Hong Kong's John Lee seeks closer ties in meeting with EU officials
Hong Kong's leader has sought to deepen ties with the EU in a meeting with the bloc's representatives, saying the city will remain a free port despite growing protectionism globally.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said on Wednesday that he had hosted a lunch attended by Harvey Rouse, head of the Office of the European Union to Hong Kong and Macau, as well as 15 consuls general from the bloc's member countries.
The gathering served as a platform for direct dialogue and an exchange of views, with a focus on exploring new avenues to enhance economic, trade and development cooperation, Lee said in a social media post.
He emphasised Hong Kong's unique position as a 'superconnector' and 'super value-adder', citing its low and simple tax regime, world-class infrastructure, diverse and multicultural talent pool, and broad spectrum of professional services. These attributes made the city an 'ideal gateway between East and West', Lee said.
He also extended an invitation to businesses globally, including those from Europe, to 'explore the vast array of opportunities' both in Hong Kong and mainland China.
The lunch took place amid simmering US-China tensions, even as the two countries reached a deal during high-level talks in London on tariff cuts, rare earth exports, Chinese students attending US universities and a trade-war truce signed earlier in Geneva. The latest agreement is subject to final approval by the presidents of the two countries.
The United States and China have been engaged in an escalating tit-for-tat tariff war in recent months, with the levy on Chinese goods at one point reaching 145 per cent.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
32 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
Huawei chief spells out China hi-tech resilience
The way Ren Zhengfei tells it, Huawei Technologies, the telecoms behemoth he founded, is just one of many hi-tech firms in China. He apparently feels puzzled that the United States keeps targeting his company when its products and computer chips, as well as those of China's other advanced producers, are a generation behind their American counterparts. Advertisement That may be true, but no one should take what he said at face value. His remarks appeared on the front page of People's Daily during two days of intense high-stakes trade talks between Beijing and Washington in London. Two sticking points have been China's restrictions on the exports of rare earths, and America's new curbs on the sale of jet engines and chip-design technologies to China. With Huawei being one of the most important companies behind the nation's drive to become technologically self-sufficient, Ren's interview in Chinese was not only aimed at a domestic audience first and foremost, but also America. We may be behind, he admitted, but were catching up, through perseverance, determination and ingenuity. The most advanced chips may be denied us, but through clever mathematical and computing techniques, Chinese engineers could deliver chips almost as powerful as anybody else. While appearing humble, he was telling the world and the US that Huawei is here to stay, no matter what is thrown at it. There is no better example of Deng Xiaoping's famous dictum: hide your strength, bide your time. In the intensifying trade and tech war between two of the world's largest economies, Huawei has been in the eye of the storm. Last month, the US Department of Commerce tried to declare that the use of Huawei's Ascend chips 'anywhere in the world' would be a violation of American export controls. Beijing responded angrily, and the department climbed down, saying it was an advisory, not an order. Now, subject to final approvals, the two sides may have reached a truce, including apparently relaxing some export curbs on rare earth and chip technologies. Advertisement This will not be the end of their tech war. But China is in a good position with companies like Huawei as one of its trump cards.
South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
Moutai, China's premier liquor brand, may find austerity rules hard to swallow
China's premier liquor distiller Kweichow Moutai – a brand that had, over decades, become synonymous with sumptuous feasts – is heeding a renewed mandate for austerity from Beijing, distancing its products from the extravagant hard-drinking lifestyle with which it had been linked in the public consciousness. Advertisement Management at the company, valued at 1.86 trillion yuan (US$258.73 billion), has pledged to comply with strictures stressing thrift – guidelines that have helped to remove Moutai's expensive baijiu liquor from government banquets and narrowed the firm's profit margin further. Senior executives vowed to remain vigilant against the risks of corruption at a company meeting on Tuesday, where Moutai chairman Zhang Deqin invoked classic Chinese texts to argue the liquor must promote culture, health and harmony. 'With the baijiu, rites and traditions are upheld, the aged are nourished and joy is shared,' Zhang said, citing the Book of Rites and the Classic of Poetry, both of which date back centuries. Moutai's notoriously strong liquor – around 50 per cent alcohol by volume – has been the drink of choice for China's officials and executives since the early years of the Communist Party. Advertisement After revolutionary leaders Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai developed a taste for the spirit during their time in the southwestern province of Guizhou, the distinct white bottles have been given as official gifts to visiting dignitaries and become a fixture at lavish dinners.
South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
Pentagon chief assures lawmakers on review of US-Britain-Australia pact as China looms
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told Congress on Thursday he would involve lawmakers in a 30-day assessment of the Aukus alliance , a day after the future of the three-country security pact was thrown into question by reports that the Pentagon was putting it under review 'Congress will be involved,' Hegseth said in response to a question from US congressman Joe Courtney, a Connecticut Democrat, who also raised concern about the time frame allocated for analysing the pact between Australia Britain and the US. 'A 30-day review on a project that really took years to develop?' Courtney asked during a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee, while noting that China's dislike of Aukus was the alliance's 'ultimate sort of endorsement'. Asked about Aukus in Beijing on Thursday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said China opposed 'manufacturing bloc confrontation and anything that amplifies the risk of nuclear proliferation and exacerbates [an] arms race'. Play
