Leung Chun-ying, vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), led a team from the Hong Kong Professional Association for Promoting Modernization to Northwest China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region from Sept 15 to 16 to survey the development of the wine, goji berry and culture and tourism industries.   

As part of their survey, the team visited wineries, goji berry farms and a wine town project area along the eastern foothills of the Helan Mountain. They also toured Minning town and the Western Xia Imperial Tombs, where they engaged in discussion and shared development suggestions on topics such as the international marketing of Ningxia's key industries, the creation of premium regional brands and the promotion of cultural and tourism products. 

They also held a meeting with relevant departments on promoting local industries, and reached a consensus on establishing a multi-level exchange and cooperation mechanism between Ningxia and Hong Kong. 

Leung praised Ningxia's strict quality and safety control for the goji berry industry and its efforts to build the "Ningxia Goji Berry" premium brand image. He also commended the autonomous region for the robust development of its wine industry. 

Leung noted that Hong Kong’s professionals should actively integrate into the national development strategy and contribute to better alignment of Hong Kong's trade advantages with Ningxia's industrial strengths. Efforts should be made to support Ningxia’s industries of wine, goji berry, culture and tourism, and traditional Chinese medicine in exploring international markets, building brands, and increasing added value, in a bid to help quality products from Ningxia reach Hong Kong and the world. 

Chen Yong, chairman of the CPPCC Ningxia committee, thanked Leung for his attention to the development of Ningxia, who has led Hong Kong entrepreneurs and prominent figures on eight visits to Ningxia and provided strong support for the growth of Ningxia's unique industries and the deepening of cooperation between Ningxia and Hong Kong. 

Next, Ningxia will better align its needs with Hong Kong's strengths, accelerate innovation in institutional mechanisms for the development of its specialty industries, and establish a long-term cooperation mechanism with Hong Kong to inject new momentum into the high-quality development of Ningxia, Chen said.