DAILY | HONG KONG EDITION Thursday, March 7, 2019 | 3

Sharing ideas leaders Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor exchanges views with reporters during a visit to the People’s Daily New pledge deeper ties Media Tower in Beijing on Wednesday. Accompanying her was People’s Daily President Li Baoshan (second with Hong Kong right). INFORMATION SERVICES DEPARTMENT By CHAI HUA Li said a series of cooperation proj- [email protected] ects are in the pipeline, including an international commercial bank Guangdong provincial leaders dedicated to the Bay Area’s devel- have pledged to beef up coopera- opment, joint investment institu- tion with the Hong Kong Special tions and development funds. Administrative Region by launch- In order to build the Bay Area ing more cross-boundary projects into a world-class city cluster, the and linking up the two sides’ trade province will learn from Hong and professional qualifi cation sys- Kong’s experiences and set up tems to build a world-class city an institutional system linked to cluster in the Guangdong-Hong international trade standards and Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. rules. The undertaking comes on the Mayor Wen Guohui heels of the unveiling of the Bay said one of the provincial capi- Area’s blueprint last month that tal’s primary tasks is to promote a seeks to turn the region with a mutual professional qualifi cation $1.6 trillion GDP into one that recognition system with Hong would rival the world’s three Kong. prominent bay areas in New York, So far, Guangzhou has recog- Tokyo and San Francisco. nized 16 types of vocational cer- Central govt consistent in At a plenary meeting of Guang- tifi cates issued by Hong Kong and dong deputies to the second ses- granted mutual recognition for six sion of the 13th National People’s professions, including registered Congress in Beijing on Wednes- architects and real-estate apprais- day, provincial leaders undertook ers, he said. to cooperate actively with Hong Guangzhou also welcomes opposing separatism: Kong with a string of suggestions medical care and health service for the development of the Bay institutions from Hong Kong and Area. Macao to establish branches in its own to prohibit any act of trea- integration with the Bay Area prom- Li Xi — a member of the Politi- the city, as well as doctors and HKMAO head notes the SAR govt son, secession, sedition, subversion ises bright prospects for the city to cal Bureau of the Communist physicians who want to register against the Central People’s Govern- resolve its deep-seated problems, Party of China Central Commit- there. has taken steps to fight separatists ment”. and gain new momentum for further tee and Party chief of Guangdong Shenzhen Mayor Chen Rugui Zhang made the remarks in an development, he said. — said the Guangdong authori- hopes the central government By WILLA WU in Hong Kong principle already indicated the fi rm interview which was published on He also revealed that after the ties will take the SAR’s needs into could support Hong Kong and [email protected] stance against any conduct that Wednesday. The senior official on release of the Bay Area development full consideration when designing Shenzhen in jointly building could jeopardize China’s sovereignty Hong Kong and Macao a airs also outline in February, the central and cooperation projects. an innovation and cooperation The central government is consis- and national security. commended the HKSAR Govern- regional governments in the area He noted that Nansha Pilot zone at the Lok Ma Chau Loop tent in its resolute opposition to any To fully and faithfully implement ment’s work in the past year, prais- will focus on institutional innova- Free Trade Zone in Guangzhou to explore a novel management pro-independence agitations in the “one country, two systems” requires ing the administration, led by Chief tions. These are to allow the smooth is focusing on technological inno- system for cooperative projects, Hong Kong Special Administrative strict adherence to the “one country” Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet- integration of the Bay Area, which vation together with Hong Kong as well as an international techno- Region, said Zhang Xiaoming, direc- principle, and respecting the di er- ngor, as “responsible”, “proactive” involves two social systems, three and Macao; Shenzhen’s Qian- logical cooperation mechanism. tor of the Hong Kong and Macao ences of the “two systems’”, Zhang and “capable”. customs territories and three cur- hai FTZ is tilted to Hong Kong’s According to Chen, a series of A airs O ce of the State Council. said. He cited the SAR government’s rencies. modern service industry; and the measures for Hong Kong and Zhang was responding to spec- The central government’s prohibi- ban of the Hong Kong National Party The Bay Area comprises nine development of Hengqin in Zhu- Macao people to enjoy resident ulation over whether there was a tion of any separatist attempts is also — the city’s only political organi- mainland cities of Guangdong prov- hai should be in accordance with treatment in Guangdong are also change in the direction of the coun- made evident in other passages of zation that has openly advocated ince and the Hong Kong and Macao Macao’s needs to create a dynamic in the pipeline to allow them to try’s policy toward Hong Kong the report. These stressed the impor- “”. Zhang SARs. Its development outline was economy structure. work, study and secure medical affairs. The speculation began to tance of abiding by the national also took note of the SAR govern- released on Feb 18. With these guidelines in mind, services conveniently in the city. surface as Premier on Constitution and the Basic Laws of ment’s efforts to stop separatists Tuesday did not mention moves to Hong Kong and Macao SARs, Zhang from standing in the city’s legislature stop pro-independence advocacy in added. and district council elections. Hong Kong in the State Council’s Article 28 of the Constitution stip- Looking forward, Zhang said Government Work Report. ulates that treasonable and other the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Zhang explained that in the Gov- criminal activities that endanger Greater Bay Area is a major spring- ernment Work Report, the central national security will be suppressed. board for Hong Kong. government’s consistent emphasis The Basic Law stipulates that He called on the government and on full and faithful implementation the city is an inalienable part of the people of Hong Kong to grasp these | | | of the “one country, two systems” country, and shall “enact laws on unfolding opportunities. Further Print Web Mobile Event Overseas Chinese encouraged to promote traditional art

