The following is the remarks by the Chief Executive, Mr Tung Chee Hwa, at a reception hosted by the Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to the United States of America, Mr Li Daoyu, at the Chinese Embassy yesterday evening (September 8, Washington time):

Mr Tung: (Speaks in Chinese, then:)

Your Excellency Ambassador Li, Mrs Li, Excellence, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen: First of all, I'd like to thank Ambassador Li and Mrs Li for this very warm reception and for hosting this party for myself, my wife, and colleagues of mine from Hong Kong.

July 1, 1997, was a very special day for Chinese people in Hong Kong. It was a very proud day for us because it marked the return of Hong Kong to China after 156 years of unnatural separation. It was a day we were looking forward to for a long time.

It was also the beginning of a period when we felt a great deal of confidence, greater degree of confidence, that Hong Kong would be better tomorrow for ourselves, for our children, and for our grandchildren. In fact, in the two months and eight days that's gone by all the three branches of our political structure -- the judiciary, the legislative, and the executive -- have been functioning very normally, very effectively. Our economy continued to expand and the lifestyle which we are very accustomed to has been maintained.

In the two months since the handover, the number of demonstrations that have appeared on the street average about 40 a month, which is more or less what we had before. Mind you, most of the subjects of the demonstrations actually is about livelihood issues, which are of course the main concern of most people in Hong Kong.

I am here in the United States, a place I know very well because for nine and a half years of my life my wife and I made Boston and New York our home. So I am looking forward to meeting many old friends while we are in town.

I will be taking this opportunity, as the Ambassador has said, to explain to our friends in America about the transition, about our plans for the future, and why we are so confident as we go forward in the months and years ahead. I will also be here to enhance the very strong economic and trade relationship we already have between Hong Kong and the United States.

The fact is that the 10 leading economies in Asia by the year -- by the turn of the twenty-first century will have an economy as large as the NAFTA or the European Union . And the fact is that soon into the twenty-first century China surely will become an economic superpower. And Hong Kong is of course strategically located in the heart of Asia, and I think Hong Kong will have an extremely useful and effective role to play in this very dynamic region. We hope to be able to explain to our friends in America how Hong Kong can best serve the American business interests in the months and years ahead.

I expect while I am here to be meeting with government officials and the President, as well as members of Congress and Senate, and will also be meeting members of think tanks, colleagues and friends from the business community. Although my visit will be a very short one -- it will be only for four days -- I look forward to a very fruitful visit.

Ambassador, once again, thank you very much for your warm hospitality.

May I also ask you to join me in a toast wishing -- a toast to Ambassador and Mrs Li and to the People's Republic of China and to the United States of America.

* Photo: Chief Executive makes his way through Washington Airport with China's Ambassador (left) and the Hong Kong Commissioner USA