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Foreign & Commonwealth
Office
London SW1A 2AH
From The Minister of State
22 April 1991
19
Den Grahan
When we met on 18 April you asked for written comments on some of the points raised during the lunch which the Prime Minister gave last month for the Anglo/Hong Kong Trust (your letter of 13 March to Douglas Hurd).
In your letter you reported that there was a general feeling that the UK needed to send a positive signal of its permanent interest in Hong Kong. I believe that we are already sending a number of positive signals. In particular we have plans to build a large Consulate-General where our Representation will be housed after 1997. This is likely to be one of our largest missions abroad. We already have a large British Council presence in Hong Kong. On the industrial side, over 400 British-owned and represented companies have offices in Hong Kong and several major British-owned conglomerates (for example Jardine Matheson and Swire Pacific) have substantial interests there. In 1990 UK exports to Hong Kong amounted to £1.24 billion, an increase of 11.4% over the previous year. Total gross stock market value of British-owned or controlled companies is about £22 billion. In short, our interests in Hong Kong are substantial and visible.
There was also discussion at the Prime Minister's lunch of Chinese MFN status. We fully agree that renewal of Chinese MFN status is very important for Hong Kong's economy. We calculate that losing it could result in the loss of up to 43,000 jobs and HK $12 billion in trade. The Prime Minister has already spoken to President Bush this year stressing the importance of this issue. We shall continue to follow it closely.
Graham Bright Esq MP
House of Commons
LONDON
SW1A OAA
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