Chinese Premier Li Qiang will attend the 20th Group of 20 (G20) Summit in Johannesburg from Nov 21 to 23 at the invitation of the government of the Republic of South Africa, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a press briefing in Beijing on Thursday.
The spokesman highlighted China's expectation for the summit.
"Amid rapid changes in the world not seen in a century, sluggish global economic growth and widening development deficit in the world, the G20, as the premier forum for international economic cooperation, needs to enhance solidarity and cooperation, jointly respond to challenges, improve global economic governance and contribute to world economic growth and the development and prosperity of countries," Lin said.
"It is of historic significance that the G20 summit is held on the African continent for the first time. China supports South Africa's G20 presidency and stands ready to work with various parties under the theme 'Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability' to build up consensus at the summit for upholding multilateralism, building an open world economy and promoting the cooperation on development," he said.
Chinese premier to attend G20 summit in South Africa: spokesman
Voting for the election of the eighth-term Legislative Council (LegCo) of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) concluded on Sunday night.
Voting for the election began at 07:30 a.m. local time on Sunday. More than 600 polling stations were opened across Hong Kong, serving approximately 4.13 million registered voters.
Long queues had already formed outside multiple polling stations across Hong Kong before the polls opened. At polling station entrances, staff and volunteers attentively assisted voters with the procedures. Some voters posed for a photo holding a thank-you card given by staff after casting their ballot.
"As a Hong Kong citizen, I think it's my responsibility to vote, and I don't want to give up my rights. That's why I come here to support," a voter said.
"We actually flew in from Thailand. Learning today is a special day to vote, we actually canceled all our appointments and canceled everything, and we flew in with the whole family just to be part of Hong Kong and to vote, and to cast our vote and be part of the community," said another voter.
HKSAR Chief Executive John Lee cast his ballot at around 08:30 a.m. at Raimondi College on Robinson Road. He said that the LegCo election is of great importance to Hong Kong's overall development and future reforms, and it also represents the expectations of Hong Kong society.
A number of voters said they look forward to the new term of the Legislative Council taking greater responsibility in advancing Hong Kong's economy, society, and public welfare.
"I think an area of focus I'd like to see is, one is the economy, and secondly is youth mobility and youth policies. I think youth are the future, and it's very important to get unity within the youth and also give us hope, right? The youth in general -- what can we do to, for us as youth, to partake in civil society and to show our responsibility, but also from the government, like, what kind of policy that can help us do that as well," said a young voter.
"I hope that there will be more fair education in the sense that even people from the poor family, they can actually receive good education in good schools," another voter said.
The new term of LegCo will be composed of 90 members, including 40 elected by the Election Committee, 30 elected by functional constituencies, and 20 elected by geographical constituencies through direct elections.
The eighth-term LegCo of the HKSAR will commence its four-year term on Jan 1, 2026.
Voting for 8th-term HKSAR LegCo election concludes
