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Following is the transcript (English portion) of the media session by the Chief Executive, Mr Donald Tsang, this afternoon (March 6) in Beijing before departing for Hong Kong:
Question: I understand that you have met with Mr Zhou Xiaochuan today. Did you manage to have any discussion on the liberalisation of the mainland financial sector and the currency. Did he give you any sense of how the exchange rate reform of the yuan would proceed? What do you think in terms of the impact it would have on the Hong Kong dollar?
Chief Executive: We talked generally. Specifically, on the question of the Renminbi market in Hong Kong, how that could be broadened and deepened. We have been very successful in launching the use of Renminbi in a limited scale in Hong Kong. I think the market is now ripe for further measures which may make greater use of the Renminbi to full convertibility. As far as the Renminbi's value in relation to other currencies is concerned, that did not come up in our discussion at all. On the position of the nation as a whole, the People's Bank of China has been very clear on that and I don't need to repeat that.
Question: Mr Tsang, you mentioned that you had met Mr Zeng Qinghong and Mr Liao Hui. I just want to ask. I don't want to go into the specific about what the conversation was about between you and the leaders. Actually, could you also tell us besides praising you and giving support to the SAR, did they make any mention of their concern or anything less positive about the changing political environment in Hong Kong after the political reform package had been vetoed, say, for example, things about the political parties?
Chief Executive: You are going into very specific things. I do not want to go into such details. But I can assure you that I portrayed quite clearly Hong Kong's socio-political landscape as I see it now, as it emerges from the last event, which was the defeat of the constitutional development package. And this is reflected by the increasing confidence among Hong Kong people in the SAR Government. I also outlined what we propose to do in the coming years and my emphasis on economic and social issues in the coming years. This is the general tenor of our conversation. As I said, they were very supportive. They agreed that we had been doing things to reflect the wishes of Hong Kong people. They are highly encouraging as regards the leadership of Hong Kong, comprising the Chief Executive, the principal officials and the SAR Government. Thank you very much.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Monday, March 6, 2006
Issued at HKT 22:31
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