A politician from Hong Kong who met President Xi Jinping during the Chinese leader's rare visit to the colony last week reported testing positive for Covid-19 two days after the meeting.

Mr. Steven Ho, a member of the main pro-Beijing party in Hong Kong, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, tested positive on Saturday (July 2) and has self-isolated, according to a post on his Facebook page published on Sunday.

Mr. Ho stated that he tested negative for the virus on June 30, the day he was pictured with Mr. Xi on RTHK's website.

Mr. Xi was in Hong Kong to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the territory's surrender to the Chinese mainland and to swear in the city's new leader, John Lee. It was his first excursion outside the Chinese mainland since the outbreak of the Covid-19 virus.

Before Mr. Xi arrived in Hong Kong, officials increased Covid-19 testing and quarantine regulations and deployed a vast security force to shut Victoria Harbour's highways and airspace.

China adheres to a zero-Covid policy that seeks to eradicate all outbreaks at whatever cost, contrary to a global trend of coexisting with the virus.

Mr. Xi's trip to Hong Kong was his first since 2017 when he swore in departing leader Carrie Lam and spent the entirety of his tour in the city.

During his visit to Hong Kong last week, he arrived on Thursday and Friday but remained the night in neighboring Shenzhen.

This time, his whereabouts and motives for choosing Shenzhen have not been publicly confirmed.