TNAG-1158-FCO40-1438-Visit-by-Margaret-Thatcher--UK-Prime-Minister--to-Hong-Kong--1982 — Page 182

CONFIDENTIAL

ник

DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRY

ASHDOWN HOUSE

123 VICTORIA STREET

LONDON SW1E 6RB

TELEPHONE DIRECT LINE 01-212

3301

Intermegen on! 'Action on

SWITCHBOARD 0:-212 676

Secretary of Stata for Industry Pac{x}

Mike Pattison Esq

Private Secretary to the

Prime Minister

10 Downing Street

London SW1

Har Mille,

18 January 1982

MIR 026/5

PEMB Polym Ree

Mr Manzie

ist

PCs 2011

PUM Bell

(crfil:)

HKR.026/14

(26)

1981

OFFICIAL OPENING OF CASTLE PEAK "A" POWER STATION

sea

See 5

I enclose an invitation which Lord Kadoorie, the Chairman of the China Light and Power Company (CLP) of Hong Kong, has requested we forward to the Prime Minister asking whether she would be willing to perform the official opening ceremony of the Castle Peak "A" Power Station in Hong Kong during her visit to the Far East in September of this year.

:

6

2 The project is of special significance to the UK for a number of reasons. As a result of an approach by Lord Kadoorie, the Department of Industry has co-ordinated the expertise of UK manufacturing industry, the electricity supply industry and the financial institutions in the City of London in securing for the UK orders with a present day value in excess of £1,000 million. The Prime Minister may recall that the latest, of these orders was for the "sister" Castle Peak "B" power station, placed in August 1981: this was perhaps the largest single export contract ever awarded to the UK. There are excellent opportunities for the UK to continue this mutually beneficial relationship. As part of their ambitious development programme CLP are now planning' joint ventures with the Chinese authorities on a nuclear power station. and a pumped storage scheme in the adjacent province of Guangdong. If successful, these will have considerable political significance for the future relationship between Hong Kong, the UK and the People's Republic of China after the expiry of the UK lease on the New Territories' in 1997. Accordingly we strongly recommend that the Prime Minister accept his invitation.

3 Lord Kadoorie suggests that it would be useful for the Prime Minister to discuss the Guangdong nuclear power station project with Mr Stones, CLP's senior executive, when Mr Stones accompanies a delegation from the Guangdong Power Company which

CONFIDENTIAL

4