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Constitution and Administration

municipal cities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Zhuhai, where associations between Hong Kong and Mainland law firms operating in the form of a partnership can be established; and extending a cross-border Renminbi pilot loan scheme from Qianhai to Nansha and Hengqin. The Qianhai Authority has also arranged two pilot construction projects allowing accredited Hong Kong professionals and enterprises in construction and engineering to provide services directly in Qianhai.

Hong Kong and Shenzhen also made progress in collaborating on innovation and technology, Qianhai development, financial services, professional services, youth and other areas. In particular, a breakthrough was achieved in developing the Lok Ma Chau Loop. The HKSAR Government and the Shenzhen Municipal People's Government signed a memorandum of understanding in January to jointly develop a Hong Kong/Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park at the loop to establish a key base for cooperation in innovation and technology research and to provide related facilities.

The PPRD region comprises the Hong Kong and Macao SARS and nine provinces and autonomous regions of the Mainland. In September, the Chief Executive led an HKSAR Government delegation to attend the 2017 PPRD Regional Cooperation Chief Executive Joint Conference in Hunan Province to promote Hong Kong's cooperation with the PPRD provinces and regions in areas including the Belt and Road Initiative, the bay area development, innovation and technology, logistics and customs clearance, as well as tourism.

Working Relationship with Macao Special Administrative Region

The 10th Hong Kong-Macao Cooperation High Level Meeting was held in October. Both sides. signed the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Macao Special Administrative Region Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement to foster the liberalisation and facilitation of trade between the two places. Other areas of collaboration agreed in the meeting included the development of the bay area, economic cooperation, cross-boundary infrastructure and the development of cross-boundary helicopter services.

HKSAR's Offices on Mainland

The HKSAR Government has five offices on the Mainland, namely the Beijing Office and the four Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices (ETOs) in Chengdu, Guangdong, Shanghai and Wuhan. In addition, the Tianjin Liaison Unit under the Beijing Office began service in February. The Shaanxi Liaison Unit under the Chengdu ETO, the Zhejiang Liaison Unit under the Shanghai ETO and the Guangxi Liaison Unit under the Guangdong ETO also started service in April, increasing the number of the HKSAR Government's liaison units on the Mainland to 11, the other seven liaison units being in Chongqing, Fujian, Shenzhen, Liaoning, Shandong, Hunan and Henan. These offices and units enhance G2G liaison as well as trade, commercial relations and investment promotion on the Mainland; and provide support to Hong Kong residents and

The Beijing Office covers Beijing, Gansu, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Jilin, Liaoning, Ningxia, Tianjin and Xinjiang. The Guangdong ETO covers Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan and Yunnan. The Shanghai ETO covers Anhui, Jiangsu, Shandong, Shanghai and Zhejiang. The Chengdu ETO covers Chongqing, Guizhou, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Sichuan and Tibet. The Wuhan ETO covers Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi and Shanxi.

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