Chinese official Xia Baolong to visit Hong Kong, inspect city’s 5-year plan, Northern Metropolis

China’s top official on Hong Kong affairs will visit the city this week to check its alignment with the National 15th Five-Year Plan and the progress of a tech hub development in the New Territories.

Beijing top official Xia Baolong (third from left) visited a tech park in the area of the Northern Metropolis in February 2025. Photo: GovHK.

Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office, will be in the city on Tuesday and Wednesday to inspect the five-year blueprint and the Northern Metropolis, the Hong Kong government said on Monday.

Xia’s visit comes a day after Hong Kong launched a two-month public consultation for the city’s first five-year plan.

During the public consultation period, residents can submit their views via a dedicated website, email or post, Chief Executive John Lee said on Tuesday. The government will also host activities to hear different views from lawmakers, industry leaders, and members of the public.

Lee said that the Hong Kong plan, led by the chief executive himself, would focus on the economy, technological development, and livelihood issues, as well as Hong Kong’s integration into China’s development.

In February, ahead of the high-profile “Two Sessions” meeting in Beijing, Lee announced that Hong Kong would launch its first five-year plan.

Chief Executive John Lee at a press conference on January 27, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

The Northern Metropolis is a large-scale project set to transform 30,000 hectares of land in Hong Kong’s rural areas near the border with mainland China into a tech hub, providing more homes and deepening the city’s integration with Shenzhen.

Swathes of land, including rural villages in the New Territories, will make way for the development.

Xia visited Hong Kong in June last year to attend a forum marking the fifth anniversary of the national security law.

Later in April, he delivered a recorded video speech at a National Security Education Day ceremony, warning of people who “politicised” the deadly Wang Fuk Court fire and tried to use the disaster to “stir up chaos” in Hong Kong.