Central Government Official Sends New Century Message to HKJiang Enzhu, director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), Tuesday expressed his confidence that Hong Kong and the mainland will achieve fast growth together in the new century.On the occasion of the advent of the new century, Jiang told Xinhua that the fate of Hong Kong has always been linked to that of its motherland. There are many factors leading to the success of Hong Kong, but the support from its motherland is a very important one, he said. The sustained economic growth of Hong Kong is, to a large extent, benefited from the economic boom on the mainland, he added. Jiang pointed out that the mainland funds have played an increasingly important role in Hong Kong in the past two decades, and the investment from the mainland has totaled US$30 billion in the Hong Kong SAR. While a successful Hong Kong gives a vigorous impetus to the modernization drive on the mainland, the speedy development of the mainland injects enormous vitality to Hong Kong, he noted. The central government official said that at the dawn of the new century, two important events in China will be the focus of the world's attention, namely, the development of China's western region and China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO). These two big events signal that China's reform and opening-up will expand to its broad hinterland areas and that its economy will take part in the globalization drive to a larger extent and in more depth, Jiang noted, adding these strategic decisions would bring even brighter prospects for a new round of cooperation between the mainland and the SAR. With China's entry into the WTO and the western region development in the new century, Hong Kong's status as an international financial, trade and shipping center will be further strengthened, and its role in linking the mainland to the rest of the world will be enhanced, he said. Jiang also pointed out that, since competition always accompanies opportunity, Hong Kong will meet a new challenge as the mainland improves its production and management levels, thus creating higher demands for cooperation. But he is confident that Hong Kong, having realized its economic take-off in the past years and succeeded in meeting challenges one and another, will surely grasp the opportunity and catch early chances in the intense competition in the world economy. |
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