A delegation led by Leung Chun-ying, vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), visited South China's Hainan province from Nov 18 to 20 to promote exchanges and explore economic cooperation between the two regions.

The delegation’s survey trip included stops at the Jiangdong New Area Planning and Exhibition Centre, the Hainan-Hong Kong Economic Cooperation and Development Demonstration Park, the Haikou International Duty Free City  tourism and shopping complex, and the Sanya International Duty Free City, in order to gain a detailed understanding of Hainan's policies for duty-free shopping, industrial park, and urban planning.

On the last day of the visit, members of the Hainan-Hong Kong Economic Cooperation and Development Advisory Committee were divided into four groups to hold panel discussions with teams working in the areas of  demonstration parks, finance and new offshore trade, talent cultivation and healthcare cooperation, as well as exhibitions, tourism, retails and jewelry.

Leung said at the panel discussion that it is important to highlight the features of Hong Kong, and get the city’s enterprises and personnel engaged in the construction of the demonstration park. He also called for extensive publicity to introduce Hainan's preferential policies to Hong Kong enterprises and encourage the chambers of commerce to play their part.

There is a great potential to expand economic cooperation between Hainan and Hong Kong, and more efforts are needed to improve communication and establish the cooperation mechanism, said Leung.