Hong Kong delegates to the nation's top political advisory body who met with senior mainland official Xia Baolong in Beijing on Monday evening quoted him as saying the city should unite in supporting Chief Executive John Lee's administration.

Xia, who heads the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, held talks with Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) delegates from the two SARs, a day before the opening of this year's CPPCC meetings.

Delegates said during the 70-minute meeting with Xia, he highly praised the achievements of the two SARs in the past year.

A local CPPCC member, Ho Hon-kuen, said Xia stressed that Hong Kong should work together as a whole.

“Talking about the upcoming Legislative Council election, he said the current members have done a good job, but he hopes the next term can be even better,” Ho said.

“He also said Hong Kong should unite and support the work of the chief executive. He said under the current economic and political situation, we should be confident in ourselves.”

Ho also quoted Xia as saying that Hong Kong has the advantage of the One Country, Two Systems principle, and the central government and Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office fully support the SAR's development.

Another local CPPCC member, Junius Ho, said they had discussions about the global political and economic situation.

Junius Ho also mentioned Hong Kong's current situation.

“The stability and prosperity that we are now enjoying do not come easy. We need to treasure them. We need to make it a sustainable growth. We need to maintain it. I think this requires concerted efforts, and we are all committed to do that,” he said.

The third session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee begins on Tuesday.