ENG-2016 — Page 344

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Media and Communications

Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam and the Philippines. The Singapore ETO continues to handle matters between Hong Kong and the other six ASEAN countries.

In 2016, the priorities of the Jakarta office were to prepare for the setting up of its long-term workplace and to build up connections. The office met government officials, businesses, think tanks, the academia and the media. It also organised visits by the Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Lau Kong-wah, to Brunei; the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development to the Philippines; and the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr KC Chan, to Malaysia.

Australia and New Zealand

In 2016, the Sydney ETO organised visits to Australia and New Zealand by the Secretary for Justice; the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Raymond Tam Chi-yuen; the Secretary for Transport and Housing, and the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury.

To promote Hong Kong's soft strengths, the office held and sponsored cultural events, including the City of Sydney Chinese New Year Dragon Boat Races, Auckland Lantern Festival, Vivid Sydney at Chatswood and OzAsia Festival, which featured the Australian premiere of As If to Nothing, a production by Hong Kong's City Contemporary Dance Company.

The Sydney office also organised and took part in business events to promote Hong Kong's advantages. It highlighted Hong Kong's career opportunities among young people in Australia and New Zealand through activities such as career talks.

Social media continued to be a tool for the office to share information about Hong Kong with people in Australia and New Zealand.

Mainland and Taiwan

In 2016, the Beijing Office and the four Hong Kong ETOS in Chengdu, Guangdong, Shanghai and Wuhan conducted various activities to promote Hong Kong. These included a roving exhibition organised by the Beijing office; a 'Savouring Hong Kong Liaoning 2016' series organised by the Liaoning Liaison Unit; 'Hong Kong Exhibitions' in the provinces of Guangdong, Fujian and Yunnan by the Guangdong ETO; radio and television feature programmes with the theme 'Guangdong-Hong Kong Under the Same Roof, co-produced by the Guangdong office and, respectively, Radio Guangdong and Guangzhou TV to highlight the win-win mutual cooperation and deep-rooted bonds between the people of the two places; 'Same Root Same Heart' 2016 Hong Kong Roving Exhibition in the east of the Mainland staged by the Shanghai ETO and a radio serial named Endless Stories on Hong Kong in Jinan; the 2016 Chengdu-Hong Kong Festival, a Sichuanese-Cantonese opera performance and exchange, a film festival, and photo and gift exhibitions by the Chengdu ETO; a TV series named Our Hong Kong co-produced by the Chengdu office and Shaanxi Broadcast; and the 'Discover A Better World - Hong Kong Film Week 2016, 'Hong Kong's Food Culture' and 'This is Hong Kong' roving exhibitions; a designated Hong Kong webpage in collaboration with an online news platform in Hubei Province, and the radio programme, Next Station, Hong Kong, in Hubei in collaboration with the Rural Channel of Hubei Television by the Wuhan ETO.

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