Editing Foreign relations of Hong Kong (section)

==Overseas visits made by senior officials==

[[Image:TCWandCP.png|thumb|250px|right|Tung Chee Hwa shaking hands with [[Paul Martin]], the [[Prime Minister of Canada]] at the [[Government House, Hong Kong|Government House]]]]

The [[Chief Executive of Hong Kong]] & other senior officials often make a duty visit to foreign countries. These visits usually aim to advance Hong Kong's economic and trade relations with the foreign countries. During these visits, the Chief Executive will meet with political and business leaders. Usually, the [[head of state]] or [[head of government]] of the foreign countries will receive the Chief Executive. For example, former Chief Executive [[Tung Chee-hwa]] made three visits to the United States during his term. In these three visits, Tung Chee-hwa met with the [[US President]] in the [[Oval Office]] at the [[White House]]. Chief Executive [[Donald Tsang]] had visited Japan, South Korea, Russia, United Kingdom, United States, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Brazil, India, France and other countries during his term of government.

[[File:B-LGE@HKG (20181026121735).jpg|thumb|[[Hong Kong Airlines]] A350-900]]

For example, the then Chief Executive [[Donald Tsang]] visited London and [[Edinburgh]] in 2011 as part of his European tour to renew ties with the UK and promote Hong Kong as a gateway to Asia. He met Prime Minister [[David Cameron]] and Foreign Secretary [[William Hague]], and the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.news.gov.hk/en/photo_gallery/people/html/2011/09/20110919_114007.shtml|title=news.gov.hk - Photo Gallery - People|website=www.news.gov.hk}}</ref> In mid-2011, Donald Tsang visited Australia in June to strengthen ties between Hong Kong and Australia, promote trade opportunities, and encourage more Australian companies, particularly resources companies, to list in Hong Kong. During his visit, Mr Tsang held meetings with the Prime Minister, [[Julia Gillard]], and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, [[Kevin Rudd]], as well as the leader of the Opposition, [[Tony Abbott]], and the Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, [[Julie Bishop]].

Many foreign dignitaries visit Hong Kong each year.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.protocol.gov.hk/eng/vip/index.html|title=Protocol Division Government Secretariat - VIP Visits|website=www.protocol.gov.hk|access-date=25 January 2014|archive-date=2 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202111018/http://www.protocol.gov.hk/eng/vip/index.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The number of such visits has grown since 1997 as many of them have included Hong Kong as a destination on their trips to China, while others have visited Hong Kong specifically to see "[[one country, two systems]]" in operation. The level of VIP visits is also boosted by major international conferences held in Hong Kong in recent years. In 2009–2012, there were 11 official visits to Hong Kong, including the visits of the [[Prime Minister of Canada]], [[Secretary of State of the United States of America]], [[President of the Russian Federation]], [[President of the Republic of Indonesia]], [[President of the Republic of Korea]] and other foreign dignitaries.