Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Hong Kong’s John Lee looks to Middle East ties, admits Singapore ‘advantage’

Hong Kong’s John Lee looks to Middle East ties, admits Singapore ‘advantage’

Chief Executive John Lee in New Year’s Day speech says two main targets are to get city out of the Covid shadows and implement blueprint measures.

Hong Kong’s leader is planning to visit the Middle East in the coming months to forge close economic ties with Gulf states as part of a push that also includes catching up with Singapore, with the chief executive conceding the island nation has “an advantage” over the city because of its earlier reopening to the world.

The city’s finance chief also separately said on Sunday he was “cautiously optimistic” about economic growth in 2023, adding the momentum of recovery for exports, tourism and retail was expected to receive a boost from the coming border reopening with mainland China, but uncertainties remained.

Delivering his New Year’s Day speech also on Sunday, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, who stressed he was “racing against the clock”, underscored two major targets for his government in 2023 – get Hong Kong out of the shadow of Covid-19 and implement measures laid out in his policy blueprint.

“We will let people’s lives return to pre-pandemic ways as much as possible, and then reopen the border with mainland China gradually and orderly so that economic activities will quickly resume,” Lee said, vowing to “do our best”.


Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, part of the city state’s iconic skyline.

Hongkongers ushered in the new year along Victoria Harbour in the absence of most social-distancing rules, after authorities last week eased curbs in the most drastic move since the pandemic struck three years ago.

Lee, with his mask on, attended countdown celebrations in Tsim Sha Tsui on Saturday night.

In a pre-recorded interview with the public broadcaster, the city leader revealed his steps in resuming high-level visits to potential markets, saying that one trip being planned was to the Middle East in the first half of the year, and other destinations were Southeast Asia countries where Hong Kong had long economic ties with.

“I feel like I’m racing against the clock to woo businesses, investments and talent,” he told RTHK.
John Lee at his first Apec meeting in Thailand in November, next to Chinese President Xi Jinping (centre).


He acknowledged that Singapore had an advantage over Hong Kong as the city state relaxed its Covid-19 restrictions earlier than many Asian countries.

“We are making great efforts to catch up, as we have now opened up,” he said. “Hong Kong is an expensive city to live in, but its attractiveness lies in the economic value it creates.

“Our strength must remain in the coming five to 10 years, with the backing of China as a strong engine in the world’s development.”

Hong Kong’s economy further contracted by 4.5 per cent year on year in real terms in the third quarter of 2022, after a decrease of 1.3 per cent in the second quarter. Considering the worse-than-expected economic performance, the government adjusted the city’s real GDP forecast for 2022 to a contraction of 3.2 per cent.

Writing in his official blog on Sunday, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said he expected the mainland’s scrapping of pandemic measures from January 8 would result in a “significant rebound” in the number of travellers, as well as in the volume of cross-border land transport and airport cargo.

“This will boost the momentum of recovery in exports, tourism, retail and catering,” he said. “Domestic spending will rebound significantly in the first quarter of this year.”

Chan cited uncertainties ahead that could slow down economic growth, which included interest rate spikes in the United States and Europe’s challenge of sinking into “stagflation” amid the energy crisis.

Yet, Chan said 2023 was a year to be “cautiously optimistic”, vowing to press ahead with initiatives in luring enterprises and talent to seize opportunities during a “critical transitional period” for the city.

While Lee spelled out his ambitions in extending the city’s footprint to potential markets, the city leader admitted uncertainty over whether United States’ sanctions against him would derail his plan to attend a November summit of more than 20 state leaders in San Francisco.

“As the chief executive, I certainly hope to attend meetings of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) to deliver true and good stories of Hong Kong to the world through international summits … but who to go depends on practical circumstances,” he said.

Lee’s attendance at the last Apec forum in Thailand in November to woo foreign businesses was his first one since he took the top job in July. Formerly the city’s security chief in 2019, when anti-government protests rocked the city, Lee was among senior officials sanctioned by the US in 2020 for “undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy” after the Beijing-imposed national security law came into force in the city.

Also taking stock of his role at the helm, Lee, 65, said the past six months was “the busiest” of his life, as he worked all the time “except eating and sleeping” and relied on practising a type of moving meditation to rejuvenate.

“I’ve practiced Qigong for more than 25 years, and attained masters level. Perhaps this is why I can recover faster than many others,” he said.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×