Chief Executive Donald Tsang on Monday announced the membership of the Executive Council (Exco) for the third term of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government.

The new Exco comprises all 15 Principal Officials appointed under the accountability system and 16 non-official members. Their term will take effect on July 1.

The 16 non-official members are Mr Leung Chun-ying, Mr Tsang Yok-sing, Mr Cheng Yiu-tong, Mr Andrew Liao, Mrs Selina Chow, Mrs Laura Cha, Mr Bernard Chan, Mr Rafael Hui, Mr Charles Lee, Mr Ronald Arculli, Dr David Li, Dr Leong Che-hung, Dr Marvin Cheung, Mr Henry Fan, Mr Victor Lo and Professor Anthony Cheung.

"To maintain effective liaison and communication among non-official members, I have again invited Mr Leung Chun-ying to take up the post of Convenor of the Executive Council's Non-official Members," said the chief executive.

All the 15 non-official members currently serving on the council will continue to serve on the council to maintain continuity, said Tsang. "I have also invited the retiring Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Rafael Hui, to join the council."

The new Exco will continue to have members from a wide spectrum of the community, including the professional services, financial and banking services, business, legal services, labor and political sectors, and the academia.

The team has been working closely together for the past two years and has an in-depth understanding of developments in Hong Kong, said Tsang.

"I firmly believe that the non-official members will continue to bring to the council views from all sections of the community, and offer sound and insightful counsel to the administration," he said.

"This will surely make our policies more responsive to public aspirations and more conducive to the long-term development of Hong Kong," Mr Tsang added.

(Xinhua News Agency June 25, 2007)