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The work of the Group has been taken forward not only at the regular plenary meetings but also by smaller groups of experts meeting on an
ad hoc basis
basis to discuss specific issues. The Group's achievements to date have been widely welcomed and appreciated in Hong Kong. The friendly and cooperative atmosphere in which all contacts in and under the Group have taken place is most encouraging and augurs well
for the continued close cooperation that will be needed between
Britain and China as 1997 approaches.
(c)
Land Commission
12.
the
more
The Sino-British Land Commission has continued to make
make good
progress, reaching agreement on
accounting arrangements for the
sharing of income
income from land sales and on the form and content of a
number of important legal documents for use in Land transactions in Hong Kong. Under the Joint Declaration, premium income from Land
after transactions,
deductions for the average cost of Land production, is shared equally between the Hong Kong Government and
To date future Special Administrative Region Government. than HK$1.6 billion has been credited to the future Special Administrative Region Government's account. The Chinese side of the
Land Commission manages this income
in
trust, through a Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government Land Fund and an Investment
both of Committee, both of which were set
The Fund is up in August 1986. expected to continue to grow so that a very substantial
a very substantial sum will be
available to
to the future Special Administrative Region Government in 1997. The Commission also reached agreement on the land disposal
for programme
programme agreed
1
was
the period
1986 April
1987. 31
The March
with the previous year, 57.58% hectares. As with
this was above the annual Limit of 50 hectares specified in Annex
III to the
to
Joint Declaration. Thus for the second
successive year
the Land Commission has made sensible use of the provision in Annex III which permits flexibility in the application of the annual Limit
of new Land to be granted.
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