Chief Executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Carrie Lam on Tuesday appealed for the support of Hong Kong society to end violence as the Asian financial hub expected to record a full year negative economic growth in 2019.
Hong Kong has been gripped by increasingly violent protests over the last five months, which severely affected its business, finance, tourism, logistics, transportation and many other sectors.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Lam said Hong Kong is facing a very "grave situation" and relief measures that have been carried out up until now could only tackle the situation on the surface without fixing it.
"The fundamental solution is to contain violence and restore peace in Hong Kong as soon as possible so we can go back to our works in economy and others," Lam said.
She also expressed firm support to the police force and condemned rioters' escalating and extreme violent acts.
