A senior Beijing official overseeing Hong Kong affairs on Thursday met a number of political leaders and university chiefs as part of his five-day inspection trip to the city.

Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, began day two of his visit by holding exchanges with representatives from different groups.

Those seen at the Central Government Offices in the morning included Executive Council convenor Regina Ip, DAB chairman Gary Chan, Lo Wai-kwok from the Business and Professionals Alliance and Heung Yee Kuk leader Kenneth Lau.

In the afternoon, university presidents including Zhang Xiang from the University of Hong Kong, the Chinese University's Dennis Lo, Nancy Ip of the University of Science and Technology, Alexander Wai of Baptist University, and Teng Jin-guang of Polytechnic University were among appearing in Tamar.

Xia hailed Chief Executive John Lee for making positive progress in all aspects of work as he met executive, legislative and judicial officials on his first day in Hong Kong on Wednesday.

The city's leader, in turn, thanked Xia for his "continued concern and support" for the SAR.

Xia is in Hong Kong to look into the city's latest development and attend a key forum on national security on Saturday.