He Lifeng's Speech at Global Financial Leaders' Summit Links Security and Opening Up for Hong Kong

According to the South China Morning Post, Vice-Premier He Lifeng's remarks at the Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit reiterated the central government's backing and the city's role. The speech by He, who is the vice-premier responsible for economic and finance affairs, frequently mentioned the terms "security" and "opening up," which the publication noted as being complementary rather than contradictory. Beijing's perspective, as presented, is that security serves as the fundamental prerequisite for opening up. The South China Morning Post stated that if Hong Kong manages to address Beijing's concerns, the city would gain greater latitude to try new initiatives.

He Lifeng characterized finance as the most crucial component of Hong Kong's development strategy within the framework of the city's initial five-year plan for economic and social development. He emphasized that leveraging the benefits of the "one country, two systems" governing principle is essential, describing "one country" as the "seed capital" and the two systems as "the profit." The South China Morning Post suggested that this indicates that the focus for Hong Kong will be on safeguarding "one country."