Senior Beijing officials on Tuesday called on Hong Kong's business sector to make proactive efforts to understand, respond and embrace changes, during a session studying a letter by President Xi Jinping.

In a recent reply letter to Hong Kong entrepreneurs with family ties to Ningbo, Xi urged them to leverage their strengths and contribute to Chinese modernisation.

The director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, Xia Baolong, was quoted as saying that society, especially the business sector, should take the president's words as a guide.

Zheng Yanxiong, who heads Beijing's liaison office in the SAR, noted that the letter was not only an encouragement for the entrepreneurs, but also expressed Xi's high hopes for the entire business community.

“The SAR should act as the protagonist, actively participating in the torrent of further comprehensively deepening reforms. It should not be a bystander, but be someone who's involved," Zheng said.

"Hong Kong should fully grasp areas that should be maintained and remain unchanged, areas that should be changed, and areas where it should take the lead in making a change."