expansion of port facilities. In the educational and cultural fields important initiatives have been taken to improve the teaching of the English language and to introduce greater use of Putonghua; an open learning institute has been established to cater for the growing appetite among Hong Kong people for further education; construction is in progress on the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, which, when it opens in 1991, will stimulate a greater application of high technology to Hong Kong's industry and commerce; and a substantial new cultural complex of international standard was opened in November 1989 with a rich programme of performances.
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The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, which will take in its first students in 1991.
The Joint Declaration
The Sino-British Joint Declaration on the Question of Hong Kong was signed in 1984. It is an international agreement registered with the United Nations. In the Joint Declaration China declares, among other things, that:
on 1 July 1997 Hong Kong will become a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China with a high degree of
autonomy;
the current social and economic systems in Hong Kong will remain unchanged for 50
years;
the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will be vested with executive, legis- lative and independent judicial power;
rights and freedoms, including those of the person, of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of travel, of movement, of correspondence, of strike, of choice of occupation, of academic research and of religious belief, will be ensured by law;
the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will retain the status of a free port and a separate customs territory;
the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will retain the status of an inter- national financial centre, and its markets for foreign exchange, gold, securities and futures will continue; there will be free flow of capital and the Hong Kong dollar will con- tinue to circulate and remain freely convertible;
the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region may establish mutually beneficial economic relations with the United Kingdom and other countries, whose economic interests in Hong Kong will be given due regard.
These undertakings, and many of the elaborations on them in Annex I to the Joint Declaration, are conducive to maintaining and promoting Hong Kong's importance as an international city.
The Benefits of Strengthening Hong Kong as an International City
In Hong Kong's own interests, a strengthening of its international foundations will:
contribute to prosperity and economic stability by opening up more opportunities for trade and the creation of wealth;
contribute towards Hong Kong's continued development as a link between China and the rest of the world, thus increasing Hong
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