【明報專訊】PRESIDENT Xi Jinping has received delegates from Hong Kong and Macao to celebrate the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up. Looking backward at the past and forward at the future, he outlined four points which he hoped Hong Kong and Macao would fulfil. The meeting highlighted the leading position of Hong Kong's Chief Executive as well as her responsibility for guiding the two cities towards integration into the country's overall development. Saying the country's reform and opening-up had entered a new era, Xi called for new roles to be played by Hong Kong and emphasised the need to put effort into youth development. However, take a look at the composition of the delegation and one will find that it was mostly made up of old faces while the relatively young delegates were mostly the second generation of the rich. The delegation was dominated by political and business elites. The composition should have been more diverse. Because capital was needed in the early years of reform and opening-up, the mainland's past reliance on Hong Kong's business sector was comprehensible. But as times have changed, support from civil society is necessary now to drive the building of a modernised country and tell a good story of contemporary China. Reliance on political and business elites alone will not achieve that end.