this century and early next century,
Hong
Kong
its
capitalism while we practise
our
between
may practise
socialism.
Therefore, investors around the world have
nothing to worry about."
Then, in 1984, when meeting with the British Foreign
Secretary Sir Geoffrey Howe, Mr. Deng Xiaoping
stressed: "Hong Kong's prosperity and stability can not
be maintained without the guarantee of its continued
capitalist system." and "I am confident
country, two systems' is workable."
that
' one
Mr. Deng's remarks were by no means casual. What he
said was the
-
conclusion drawn after a
great
deal of
investigations
and studies. Before the negotiation
between
China and Britain on the question of
Hong Kong
started,
he personally had talks with people from Hong
Kong and sent people to Hong Kong several times to
field studies. And then, we had a special team set up
go into this question. First we
make
to
analyzed the factors
leading to the economic success in Hong Kong and the
conditions under which they were formed. Then, we studied
whether these factors could continue after 1997.
The conclusion we came to was:
The success of Hong Kong should first and foremost
attributed to its advantageous position, leaning its back
on the Mainland while facing Southeast Asia.
be
As you all know, the Mainland each year provides
2