Xia Encouraged By HK's IT Development: Sun Dong

Xia Baolong, the director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO), will leave Hong Kong on Tuesday at the end of his six-day visit.

On the last full day of his stay here, Xia met with representatives of various chambers of commerce and visited the science park.

The Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, Sun Dong, quoted the Beijing official as saying that he was “encouraged” by the progress Hong Kong has made in developing its tech sector.

Sun accompanied the head of the HKMAO to the Science Park on Monday afternoon, and said he was especially impressed with a locally-designed surgery robot.

"Director Xia gave orders to buy a few da Vinci robots when he was party secretary of Zhejiang," Sun said. "When he learnt that Hong Kong had developed a medical robot of similar technology level but at a very low cost, he was thrilled."

The IT chief also quoted Xia as saying that he believed the SAR will become a successful international IT hub in the future, and that it could make more contributions to the country’s development.

Earlier in the day, the Beijing official met with representatives of various chambers of commerce, including the vice-president of the Chinese Manufacturers Association of Hong Kong, Simon Wong.

"Director Xia cares about small and medium enterprises," Wong said. "As the Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong will visit Beijing, Director Xia said that if we go to Beijing, we can interact with him in a more in-depth manner, as he hopes to know more about the development of Hong Kong SMEs."

Xia also visited the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on the fifth and penultimate day of his trip to the SAR.

He also visited Victoria Harbour in the evening.