President Xi Jinping says the Belt and Road Initiative has injected new impetus in the global economy. He made the remarks during an address at the opening ceremony of the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing on Wednesday. Vanessa Cheng reports from the capital:

President Xi has also announced that RMB700 billion will be deployed to help bankroll Belt and Road projects during his keynote speech. He pointed out that the initiative would also promote green development. Speaking at the Belt and Road forum, Financial Secretary Paul Chan said Hong Kong would play a major role in terms of green finance and green technology. Aaron Tam reports:

Chief Executive John Lee says the SAR will work to develop into an international hub for innovation and technology, in line with the needs of the Belt and Road Initiative. He said Hong Kong’s strengths line up well with the eight directions set out by President Xi. Kelly Yu reports:

President Xi has hailed his close friendship with Vladimir Putin as he hosted the Russian leader for talks that celebrated their nations' deepening political and economic ties. The two leaders met at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on the sidelines of the Belt and Road forum. Cecil Wong reports:

Trade unionist lawmaker, Lam Chun-sing, says authorities should investigate the safety culture at companies related to Aggressive Construction, following a series of fatal accidents at the contractor. It will now be removed from several projects its working on, affecting an estimated 900 workers. Lam, who is the chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong and Kowloon Labour Unions, says he expects it could take the Development Bureau one to two months to find other firms to take over its projects. He told Samantha Butler that he hoped affected workers could be rehired at the same rate:

The government will ban the sale and use of some disposable plastic tableware in Hong Kong from April, following LegCo’s passage of a bill on product eco-responsibility. As Damon Pang reports, offenders of the ban will face a fixed penalty of HK$2,000:

A study by Baptist University has found that workers in Hong Kong got an average pay hike of between 3.2 and 3.8 percent in the past year - the highest among Greater Bay Area cities. The university’s Centre for Human Resources Strategy and Development surveyed nearly 300 companies - which employ about 18,300 people - in Hong Kong, Macau and several Guangdong cities. The centre’s director, Huang Xu, told Elvis Yu it was a "turning point" that the pay rise in Hong Kong had surpassed that of Guangdong: