VISIT TO MR RONG YI-REN
CHAIRMAN OF CHINA INTERNATIONAL TRUST & INVESTMENT CORP
17 DECEMBER 1980
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Mr Rong, who is a frequent visitor to Hong Kong and who normally asks to see me during his visits, requested that I call on him at CITIC's headquarters in Beijing.
During our discussions he asked me how things were going in Hong Kong and when I had given him a brief outline of the present economic position I took the opportunity to say that we were perhaps approaching a fairly crucial point in the political life of Hong Kong where the absence of some definitive indication of China's wishes could lead to a running down in confidence and once that happened it was often difficult to turn it around. I said that many of us felt that Hong Kong could continue to be of great use to China and if the Chinese authorities agreed this was so, one hoped they would not wait too long before they made a move.
Rong said he felt Hong Kong should realise how much importance China indeed attached to Hong Kong's continuance and pointed out the large investments made by Chinese corporations in Hong Kong in the recent past, although he also realised that something other than investments would have to be done before too long.
LUNCH WITH MR BU MING
CHAIRMAN OF THE BANK OF CHINA
17 DECEMBER 1980
I was able to make a similar point to Bu Ming when I said that whereas it was not easy to predict with precision when con- fidence in Hong Kong might begin to falter, some would say this could happen within the next 18 months and most would agree that it would begin to erode in a maximum of three years if some pronouncements and decisions from China were not forthcoming. I said that if confidence did begin to waver it was not always easy to rebuild it quickly and I was sure that as a banker he would understand this. While not denying this, Bu Ming was obviously, and predictably, unenthusiastic about pursuing the topic and changed the subject fairly rapidly. However, Q W Lee then broke in to say he hoped Chairman Bu Ming would excuse him if he brought the subject back to the question of Hong Kong's political future and es- pecially mentioned the problems regarding finance for homes. He suggested fifteen years, which would mean June 1982, was a particularly sensitive time and as the Bank of China in Hong Kong were also involved in home financing, the problems would apply to them as well. Financing of sites in the in- dustrial estates was also mentioned. Bu Ming recalled that I had mentioned this to him when I saw him in September this year and it was obvious that he well understood the problem.