XN000022-1993-11-15 — Page 4

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1993

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MRS CHAN MADE IT PLAIN THAT HONG KONG WOULD NOT BE SWALLOWED UP WHEN SOVEREIGNTY REVERTED TO CHINA.

AS FAR AS INVESTORS ARE CONCERNED IT WILL BE BUSINESS AS USUAL IN HONG KONG AFTER THE MIDNIGHT BELLS ON JUNE 30, 1993.

"THERE IS NOTHING MAGICAL ABOUT *THAT DATE AS FAR AS OUR ECONOMIC LINKS WITH CHINA, AND SOUTHERN CHINA IN PARTICULAR, ARE CONCERNED.

"IN THIS REGARD, THERE WILL NOT BE, AND THERE IS NO NEED FOR, A NEW BEGINNING," MRS CHAN SAID.

THE CHIEF SECRETARY-DESIGNATE SAID ALTHOUGH HONG KONG WOULD UNDOUBTEDLY FACE DIFFICULTIES FROM TIME ΤΟ TIME IN THE REMAINING YEARS OF TRANSITION, THESE WOULD BE OVERCOME "BY BELIEVING IN OUR OWN INNATE STRENGTHS AND BY ALWAYS LOOKING FORWARD AND NEVER BACKWARDS"

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THERE HAVE BEEN GROWING ECONOMIC INTEGRATION BETWEEN HONG KONG AND CHINA. SHE SAID THIS HAD LED TO EXPANSION IN TELECOMMUNICATIONS, AIR AND SHIPPING SERVICES, NEW ROAD AND RAIL LINKS AND THE MASSIVE CROSS-BORDER MOVEMENTS OF VEHICLES AND PEOPLE NOW NUMBERING OVER 20,000 VEHICLES A DAY AND 50 MILLION PEOPLE A YEAR.

"ALL THESE ARE INDICATORS OF

APACE, NOT WAITING FOR 1997.

"WE ARE SEEING

MRS

CHAN SAID.

ECONOMIC

TRANSFORMATION

INTEGRATION GOING ON

LONG BEFORE

TRANSITION,"

ON CHINA'S DEVELOPMENT, MRS CHAN SAID OVER THE PAST 15 YEARS, THE CHINESE LEADERSHIP HAD SHOWN CONSIDERABLE SKILL IN MANAGING THE TRANSITION FROM COMMAND TO MARKET ECONOMICS.

OPTIMISM THAT IT WOULD

AND THERE WERE GROUNDS FOR CAUTIOUS SUCCEED IN COOLING DOWN ITS ECONOMY WITHOUT SEVERE DISRUPTIONS.

"BUT IT IS THE AWAKENING OF THE LATENT ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT OF THE POPULATION AT LARGE THAT IS THE MOST SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENT IN CHINA IN THE PAST FEW YEARS.

"THIS SPIRIT BOTH FEEDS AND IS REINFORCED BY THE ECONOMIC CHANGES THAT HAVE TAKEN PLACE."

THESE CHANGES

MRS CHAN EMPHASISED THAT ALL

HAD TAKEN PLACE WITHIN A SINGLE COUNTRY THAT FOR THE MOST PART SHARED A COMMON HISTORY, CULTURE AND WRITTEN LANGUAGE. THIS MADE FOR A VERY DIFFERENT PICTURE FROM THAT IN EASTERN EUROPE AND THE FORMER SOVIET UNION.

SHE SAID THERE WAS HUGE SCOPE FOR FURTHER EXCHANGES BETWEEN EUROPE AND ASIA WITH THE MOST OBVIOUS BEING IN THE AREA OF TRADE AS MARKETS DEVELOPED AND DIVERSIFIED. AND HONG KONG WAS THE NATURAL HUB FROM WHICH TO DO BUSINESS.

MRS CHAN POINTED OUT THE STRONG ECONOMIC TIES BETWEEN HONG KONG AND GERMANY WITH TRADE BETWEEN THE TWO CENTRES GROWING AT

AN AVERAGE ANNUAL RATE OF 17 PER CENT.

/CARS, SHE