President Hu Jintao reiterated the central government's
"all-out support" for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
(HKSAR) on Friday when he met its Chief Executive Donald Tsang on
his annual duty visit.
Chinese President Hu Jintao shakes hands with
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Chief Executive
Donald Tsang. In a meeting on Friday, November 23, 2007 in Beijing,
Hu Jintao pledged "all-out support" for Tsang and his
government.
Hu spoke highly of the HKSAR government's achievements and asked
that it give priority to economic development and the improvement
of people's lives.
The SAR should make full use of the opportunities brought by the
mainland's economic development and globalization to consolidate
its position as an international finance, trade and shipping
center, Hu said.
The central government will continue to unswervingly uphold the
principles of "one country, two systems" and the Basic Law of Hong
Kong , and "give all-out support" to the chief executive and the
HKSAR government in governance according to law, Hu said.
Premier Wen Jiabao also met Tsang on Friday.
Wen said the initiative to allow mainlanders to directly invest
in Hong Kong's stock market - or the "through-train" stock
investment scheme - will move forward "cautiously and
pragmatically" to ensure the financial stability of Hong Kong and
the mainland.
Tsang said the Hong Kong government will fully cooperate with
the mainland once the initiative is given the green light.
The plan was announced in August and later shelved out of
consideration for the financial stability of both the mainland and
the SAR.
Tsang told a news briefing on Friday afternoon that he had
visited several ministries this time and "got the strong impression
that they have given full support to Hong Kong in strengthening its
status as an international financial center".
Hong Kong is the prime location for a pilot project running
renminbi businesses outside the mainland, Tsang said.
Tsang also suggested the National Development and Reform
Commission include Hong Kong when it starts drafting the next
Five-Year Plan (2011-15) during a meeting with the commission's
deputy chief Chen Deming.
The commission supported Hong Kong's closer integration with
neighboring Shenzhen and the development of major cross-border
infrastructures, such as the Hong Kong-Macao-Zhuhai Bridge, Tsang
said.
Tsang also told reporters he has invited Xi Jinping to Hong
Kong. Xi is the newly elected member of the top leadership of the
Communist Party of China who has recently been assigned to oversee
the affairs of Hong Kong and Macao.
State leaders on Friday also promised to fully support the work
of the Macao SAR government and its chief executive Edmund Ho.
"We believe that Ho and the Macao SAR government will unite the
people from all walks of Macao society, find proper solutions to
the problems Macao will face in the future, and maintain the
favorable circumstances that have existed since the region returned
to the motherland (in 1999)," Wen said during the meeting with
Ho.
(China Daily November 24, 2007)
