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The Financial Secretary, Mr Donald Tsang, today (June 15, Washington time) impressed upon influential Senator, Bill Roth, the importance of the US Senate approving legislation granting Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China.

Mr Tsang is in the national capital, Washington, for a series of meetings with business executives, lobbyists, congressmen and bankers at the end of a ten-day visit to North America.

During his meeting with Senator Roth, Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, the Financial Secretary emphasised that support for PNTR would be in the mutual interests of the United States, China and East Asia. It would also bring significant benefits for Hong Kong.

"Granting PNTR to China and its imminent accession to the World Trade Organisation will boost Hong Kong's economic fortunes, as our business and services sectors will stand to benefit from an expansion of trade between the Mainland and the rest of the world.

"Indeed trade liberalisation is in the interests of all participants in the world economy. And I appeal to the United States Senate to give favourable consideration to this issue," said Mr Tsang.

The Financial Secretary said he was pleased with the outcome of his meeting with Senator Roth who fully understood the importance of the legislation.

Earlier, Mr Tsang was the keynote speaker at a luncheon organised by the New America Foundation, a relatively new Washington think-tank, at which he highlighted the uniqueness of Hong Kong, "politically, economically, geographically and constitutionally".

"We are the world's freest economy, and at the same time sovereign territory of the world's largest socialist state, China. This relationship is clearly defined in the constitution," said Mr Tsang.

The Financial Secretary told the Foundation members that the Chinese leadership had strictly adhered to the principle of "One Country Two Systems", and Hong Kong people were determined to preserve their way of life and the freedoms they enjoyed.

The fundamental software which made Hong Kong tick - personal liberty, the rule of law, a clean and efficient administration, a level playing field for all businesses - all remained intact after the transition.

"It is a unique relationship and it is working as the architects intended it should" said Mr Tsang.

In response to a question on whether there was any pressure on local businessmen doing business with Taiwan, the Financial Secretary said: "There is absolutely no restriction on anybody in Hong Kong trading with Taiwan irrespective of their political affiliations. That is the position of mainland China. That is the position in Hong Kong," Mr Tsang said. He added that he was sure bilateral trade will continue to grow.

The Financial Secretary's programme also included meetings with the US Chamber of Commerce, the CATO Institute, and the new Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Mr Horst Kohler. The CATO Institute has consistently ranked Hong Kong as the world's freest economy. The Financial Secretary assured the members that Hong Kong would preserve the institutions underpinning its competitiveness.

The Financial Secretary told Mr Kohler that Hong Kong supported the work of the IMF, and fully subscribed to its transparency standards. They also discussed ways of improving the transparency of large capital flows across international borders.

End/Friday, June 16, 2000

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