TNAG-1456-FCO40-1980-Future-of-Hong-Kong-annual-report-to-Parliament-on-Hong-Kong-1986 — Page 48

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The work of the Group has been taken forward not only at the regular plenary meetings but also by smaller groups of experts meeting on an

ad hoc basis

basis to discuss specific issues. The Group's achievements to date have been widely welcomed and appreciated in Hong Kong. The friendly and cooperative atmosphere in which all contacts in and under the Group have taken place is most encouraging and augurs well

for the continued close cooperation that will be needed between

Britain and China as 1997 approaches.

(c)

Land Commission

12.

the

more

The Sino-British Land Commission has continued to make

make good

progress, reaching agreement on

accounting arrangements for the

sharing of income

income from land sales and on the form and content of a

number of important legal documents for use in Land transactions in Hong Kong. Under the Joint Declaration, premium income from Land

after transactions,

deductions for the average cost of Land production, is shared equally between the Hong Kong Government and

To date future Special Administrative Region Government. than HK$1.6 billion has been credited to the future Special Administrative Region Government's account. The Chinese side of the

Land Commission manages this income

in

trust, through a Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government Land Fund and an Investment

both of Committee, both of which were set

The Fund is up in August 1986. expected to continue to grow so that a very substantial

a very substantial sum will be

available to

to the future Special Administrative Region Government in 1997. The Commission also reached agreement on the land disposal

for programme

programme agreed

1

was

the period

1986 April

1987. 31

The March

with the previous year, 57.58% hectares. As with

this was above the annual Limit of 50 hectares specified in Annex

III to the

to

Joint Declaration. Thus for the second

successive year

the Land Commission has made sensible use of the provision in Annex III which permits flexibility in the application of the annual Limit

of new Land to be granted.

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