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Following is the translation of the opening remarks made by the Chief Executive, Mr Tung Chee Hwa, and the transcript (English Portion) of the media session held at the Central Government Offices New Annexe Conference Hall after he met President Hu Jintao in Macao today (December 20):

Chief Executive: This morning, some Principal Officials and I attended the inauguration ceremony of the second term of the Macao Special Administrative Region Government. I was pleased to attend the ceremony. I am happy to have the opportunity to meet President Hu Jintao again in less than a month to brief him on the latest developments in Hong Kong.

I reported to President Hu that Hong Kong's economy is moving forward, though further enhancement is still needed. Thus, the paramount task of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government is to consolidate our achievements, develop the economy and improve people's livelihood. In this regard, I also explained the importance of deepening the functions of the four core industries - financial services, logistics, tourism and business services - as well as deepening the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) and strengthening Pan-Pearl River Delta's co-operation. We need the continued support of the Central Authorities in these areas. The President agreed with my analysis of the above fundamental situation and the major direction of my work.

President Hu cares much about Hong Kong affairs. He considers that Hong Kong in general has been developing on a sound track. More importantly, the Central Government has affirmed what the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has done. He also encourages the Government and citizens to join together in unity and take concerted efforts to continue to consolidate development in Hong Kong in the interest of Hong Kong's long-term overall interest and our country's interest.

The President also reminded the Principal Officials and me that:

* Our governance must be people oriented; and

* We must consolidate our experience, identify inadequacies and further improve our governance.

I feel that President Hu's advice is important. We will make every effort to do a better job. Thank you.

Reporter: You say this should be looked at positively, but whether we translate it as inadequacies, shortcomings or insufficiencies, there is some dispute on how to translate it, it would seem like a more critical tone. What was your meeting like with the president? Was it one that was critical in tone or was it one in which you were in basic agreement during the time you spent with him before you actually came out in front of the cameras.

Chief Executive: We had a very good meeting. He was very supportive of the work we have been doing and he thought that the development in Hong Kong was positive. I'd like to read to you in English, in case you haven't read it, what he did say.

(Quoting President Hu) "I am delighted to have the opportunity to meet you all here in Macao. Mr Tung and I have exchanged views on the latest developments just now. What I should say is that Hong Kong is moving in the right direction with positive development overall. Credit for this should go to both the Chief Executive of Hong Kong and his team who have made a concerted effort. The Central Government affirms your work. Hong Kong's continued stability and prosperity lie in the joint efforts and solidarity of the Government and the community. I would like to take this opportunity ... then go on to say ... to express my three aspirations to the principal officials of SARG." Then he mentioned the three aspirations.

If you read it on, you will get the gist of things of what he did say. I am sorry I have taken this pain to read this to you. I hope you get it right.

Reporter: Mr Tung, although you give the positive statements the President gave, it's nonetheless already been seen in some reports as a dressing down, whether you feel that in any way you were being dressed down. And where are the places that you think there might be inadequacies, in your view where things could be improved in order to make better governance?

Chief Executive: I hope I don't disappoint you again by telling you it was not a dressing down. That in fact indeed, the President did affirm the work that we have done. And, it is quite natural I would imagine that in any place this would happen, the President or the leader of a nation would express the hope and desire of what they would expect the team to be doing. And, I think we certainly take it in that spirit and it is not the first time he said this. He said this a number of times already. And it's very right for him to keep on saying this to us, to express his expectations. So, that's number one. Number two is that we are constantly reviewing how we can do things better, even on this issue about the LINK, we were spending many hours going through all the steps that we talked, what we could have done better, and so on so forth. It is an ongoing process, and that's how we can improve.

Reporter: Do you agree it is the LINK that you could have done better?

Chief Executive: On the LINK, let me tell you what I think about the LINK. I was disappointed and I think it was a pity that the LINK was not listed. The listing of the LINK is in the overall interest of Hong Kong, long-term interest of Hong Kong. I think it is also a very good thing for the community as a whole. And, it's really quite a pity that the people have politicised this issue, and that the listing was not successful. But, I want people to know that we are learning from this experience, and we would do our best as quickly as possible to get it listed again.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)

Ends/Monday, December 20, 2004

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