At the invitation of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the Chief Executive, Mr Tung Chee Hwa, will attend the opening and closing ceremonies of the first session of the Ninth National People's Congress in Beijing and will be seated at the rostrum, a government spokesman said today.

The opening ceremony will be held on March 5 and the closing ceremony on March 19 in the Great Hall of the People.

"The Chief Executive will return to Hong Kong after attending the opening ceremony. He will visit Germany and France before leaving for Beijing again to attend the NPC closing ceremony," the spokesman said.