John Lee, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), delivers a speech at the 8th Belt and Road Summit in south China's Hong Kong, Sept. 13, 2023. (Xinhua/Wang Shen)

Hong Kong is a participant, contributor and beneficiary in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and will continue to play a key role in the high-quality development of the BRI, said participants at the 8th Belt and Road Summit held Wednesday in Hong Kong.

Organized by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), the two-day summit attracted over 6,000 attendees from all over the world and more than 100 delegations, and is expected to see 20 cooperation memorandums signed.

Addressing the summit, Zheng Yanxiong, director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR, said that Hong Kong must give full play to its unique advantages and strive to become an important hub and key node in the high-quality development of the BRI.

Hong Kong can give full play to its advantages in business environment and offer professional services to countries and regions along the BRI, he said.

Attending the summit, HKSAR Chief Executive John Lee said that Hong Kong is determined to embrace the vast promise of the BRI and the HKSAR government is redoubling efforts to serve as the Belt and Road's functional platform.

"Under the unique 'one country, two systems' principle, Hong Kong is bestowed with the strong support of our country and long-standing global connections," he said.

Earlier this year, Lee led high-level business delegations to the Middle East and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to explore new collaboration opportunities. The two regions are highlighted in the summit, with a special Middle East forum set up for the first time.

Guests attend the 8th Belt and Road Summit in south China's Hong Kong, Sept. 13, 2023. (Xinhua/Wang Shen)

The summit also featured an exhibition area where investment promotional agencies and companies set up booths to seek potential partners.

Fahad Al-Kuwari, senior manager of investor relations with Invest Qatar, said that as the BRI continues to develop, the Middle East is playing an increasingly important role as a logistics hub for the world.

He said the summit has drawn a crowd full of diversity and professionalism, which exceeded his expectations. And that demonstrated Hong Kong's pivotal role in BRI development.

"Commercially it combines the East and West quite well. It does so by allowing Western tradition in business to mingle with the Eastern tradition in business and it's quite a fascinating place when you look at it commercially," he said.

Gabriel Wong, Inbound/Outbound Leader at PwC China, said that Hong Kong can leverage its advantages in financing, professional services as well as its role as a "super connector" between the Chinese mainland and the world to advance the development of the BRI.

The BRI, a reference to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, was initiated by China in 2013 to build trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa on and beyond ancient Silk Road trade routes.