Against this backdrop, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Legislative Council held its first meeting ever to discuss how the use and teaching of the language can be promoted.

Participating government officials and legislators, who are used to speaking either English or Cantonese dialect in speeches at the council, were speaking in Putonghua for the first time in the Legislative Council setting.

Fanny Law, Hong Kong secretary for education and manpower, told the council that the government is contemplating promoting a workplace Putonghua campaign to offer tax-free incentives to those who pay from their own pockets to undergo training in the language.

She also called for employers and professional bodies in Hong Kong to provide their employees with Putonghua training appropriate to the industry concerned.

"In order to capitalize on the opportunities brought about by China's accession into the WTO, there is urgent need for Hong Kong people to upgrade the standard of Putonghua," Law stressed, calling on legislators to use Putonghua more at the council in future.

The government is also considering making Putonghua a compulsory subject in senior forms in secondary schools, she said, noting that the Education Department is set to invite experts and Putonghua teachers from the State Language and Literary Work Committee next year to give a series of seminars on how Putonghua can be promoted.

Meanwhile, the University of Hong Kong's School of Professional and Continuing Education is considering re-starting courses teaching Putonghua using English as the medium of instruction.

The move came after the school has received calls from Hong Kong's expatriate community expressing such needs, according to the public relations office of the school.

The Hong Kong Putonghua Vocational School, a privately run school which has been offering Putonghua courses in Hong Kong for about 30 years, told Xinhua that recently the school saw more foreigners in Hong Kong enrolled in their courses using English as the medium of instruction.

Karen Choi, training manager of the school, said the number of such students has jumped by from 700 in 2000 to 1,100 in 2001, with 60 percent of the students coming from the United States, 25 percent from Japan and Korea and 15 percent front he United Kingdom and Canada.

"Most of them (the students) said they wanted to learn Chinese and a bit of Chinese culture because many of these are the top-notch professionals, managers or directors. In most cases, their companies have offices on the mainland, and they need to travel there regularly," she said.

Choi said that in the wake of China's entering into the WTO, her school has also seen the number of students rise in the past two months.

Fanny Law called on the people of Hong Kong to take good advantage of resources provided by the government, the mass media, the academia and the private sector in acquiring the language.

(Xinhua News Agency February 04, 2002)