By CHEN ZIMO in Hong Kong [email protected]

Chinese art organizations should support the overseas Chinese so they can serve as a force in promoting tra- ditional Chinese art and culture to the world, a renowned artist and national political adviser suggested. Dong Xiyuan, a member of the National Committee of the ’s Political Consultative Con- ference, the country’s top political advisory body, made the sugges- tions during the annual session of Dong Xiyuan (center) draws a picture during the inauguration the body, which opened in Beijing ceremony of Belt and Road art and cultural exchange journey to on Sunday. Myanmar, in Shenzhen on Nov 13, 2018. MIRIAM ZHANG / Dong proposed that the China Art- ists Association and the China Cal- the . to create artworks and hold exhibi- ligraphers Association — two profes- Dong considered it necessary to tions with local artists in Myanmar. sional organizations on traditional enhance communication on Chinese The journey, jointly organized by Chinese art — should o er courses on traditional art between these coun- China Daily and the Chinese Culture traditional Chinese painting and cal- tries and involve overseas Chinese and Art Association, aimed to pro- ligraphy to overseas Chinese societies. in promoting culture. mote people-to-people understand- The courses will provide overseas The overseas Chinese could serve ing through interactions between Chinese communities opportunities as “cultural ambassadors”, said artists from both countries. to learn traditional Chinese art, said Dong. “Each of them could be the The enthusiasm and appreciation Dong. Together with other artistic inheritor and disseminator of Chi- overseas Chinese showed toward activities such as touring exhibitions nese culture,” he said. traditional Chinese art and culture and lectures, the programs will set a Dong spoke of his own experi- showed the Chinese people have stage for the Chinese diaspora to com- ence through participation in vari- shared aesthetic sensibilities and municate with one another about this ous exchange activities overseas. He aspirations, Dong said. shared interest, Dong added. realized there was a strong demand He also suggested that Chinese Overseas Chinese have formed among overseas Chinese to learn art colleges should enroll more over- CDHK FaceBook ChinaDailyAsia.com communities of considerable scale in about and appreciate traditional seas Chinese students into Chinese the countries and regions they have Chinese art. painting and calligraphy courses. settled in. Over 60 million overseas One of the exchange programs They should also provide them with

Chinese live in more than 200 coun- Dong took part in was a 10-day Belt awards and grants to encourage tries and regions, according to data and Road art and cultural exchange them to learn traditional Chinese China’s Global News Media released by the Overseas Chinese journey to Myanmar in November art. Young people could be bridges A airs O ce of the State Council in 2018. Dong and several other well- for cultural communication between April 2018. Many are participants in known Chinese artists were invited China and foreign countries.