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Police on Friday said they arrested 61 people, including five minors, in the past month for allegedly selling drugs online.

It said the suspects, aged between 14 and 59, are suspected of involvement in 43 cases.

Officers said they seized 128 kilogrammes of drugs, including cannabis buds, cocaine and magic mushrooms, as well as electronic cigarette pods.

The hauls were worth about HK$38 million in total, police said.

Chief Inspector Charm Yiu-kwong said drug syndicates have created channels and groups on Telegram to sell cannabis products.

"Syndicates imported a large amount of cannabis oil from overseas countries to Hong Kong. They then processed the cannabis oil and mixed it into chocolates, candies and cookies, and sold them on social media platforms. In terms of appearance, they looked the same as normal products," he said.

Charm added that some electronic cigarette pods have been found to contain etomidate, warning that even a small amount of the controlled drug can cause death.

The police on Friday said they arrested a man on suspicion of possessing firearms without a licence.

Officers found 18 guns, 11 knives, and four daggers at a self-storage facility in Sha Tin, and arrested the 67-year-old suspect on Wednesday.

Speaking at a press briefing, Superintendent Cheung Ting-fung said the man had previously held licences for various types of guns, but these were revoked in 2008.

Cheung also said it is suspected that all the firearms found at the storage facility this week were obtained illegally from overseas.

He added the case was not related to the social unrest in 2019.

"Currently, we do not have any evidence showing that the arrested person is connected to any previous riot or violent cases. We tend to believe that this arrested person is just a firearms fanatic."

The case will be heard at the Sha Tin Magistrates’ Courts on Friday afternoon.

Chief Executive John Lee said cooperation between Hong Kong and Shanghai was entering a new phase as the CE met with the city's mayor for a major conference on Friday.

Speaking at the sixth plenary session of the Hong Kong-Shanghai Co-operation Conference, Lee said the two cities would sign 20 cooperation documents and reach consensus on 65 projects in areas such as innovation technology, industrial development, digital economy and finance.

"Since the first meeting in 2003, the two cities have been engaging in more frequent exchanges... Hong Kong has become one of the major export markets and also the largest source of foreign investment into Shanghai," he said.

Shanghai Mayor Gong Zheng said these exchanges created opportunities and built a win-win situation for the two cities.

"We sincerely hope that the two cities can take the opportunity of signing a new round of cooperation documents to integrate our development strategies comprehensively, create highlights for our cooperation and together push Hong Kong-Shanghai cooperation to a new phase," he said.

Deputy director of Beijing's liaison office in Hong Kong Yin Zonghua, Shanghai Vice Mayor Hua Yuan, and Financial Secretary Paul Chan, were among the other leaders and officials at the meeting.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken for talks across a range of complex issues.

The top US diplomat is due to spend several hours with Wang across closed-door meetings at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse and a working lunch as the two sides try to maintain progress in ties.

As the pair settled into their opening session, Wang told Blinken that the "great ship" of the China-US relationship had stabilised, "but negative factors in the relationship are still increasing and building".

"And the relationship is facing all kinds of disruptions. China’s legitimate development rights have been unreasonably suppressed and our core interests are facing challenges," he said.

Blinken replied that "active diplomacy" was needed to move forward with the agenda set by President Xi Jinping and President Joe Biden when they met in San Francisco in November.

"There's no substitute in our judgement for face-to-face diplomacy," Blinken said, adding that he wanted to ensure that "we’re as clear as possible about the areas where we have differences, at the very least to avoid misunderstandings, to avoid miscalculations".

US State Department officials signalled ahead of the sessions that China's support for Russia would feature strongly, saying that Washington is prepared to act against Chinese companies that have been helping retool and resupply Russia's defence industry.

Chinese officials and state media have cast doubt over the extent of possible progress on several fronts, with a China Daily editorial saying that both sides "have been largely talking past each other".

"On the conflict in Ukraine, the world can see it clearly that the Ukraine issue is not an issue between China and the US; and the US side should not turn it into one," it said. (Reuters)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday called on China and the United States to manage their relationship "responsibly" as he went on a charm offensive in Shanghai, ahead of talks with top central government officials in Beijing.

Blinken's visit to Shanghai has seen him sample local food, watch a basketball game and stroll along the city's famous Bund promenade.

In a meeting with Chen Jining, Communist Party Secretary of Shanghai, America's top diplomat said US President Joe Biden was committed to "direct and sustained" dialogue between the world's two largest economies after years of mounting tension.

"We have an obligation for our people, indeed an obligation to the world, to manage the relationship between our two countries responsibly," Blinken said.

“That is the obligation we have, and one that we take very seriously.”

Chen too stressed the need to build stable ties.

"Whether we choose cooperation or confrontation affects the well-being of both peoples, both countries and the future of humanity," he said.

Blinken on Thursday also met students at the Shanghai campus of New York University, where he voiced hope for more Americans to study in China.

He added that the US was committed to welcoming Chinese students.

Blinken also met American business leaders in Shanghai.

He then headed for Beijing, where he's expected to meet Foreign Minister Wang Yi and possibly President Xi Jinping on Friday. (AFP & agencies)

Immigration officials on Thursday said they expect Lo Wu will be the busiest border crossing during the mainland's "Golden Week" holiday next week.

On Tuesday, Chief Executive John Lee projected almost six million arrivals and departures for the week, with some 800,000 mainland tourists expected to come to Hong Kong.

The Immigration Department said Labour Day on May 1 is tipped to be the busiest day, with arrivals and departures reaching one million at land checkpoints.

It said that between April 30 and May 5, an average of around 200,000 rail journeys a day are expected through Lo Wu, and 170,000 via Lok Ma Chau.

An average of 130,000 journeys a day are expected for the bridge to Zhuhai and Macau.

The Immigration Department's boundary division commander, Ng Hoi-ka, said travellers are advised to use the department's mobile app for real-time border traffic information, so they can see how busy the different checkpoints are.

She also called on travellers to avoid crossing the border during peak hours.

"If all travellers cross the border during the peak hours at the same time, there's bound to be some congestion and longer waiting times. So we urge everyone, if you can, please avoid the peak hours," she said at a press briefing.

"Generally speaking, for departures, it starts getting crowded from eight in the morning, and it'd be the busiest between 10 and 12 o'clock."

She added that her department has prepared for the busy week by curbing holidays for frontline officers.

A control centre will be set up along with other departments to monitor checkpoint operations, so officers can respond to any emergencies.