Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa said Tuesday at a meeting with German President Johannes Rau that the German president's visit to Hong Kong is an important milestone in the development of friendship and cooperation between China's Hong Kong and Germany.

Tung said, "We have complementary strengths and I can see a lot of opportunities for cooperation, especially between our small and medium-sized enterprises."

Tung said Germany is Hong Kong's biggest trading partner among the EU member states. This year, the value of bilateral trade grew by 22.5 percent in the first seven months over last year's same period.

He added that the German Chamber of Commerce is one of the largest chambers in Hong Kong. Over 50 German companies have established their regional headquarters here, and nearly 100 more have set up regional offices in Hong Kong.

Germany is world renowned for its precision engineering, industrial prowess, and superb product design. Hong Kong enterprises are famous for their agility, versatility, and unrivalled knowledge and experience in doing business in the Chinese mainland market, he said.

Tung told the German president that with the unwavering support of the Chinese central government and the effort of the people of Hong Kong, the "One Country, Two Systems" concept has been turned into an everyday reality. The lifestyle and freedoms enjoyed and cherished by Hong Kong people remain as strong as ever and protected under the Basic Law.

Tung said China's rapid and orderly economic development in recent years is also bringing to Hong Kong unprecedented new opportunities. It is estimated that by 2010, China's economy will be one of the largest in the world. Hong Kong is uniquely positioned to take advantage of this development.

The recent signing of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) between Chinese mainland and Hong Kong creates enormous potential for Hong Kong to become a center of production for higher value-added goods as well as a base for providing high-quality services for a vast domestic market of 1.3 billion people.

He said CEPA will not only bring boundless new opportunities to Hong Kong citizens but also to the international community who choose to use Hong Kong to conduct business with the Chinese mainland.

The German president arrived in Hong Kong Monday and will finish the visit Wednesday.
 
(Xinhua News Agency September 17, 2003)