Financial Secretary Paul Chan said on Wednesday that the government will postpone a major reclamation project off Lantau after considering its financial implications, but insisted it would not be scrapped.

Authorities are currently conducting a feasibility study for the Kau Yi Chau Artificial Islands project and had previously said reclamation would begin by the end of 2025.

Chan said Hong Kong must continue to create enough land, noting that in the past property prices had risen to very high levels due to a lack of land supply.

The government must prevent that from happening again, he said.

"The conventional business districts are in Central, Admiralty and so on. The second business district is in East Kowloon. The Kau Yi Chau Artificial Islands will be an important business hub in the west in the future," he said.

"However, we have to take into account our public finance situation, so we may have to postpone the project a bit beyond 2025, but we will definitely go ahead with it."

Chan added that both the Northern Metropolis and the Kau Yi Chau Artificial Islands were important land supply projects.

He said the Northern Metropolis would go ahead first as it would promote the city's innovation and technological development, while facilitating cooperation with the Greater Bay Area.

In response, Greenpeace said it was a waste of resources for the government to continue with the feasibility study for the Kau Yi Chau Artificial Islands.

The group repeated its call for the project to be scrapped.