Hong Kong has started its National Day celebrations with an upbeat message from President Xi Jinping, two visiting PLA warships thrilling onlookers in Victoria Harbour and the restaurant sector betting on a business bump of up to 20 per cent during the extra-long “golden week” holiday.
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In a speech in Beijing on Tuesday to celebrate the 76th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Xi called on the nation to keep on working hard and to forge ahead with determination in advancing the country’s modernisation.
Touching on Hong Kong, the president said Beijing would stick with the “one country, two systems” governing principle for the city and support its further integration into the nation to better develop the economy and improve people’s livelihoods.
Earlier in the day, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said Hong Kong could welcome as many as 1.54 million mainland Chinese visitors over the eight-day holiday, an increase of 11 per cent over last year, with around 1,200 tour groups arriving in the city.
The anticipated uptick could help the city’s tourism numbers return to peak levels last seen in 2018, when 1.52 million visited.
The golden week break lasts longer than usual this year. Coinciding with both National Day and the Mid-Autumn Festival, it runs from October 1 to 8.
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Lee said the government had deployed additional manpower and put in place measures for the citywide celebrations. These included strengthening transport services, from cross-boundary coaches and franchised buses to the MTR, while enhancing crowd control and information dissemination.