HK Elite Star Football Team livestream studio inaugurated in Qianhai

Natalis Chan Pak-cheung (4th L) and other members of Hong Kong Elite Star Football Team speak to media at the inauguration of the livestream studio in Qianhai yesterday. Photos courtesy of New TV

A livestream studio built around the Hong Kong Elite Star Football Team was inaugurated at a ceremony in Qianhai yesterday, featuring a star-studded lineup of Hong Kong entertainers including Natalis Chan Pak-cheung and John Chong Ka, chairman of New TV Hong Kong.

The livestream studio initiative responds to national strategies focused on accelerating agricultural and rural modernization, supporting the export of distinctive agricultural products and expanding international trade channels, according to Chong.

Natalis Chan Pak-cheung (R) and John Chong Ka, chairman of New TV Hong Kong，dot the lion’s eyes to awaken the southern lion at yesterday's ceremony in Qianhai.

Leveraging the coordinated advantages of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the studio will make use of Hong Kong’s role as an international trade gateway and its global communication reach to develop a professional and branded platform for the promotion and sale of agricultural products overseas.

The studio will combine the influence of Hong Kong celebrities with the reach of new media to connect high-quality agricultural products from the Chinese mainland with markets in Hong Kong and other parts of the world. The initiative aims to reduce barriers between production and sales, expand international distribution channels and support rural revitalization through brand building, enabling Chinese agricultural products to reach the GBA and the global market.

Hong Kong Elite Star Football Team members at the livestream studio in Qianhai.

The newly launched studio has also established its own premium brand, “StarSelect Premium” to promote high-quality agricultural products to overseas markets.

The participating celebrities, such as Benny Chan, Ken Chan, Stephen Cheung, and Wilfred Lau, expressed strong support for the development of the livestream studio. The Hong Kong Elite Star Football Team has long been involved in public welfare initiatives, cultural activities and sports-related projects.

The ceremony also marked the opening and the inaugural exhibition of the New TV & Mobius M Art Center, which was jointly created by Hong Kong New TV and Beijing-based Mobius M.

Benny Chan observes artwork at Re • Bound, the inaugural exhibition, in Qianhai yesterday.

“Mobius M and New TV have jointly created this art space in Qianhai because we hope to take advantage of the location where Hong Kong and Shenzhen meet, as well as Qianhai’s open and innovative environment, to communicate Chinese culture and Chinese stories to the world,” said Tian Ye, head of Media Environment (Beijing) Cultural Media Co. Ltd., which owns Beijing Mobius M.

The inaugural exhibition, titled “Re • Bound,” presents the art center as a space where culture, technology, creativity and commercial applications intersect. Tian said that art is a tangible expression of human emotion and an important vehicle for cultural heritage.

Eddie Wu Kwing-lung poses for a photo after signing autograph at yesterday's ceremony in Qianhai.

The art center was established to promote cultural exchange between Hong Kong and the mainland, take root in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and engage with the global art ecosystem.

Speaking at the ceremony, Natalis Chan recalled his iconic role as Zhu Zhishan in Stephen Chow’s film Flirting Scholar. In the movie, his character’s painting, originally presented as the “Phoenix Painting,” was humorously renamed the “Chick Pecking at Rice,” which subsequently became a widely recognized cultural reference.

Bennett Pang Kin-san, guitarist of Hong Kong band The Wynners, signs his autograph at the ceremony in Qianhai yesterday.

“Today, there are many possibilities for cross-sector collaboration, and this art exhibition is a very good example. It demonstrates the diverse possibilities for the development of artists’ intellectual property,” Chan said.

He added that the creative team behind the exhibition had taken the “Chick Pecking at Rice” from the film and given it personality and vitality, transforming it from a two-dimensional image into a three-dimensional artistic concept and further extending it into art projects and IP co-branded products.

As a Hong Kong-rooted new media platform, NEW TV has focused on telling China’s stories and supporting the development of the Greater Bay Area. Beijing Mobius M is a flagship brand under Media Environment (Beijing) Cultural Media Co. Ltd. Its work centers on contemporary art curation and digital aesthetics.