Chinese leader Xi Jinping to attend Hong Kong celebration: Xinhua

Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend a ceremony in Hong Kong celebrating 25 years of the city's handover to China, state media Xinhua News Agency reported on Saturday.

Xi will also attend the inauguration of the next Hong Kong administration, Xinhua said, in a trip that would mark his first time leaving the Chinese mainland since the pandemic began.

"President Xi Jinping will attend a meeting celebrating the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland," Xinhua reported.

"Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, will also attend the inaugural ceremony of the sixth-term government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region," it added.

Xi last visited the former British colony in 2017 to swear in city leader Carrie Lam and it is customary for Chinese leaders to travel to the city for key handover anniversary dates.

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But coronavirus outbreaks in both mainland China and Hong Kong have prompted questions on whether Xi would risk travelling to the city as Beijing remains committed to a zero-Covid strategy.

Source: AFP