Beijing's top official on Hong Kong affairs emphasised the important role of the business sector in boosting the city's economy and improving people's livelihood, according to Hong Kong Productivity Council chairman Sunny Tan. The director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, Xia Baolong, met representatives of the Hong Kong business sector in Shenzhen on Friday, with Chief Executive John Lee also in attendance. Speaking on a radio programme on Saturday, Tan, who was at the closed-door meeting, said Xia urged the business sector to take the initiative to discover new business opportunities and new markets. "We do need to have a determination to make change. It's not about just the government, but in all our sectors... We all need to look at the external environment, look into the development progress of China and see what we got to do from our side," he said. "For example, put in more investment into innovation technology. How do we maneuver the new dynamics of the external environment on our supply chain management? All this is very important and we have to make that change." The US Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 0.25 percentage points, which led to major banks in the SAR also cutting their Hong Kong dollar best lending rates. Executive councillor Jeffrey Lam told the same radio programme that the rate cut would benefit the city, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs). "I think this is expected. I think we're going to see maybe more activity in the property market. As for the SMEs, the rate cut will reduce their spending on interest," he said. "It will help their business and also their cash flow. I hope by seeing more interest reduction, maybe more to come, our business activity will get better," he said. Lam added that he expects there would not be many changes in terms of US policies towards China, after Donald Trump won the US presidential election against Kamala Harris. He said the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce plans to visit the US next year to meet with business representatives and potentially secure new business opportunities.
