The Fujian-Hong Kong Belt and Road Forum kicks off in Xiamen, East China's Fujian province, on Nov 2. [Photo/chinanews.com]

The Fujian-Hong Kong Belt and Road Forum, with the tagline "Communication, connectivity and interaction", opened in Xiamen, East China's Fujian province, on Nov 2.

The forum gathered more than 500 representatives from Fujian and Hong Kong, who shared their achievements since getting involved in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and discussed how to strengthen communications and connectivity and realize win-win development. 

Leung Chun-ying, Hong Kong's former chief executive, delivers a keynote speech at the forum. [Photo/chinanews.com]

Hong Kong's former chief executive Leung Chun-ying delivered a keynote speech at the forum. He noted that Fujian and Hong Kong have enjoyed a longtime friendship and maintained close communication over the years. He said that the two sides should expand communications in various fields in order to propel the BRI.

Zhang Zhinan, executive vice-governor of Fujian, said at the forum that Fujian, birthplace of the ancient Maritime Silk Road, has beefed up efforts to promote the construction of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. He added that the province will strengthen cooperation and people-to-people exchanges with Hong Kong and expand its economy and trade.

Hong Kong is Xiamen's main source of investment, and Xiamen had introduced 4,955 investment projects from Hong Kong by the end of September, with the total contractual foreign capital amounting to $38.2 billion. The accumulated actual utilization of Hong Kong capital totaled $20 billion in the first nine months of this year.

Twelve cooperative projects with a total of 4.86 billion yuan ($692.23 million) in investment were signed at the form. The projects were involved in various fields, including intelligent manufacturing, cross-border e-commerce, modern logistics, the film industry, culture, and education.