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HK Chief Executive Welcomes Granting China PNTR Status
Tung Chee Hwa, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, said Wednesday that he welcomed the US Senate's decision to grant Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status to China.
"The granting of PNTR status by the US to China augurs well for Sino-US relations. Hong Kong will obviously stand to benefitfrom a good and stable relationship between our two largest trading partners," he said.
Tung noted that China's WTO membership will benefit Hong Kong, Asia and the global economy.
"It will bring both opportunities and challenges to Hong Kong. We believe that Hong Kong will stand to benefit substantially from the new business opportunities. We are also confident that Hong Kong people will be able to overcome the challenges," he added.
Tung said the way is now clear for President Clinton to sign the bill into law. I hope this will happen very soon.
"The scene is set for China to complete accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). I hope the accession process in Geneva will also be concluded soon," he said.
Hong Kong Secretary for Commerce and Industry Chau Tak Hay also welcomed the passage by the United States Senate.
Chau voiced the hope that the PNTR bill will be signed into law by the US President as soon as possible, thus removing the uncertainty which accompanies the annual exercise to renew China's PNTR status in the US.
"The mainland and the United States are Hong Kong's two largest trading partners. A stable trading relationship between them is therefore extremely important to Hong Kong," he said.
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