv.of return to motherland

A launching ceremony on celebration for the 27th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland was held in Victoria Park of Hong Kong on Saturday, starting a series of activities.

John Lee, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), and Zheng Yanxiong, director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR, attended the ceremony.

As part of the celebration activities, a series of exhibitions and performances showcasing China's traditional culture and innovative development are underway in Victoria Park from June 29 to July 2, with the provincial-level regions of Sichuan, Liaoning, Jiangxi, Shandong, Shaanxi and Ningxia setting up booths to introduce local culture and tourism.

Chen Yushu, fourth-generation inheritor of the classical furniture craftsmanship in southeast China's Fujian Province, now serves as head of Hong Kong Classical Furniture Association, said that he cares about Hong Kong's role as a dynamic center facilitating interplay between Chinese and international cultures.

"The efforts on building Hong Kong into an international hub for cultural exchanges have offered a broad platform for artists. I hope I can do a good job of telling the story of China with my works, so that all people can see the progress in Hong Kong and in my country, and the vigorous development of Hong Kong under 'one country, two systems'," he said.

"We, as a tech firm, surely stay focused on 5G network and artificial intelligence among others and try to push ahead with sci-tech innovation, so as to make contributions to the economic development of Hong Kong," said Shen Weizhong, director and executive vice president of China Mobile Hong Kong.

In the coming days, hundreds of celebration activities are expected across Hong Kong, featuring galas, carnival fairs and drone light shows.

It marks the 27th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland on July 1.

As the big day around the corner, streets and buildings in Hong Kong are adorned with decorations, creating a strong festive atmosphere.

Chinese national flags and the flags of the HKSAR are seen here and there in the metropolis.

Hong Kong launches activities to mark 27th anniv.of return to motherland

Substantial progress has been made in the consultations for further liberalization of trade in services under the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) on Monday.

During the recent third high-level meeting of the Joint Steering Committee of CEPA, the MOC and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government completed a new round of consultations to modify the CEPA Agreement on Trade in Services.

The two sides are looking forward to finalizing the text for the new agreement as soon as possible and formally signing and implementing the agreement after completing respective internal approval procedures.

Since the implementation of the CEPA, trade liberalization has been fully realized in trade in goods, and basically achieved in service trade between Hong Kong and the mainland. Meanwhile, a systematic and diversified security system has also been built for the protection of investments.

The new amendments to the CEPA Agreement on Trade in Services are expected to further deepen economic and trade co-operation between the mainland and Hong Kong as well as promote the high-level institutional opening-up.

The mainland and Hong Kong signed the CEPA on June 29, 2003, and nearly 9,000 Hong Kong-made products are now enjoying zero tariffs upon entry into the mainland.

Mainland, Hong Kong complete negotiations on revisions of economic deal