299
Pa
GATT
MISSION PERMANENTE DE LA REPUBLIQUE POPULAIRE DE CHINE
AUPRES DE L'OFFICE DES NATIONS UNIES A GENEVE
ET DES AUTRES ORGANISATIONS INTERNATIONALES EN SUISSE
Mr. Arthur Dunkel
Director-General
GATT
Geneva
23 April, 1986
HKK 122/1
1 MAY 1986
Dear Mr. Director-General,
ABY/5.
I am instructed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, with reference to the communication which the United Kingdom Mission in Geneva addressed to Your Excellency today, to notify Your Excellency of the Declaration of the People's Republic of China as follows:
In accordance with the Joint Declaration of the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on the Question of Hong Kong, signed in Beijing on 19 December 1984, the People's Republic of China has decided to resume the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong with effect from 1 July 1997. Hong Kong will, with effect from that date, become a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, which will have international responsibility for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. In accordance with Paragraph 3 of the Joint Declaration and the relevant provisions of Annex 1 to that declaration, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will retain the status of a free port and a separate customs territory, will maintain the capital- ist economic and trade systems previously practised in Hong Kong, will decide its economic and trade policies on its own and may on its own, using the name of "Hong Kong, China", maintain and develop relations and conclude and implement agreements with states, regions and relevant international organiza- tions in the economic, trade and other fields. Section VI of Annex 1 to the Joint Declaration further provides in detail that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region may participate in relevant international orga- nizations and international trade agreements (including