Li Jiachao meets with AFC Chairman and hopes more top football events will be held in Hong Kong

China News Service, Hong Kong, November 9th. Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Mr Lee Ka-chao, met with Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, Chairman of the Asian Football Confederation ("AFC") in Hong Kong on the 9th. Li Jiahao said that he looked forward to the close cooperation between the Hong Kong SAR government, the Hong Kong Football Association and the Asian Football Confederation to bring more top-level international football events to Hong Kong.

Li Jiachao welcomed Salman to visit Hong Kong and thanked the AFC for its decades of support for the development of local football in Hong Kong.

During the meeting, Li Ka-chao introduced the sports development strategy formulated in Hong Kong’s first five-year plan. He said that the Hong Kong SAR government is committed to promoting the development of sports, implementing the popularization, elitism, event-based, professional and industrialization of sports, and supporting the development of team sports to coordinate with the country's promotion of the development direction of the "three major sports" including football.

Li Jiachao pointed out that Hong Kong has successfully hosted a number of AFC club events and international events over the years. The popular first FIFA (FIFA) ASEAN Challenge Cup finals concluded successfully at the main venue of Hong Kong Kai Tak Sports Park in October this year. He said that with the unique advantage of building a bridge between mainland China and the international sports community, and the world-class facilities of Kai Tak Sports Park, Hong Kong can show the world its unique charm as an international sports event capital through more top-level international football events.