Hong Kong aims to bring in about 1,000 prominent political, business and media leaders from mainland China and other countries on sponsored visits in a major public relations drive to rebuild the city’s image as an international hub.

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu on Wednesday said he himself would go to next month’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) meeting in Thailand to tell “good stories of Hong Kong”.

“With an intricate and volatile international political environment, certain external forces have been deliberately smearing our country and distorting the situation in Hong Kong,” he said in his first policy address.

“We have to present the true picture of Hong Kong to the world and promote our strengths, achievements and opportunities, and show that the city is a good place where people can make their dreams come true.”

He said a new task force led by Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po would take charge of the programme to host prominent invited guests on sponsored visits.

“Tailor-made arrangements will be made, so that these visitors can see for themselves the latest developments in Hong Kong and take home the good stories of Hong Kong,” he said, without mentioning when the visits would begin.

The task force and a “Team Hong Kong” of business leaders, the Trade Development Council and Tourism Board would also visit traditional and emerging markets to promote Hong Kong.

Financial Secretary Paul Chan will lead a new task force to host the prominent invited guests.

Listing the city’s advantages, Lee said it was a free and open metropolis and a competitive financial centre with a simple tax regime, a solid rule of law and enjoyed the “strong support of the motherland”.

Commenting on the government’s plan to be proactive in countering “smearing” by the West, Polytechnic University political scientist Chan Wai-keung said: “It may be a good start, but it will take time to change the stereotypes against Hong Kong. The world is getting more polarised. It will be a difficult task.”

Reacting similarly, Andrew Fung Ho-keung, director and chief executive officer of the private think tank Hong Kong Policy Research Institute, said: “Politically, Western politicians and media, in general, hold negative views of Hong Kong. I am not very sure they would like to come to Hong Kong even if they are invited. Or they might come up with conclusions that the government would not like or expect to see in the end.”

He said he felt it would have been better to launch such an initiative after all Covid-19 restrictions were removed.

Chief Executive John Lee said he himself would be at next month’s Apec meeting in Thailand to tell “good stories of Hong Kong”.

After months of social unrest in 2019, the government under then-leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor appointed a public relations firm in 2020 for a US$6.2 million campaign to rebrand Hong Kong and “counter negative international perceptions”.

It never got off the ground fully, with officials blaming the pandemic.

In his speech on Wednesday, Lee also said the Financial Services Development Council and InvestHK would launch a global marketing campaign to showcase Hong Kong’s position as a bridge connecting mainland China and the world.