ISTANBUL

China’s President Xi Jinping said on Thursday that Hong Kong is “reborn” as the semi-autonomous city celebrates 25 years of rejoining the mainland.

Xi made the remarks as he stepped out of a train at West Kowloon Station in Hong Kong to attend the city’s silver jubilee and inauguration of the new city chief on Friday.

Accompanied by his wife, it is Xi’s first trip out of the mainland since the COVID-19 pandemic began in December 2019.

“Reality proves the ‘one country, two systems’ principle has strong vitality, which will ensure the long-term stability and prosperity of Hong Kong society. It’s a good system. As long as we unswervingly uphold the principle, the future of the city will become brighter,” said Xi during his brief comments at the station.

Carrie Lam, the outgoing chief executive, and her successor John Lee were present on the occasion.

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi was also seen at the event.

British occupied Hong Kong until 1997 when it was returned to Beijing on July 1 under the so-called “one country, two systems” Joint Declaration.

“Hong Kong always pulls at his heartstrings, and at the central government’s heartstrings. The city has encountered many challenges over the past years, but it has been reborn,” according to a transcript of Xi’s speech released by the Chinese daily Global Times.

Hong Kong, under the semi-autonomous status within the Chinese system, rose to become the world’s freest economy but saw mass anti-government demonstrations triggered by the now-binned extradition bill in 2019.

Since then, Beijing has cemented its rule over the city of over 7.7 million people after it imposed the controversial national security law in 2020 and radically reformed the election system for the Legislative Council of the region – much to the chagrin of the western nations.

Skimming through the economic data coming out of Beijing and Hong Kong, it is evident more Chinese money and firms have seeped into the city with unprecedented development activities powered by Chinese investments.

Data released by China’s Ministry of Commerce today revealed the trade between Beijing and Hong Kong soared from $50.77 billion to $360.33 billion between 1997 and 2021 with annual growth of 8.5%.

“By 2021, the mainland attracted over $1.4 trillion in investment from Hong Kong, while the mainland’s non-financial direct investment in HK topped $800 billion,” the ministry said.

China’s focus on connectivity saw travel time between Beijing and Hong Kong reduced to nine hours through high-speed train, down from 24 hours, 25 years ago.​​​​​​​