Xi met with John Lee and members of the executive, the legislature and the judiciary shortly after the inaugural ceremony. They included the Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal Andrew Cheung Kui-nung; the Chief Secretary for Administration Chan Kwok-ki; the Financial Secretary Paul Chan; the Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok; the President of the Legislative Council Andrew Leung; the Convenor of the Non-official Members of the Executive Council Regina Ip, as well as the principal officials and permanent secretaries of the new term of government.

After leaving the convention center in Wan Chai, the state leader headed to the nearby People’s Liberation Army barracks in Central.

Xi, the chairman of the Central Military Commission, was escorted by vice-chairman General Xu Qiliang, the PLA’s second-highest ranking officer, when he arrived in Hong Kong at West Kowloon station by train on Thursday afternoon.

He stayed at the barracks for around 35 minutes before heading to the West Kowloon high-speed railway station to prepare for his departure to neighbouring Shenzhen.

Former chief executives Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, Leung Chun-ying, new leader Lee and principal officials of his administration are at the West Kowloon terminus to bid farewell to Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan.

Students and volunteers in the station can also be heard chanting “Welcome to come back, thank you president!”.

The children also sang a Mandarin song, My Motherland and Me, to bid farewell to the couple.