Remove barriers to speed up Hong Kong’s Northern Metropolis: Xia Baolong

Beijing’s point man on Hong Kong affairs has met district officers and toured a “community living room” on the final day of his inspection visit, the Post has learned.

Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) director Xia Baolong spoke to the chairs of the city’s 18 district councils at the government headquarters in Admiralty on Sunday morning, according to sources.

He then headed to a community living room operated by the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals in To Kwa Wan at noon.

Beijing liaison office chief Zhou Ji, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, and Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han were seen visiting the facility with him.

The spaces are a government initiative to ease the pressure on the tenants of Hong Kong’s subdivided flats by providing them communal areas for cooking, dining, studying, showering and doing laundry.

There are now six such facilities, mainly in Kowloon.