HONG KONG Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Chief Executive Carrie Lam yesterday announced that she will postpone her annual policy address originally scheduled for tomorrow.

Lam said in the wake of the severe COVID-19 outbreak, there is widespread concern in Hong Kong about how the region will emerge from its economic difficulties.

As the Chinese mainland’s economy rebounds, Hong Kong needs the Central Government’s support in its economic recovery and needs to further integrate into the overall national development strategies, especially the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area development, Lam said.

The HKSAR Government has sorted out a series of proposals for the consideration of the central government, she said. Noting that as the proposals cover a wide range of fields, no one individual ministry can make a decision and she will pay a visit to Beijing and participate in coordinating meetings of relevant ministries.

Lam said if this year’s policy address can include supportive policies of the central government, it will be more helpful to restore the confidence of Hong Kong residents in the economy and give new impetus to Hong Kong’s business activities, which is why she decided to postpone the address. “It’s mainly in the public interest of Hong Kong,” she said.

She also said postponing the policy address will not affect the work of the Legislative Council, adding that there are precedents for similar practices and there are no legal issues.

Hong Kong’s Center for Health Protection (CHP) reported 11 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 yesterday, bringing its total tally to 5,193.

The newly reported cases included six imported cases, four local cases that were epidemiologically linked with previous cases, and one local case with an unknown transmission source. (Xinhua)