Hong Kong is regaining its competitive edge after four years of deflation when real estate prices, rents, and salaries dropped drastically, HK's Financial Secretary Antony Leung said Wednesday.
In the third quarter, HK's gross domestic product increased by 3.3 percent and exports rose by 11.4 percent on a year-on-year basis. The growth was expected to continue in the fourth quarter, said Leung.
Hong Kong had turned out to be an international center of business, logistics, finance and information, and its position was even stronger since China's entry into the World Trade Organization, he said.
Hong Kong could serve as the first stop in foreign companies' journeys to China's market and become the window for mainland companies if they wanted to expand overseas, Leung said Wednesday during an introductory symposium in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu province.
Leung told Jiangsu governor Ji Yunshi that Hong Kong was optimistic about the future of cooperation with Jiangsu and HK enterprises were keen to seek business opportunities in the province.
Leung was here to attend a "Jiangsu Hong Kong Festival" sponsored by the provincial government to boost economic ties with Hong Kong.
(Xinhua News Agency December 12, 2002)
