Chief Executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Donald Tsang on Tuesday tried to pacify nervous investors after Wall Street's historic overnight slump, saying he is confident Hong Kong's solid economy will see it through the global financial turmoil.
Asian stocks tumble after US bailout fails

The benchmark Hang Seng Index of Hong Kong stock market dived more than 1,000 points shortly after opening in the wake of the U. S. Congress' rejection of a financial bailout plan worth 700 billion U.S. dollars.

Tsang said the U.S. Congress' rejection of the bailout plan will inevitably cause instability throughout the world including the Hong Kong stock market but Hong Kong has considerable experience in dealing with financial crises during the past 10 years.

"We overcame the Asian financial crisis and economic problems led by the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic," Tsang told reporters at the headquarters of the HKSAR government Tuesday morning, adding: "We must also remember the economic fundamentals of Hong Kong are good. The regulatory system and fiscal economic system are sound. "We should have confidence in ourselves when dealing with crises of this kind."

The Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong on Tuesday also reminded market participants it will act against abusive short selling, in addition to its decision last Friday to uphold the up-tick rule and to double penalties imposed by Hong Kong Securities Clearing on failed settlement of short-selling transactions.

The commission said its daily monitoring of the market indicates short-selling activities remain at levels consistent with those prior to the current turmoil.

Hong Kong's benchmark index recouped steep early losses of more than 1,000 points to move up 135.53 points, or 0.76 percent, to close at 18,016.21 ahead of Wednesday's National Day holiday.

(Xinhua News Agency October 1, 2008)