SASAC's Communist Party chief, Hao Peng, appeared in Hong Kong on Dec 25 at a forum for the Belt and Road infrastructure initiative and said that SOEs were looking for ways to cooperate in major projects in the city, according to a SASAC news release. Mr Hao, who was accompanied by a group of SOE executives, also met with Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam.
Months of huge and often-violent protests in Hong Kong were triggered by planned legislation that would have allowed suspects to be extradited to mainland courts. The Hong Kong economy was once dominated by British trading houses with roots in the 19th Century. Local tycoons started to take over many of the businesses in the latter part of the 20th Century, creating huge conglomerates such as Li Ka-shing's CK Hutchison Holdings.
In the meeting last month with about 500 business leaders and pro-Beijing politicians from Hong Kong, the Chinese authorities urged that they should"have no fears and stand up" to stop violence in the city, Xinhua reported.