The Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and Hong Kong will jointly establish an economic and trade promotion commission to build a bridge of investment between the two regions and boost trade, cultural exchanges and tourism, Ningxia officials said.

The new commission will take charge of the biennial Ningxia Economic, Trade, Culture and Tourism Week in Hong Kong and establish a mechanism for a regular exchange of visits between leaders of the two regions as well as carry out contracts and agreements. The commission will partner with the Hong Kong Chinese Enterprises Association and Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, authorities said.

The commission will set up branch offices in the two regions. A Ningxia-Hong Kong economic and trade cooperation website will be also launched to publish the latest updates to trade regulations and policies.

Statistics show that the two regions have seen more and more economic exchanges in recent years. Last year, the actual inflow of Hong Kong investment in Ningxia exceeded US$60 million, accounting for 78 percent of the total actual inflow of overseas investment in the region that year.

Hong Kong currently has invested in 419 projects based in Ningxia, with total investment of more than US$150 million, making Hong Kong the top source of the region’s invested overseas capital.