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CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION
serve to promote understanding between Hong Kong civil servants and their counterparts on the mainland. Key components of the studies include:
Tsinghua Course:
Familiarisation Visit:
China Seminars:
Each course consists of four weeks of classroom lectures at the Tsinghua University in Beijing, followed by 10 days of visits to major cities in China. Five courses, each with 26 students, are organised annually.
Four visits are organised per year, each giving 12 officers the opportunity to get a better understanding of China's government system and way of life.
Speakers knowledgeable about China-related issues are invited from within and outside the government to deliver seminars to public servants.
Self-learning Packages: Videos, booklets and computer software on China-related
subjects are developed for use by civil servants.
Chinese language training, which includes Putonghua and writing official communications in Chinese, is being offered to a larger number of officers. Cantonese courses are provided for expatriate officers to enable them to work effectively in the Chinese community.
Government Records Service
The Government Records Service manages government records. It undertakes two different but related programmes. The Records Management Office is responsible for a records management programme to handle current and inactive records; and the Public Records Office for an archives administration programme to look after the preservation and use of records of historical value.
The appropriate management of records affects the efficiency of business in government. The Records Management Office oversees and develops a comprehensive system to manage records effectively and efficiently, from their creation to their final disposal. Since November 1994, a Records Management Strategy has been formulated and implemented by phases to help the civil service improve the quality of records services, control the growth of records, reduce the records stock, and enhance cost-effectiveness in records management. The year 1996 saw the successful conclusion of the first phase of the strategy, and the launching of the second phase, which aims to achieve full-scale implementation of a proper records management system within the civil service by mid-1998. The other initiatives being planned for the new phase include the introduction of centralised microfilming facilities and development of a civil service records back-up and recovery system.
The Public Records Office is one of the largest local sources of information for historical and other studies relating to Hong Kong. The public archives also help to foster the identity of the Hong Kong community through the safe-keeping of permanent records on the territory's history and development.
Construction of the territory's first purpose-built permanent archives began in January 1996 in Kwun Tong, Kowloon, and is expected to be completed in mid-1997. The new building has been designed to the latest international standards required for the permanent preservation of various types of records.