Beijing’s top office overseeing Hong Kong affairs has vowed to adopt “the spirit of driving nails” and consider setting clear mission statements, timetables and priorities in delivering results related to the city.
The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office’s pledges were made after its “theory learning centre” held an internal study session on Friday, hosted by director Xia Baolong, on the “spirit” of a key meeting of the Communist Party last month.
Friday’s meeting was the fourth of its kind about the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee. It came days after two senior Beijing officials hosted a large-scale televised briefing in Hong Kong on how to carry on with the country’s agenda of reform and opening up, as adopted in the meeting.
“The session stressed that to study and implement the spirit of the [third plenum], we must seize on and deliver the reform missions with the spirit of driving nails,” the office said, referencing a phrase associated with the thought of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The spirit of driving nails involved “working earnestly and bringing work to fruition” and “a reflection of responsibility, persistence, and power to overcome difficulties, and an indomitable will to press forward”, according to a bilingual mainland Chinese website on Xi’s theories and thoughts.
The office on Friday also said: “[We must] propose specific measures to implement the reforms tasks, set clear mission statements, timetables and priorities, in effectively delivering results in work related to Hong Kong and Macau.”
Without attributing the comment to any speakers, the office said the meeting also discussed Hong Kong and Macau accurately identifying changes and continuously seeking their untapped vitality and development potential.
It urged residents of the two cities to work with their governments in striving for economic growth and seeking development, and to take concrete action in sharing the glory of building a strong nation.