Hong Kong’s economy grew 2.7 per cent in first quarter, John Lee reveals while hailing ‘golden week’ tourism and city’s ‘soft power’

Hong Kong’s economy rebounded with a 2.7 per cent growth in the first quarter, the city’s leader on Tuesday revealed, striking an upbeat note for the coming months by pointing to the ongoing “golden week” tourism surge from across the border.

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said he expected an influx of 600,000 mainland Chinese visitors across the five-day break, which started on Saturday. He dismissed concerns tours to various neighbourhoods would disrupt the lives of residents, saying the overall trend was a “welcomed sign”.

“Hong Kong always emphasises its attractions in many regards, with not just favourite shopping spots or good theme parks. We also have country parks and a lot of outlying areas which we think are very attractive to tourists,” Lee told reporters before his weekly meeting with key decision-making body the Executive Council.

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Figures mentioned on Tuesday morning by the city’s leader showed the economy had grown year on year by 2.7 per cent in the first quarter, from a contraction of 4.1 per cent in the past three months.

“The series of large-scale promotional activities has helped stimulate tourism and consumption and boost the economy,” Lee said.

“Despite exports still falling in the first quarter, with the rapid growth of the mainland economy and the accelerated recovery of the city’s aviation capacity, I believe the economy in the second quarter will be better than the first, and this year’s economic performance will be better than last year’s.”

He added that more than 760,000 tourists, including 320,000 mainlanders, had visited the city in the first three days of the Labour Day “golden week” break.

Lee voiced confidence the figure for mainland visitors would hit 600,000 when the holiday period ends on Wednesday.

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The chief executive added he had observed that tourists had diverse interests in places they wanted to see in Hong Kong, from “scenic spots and historical sites to theme parks, shopping hotspots, country parks, outlying islands and small shops in local districts”. He added: “All this fully demonstrates Hong Kong’s charisma and soft power.”

Lee also dismissed accusations of disturbances from tour groups in local neighbourhoods such as Kennedy Town or on islands like Cheung Chau. “I am in support of diversity and creating more attractions for tourists,” he said.

“This will not just help tourism, but also make local developments go hand-in-hand with the development of tourism, helping overall job creations and development of the economy, and also creating a positive image of Hong Kong being a very vibrant and attractive city.”