Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng is leading a high-profile delegation on a three-day visit to Hong Kong to beef up cooperation between the two metropolises.

The delegation, which arrived in Hong Kong Sunday, will attend the first "Shanghai-Hong Kong Economic and Trade Cooperation Conference" today and sign deals with the SAR government on a comprehensive partnership.

The meeting is expected to explore new ways to strengthen links in light of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement between the mainland and Hong Kong which takes effect next year.

Shanghai has already lifted restrictions on its citizens visiting the SAR on an individual basis starting September 1.

"We will probe into and discuss full teamwork between the two cities based on the principles of pragmatism, mutual benefit and win-win situation," said Han after arriving in Hong Kong.

Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa hosted a dinner reception for the visiting mayor of Shanghai and his delegation at Government House Sunday night.

Economic and trade ties between the two most advanced cities in China have been getting ever closer. Trade volume for the first nine months of this year reached US$4.6 billion, up 30 percent over the same period last year.

By September, there were nearly 10,000 Hong Kong-invested projects in Shanghai with total contracted investment of US$17.8 billion, making the SAR the number one on the list of all countries and regions that have invested in Shanghai.

(China Daily HK Edition October 27, 2003)