Hong Kong will “move with agility and steadiness” in the Year of the Horse to seize opportunities and overcome challenges, the city’s leader has said in a message to residents.

The one-minute Lunar New Year video, broadcast on Monday, showed Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu admiring ceramic paintings featuring horses, some created by his wife, Janet Lee Lam Lai-sim.

On the eve of the Lunar New Year, Lee described the horse as a symbol of “speed and stamina”, one that boldly charged ahead and covered vast distances each day.

“As we step into the Year of the Horse, let us move with agility and steadiness, seizing opportunities, overcoming challenges and propelling Hong Kong forward,” Lee, dressed in a traditional red Chinese suit, said in the televised address.

Filming their annual Lunar New Year greetings outside Government House for the first time, the pair were seen leading a horse on a stroll in the video.

“My wife and I wish every sector in Hong Kong to lead the way, every endeavour to achieve swift success and the Year of the Horse to bring good fortune and joy to all,” they said.

Lee is scheduled to visit a New Year fair in Kwun Tong on Monday afternoon.