Tung said that the role of a bridge between China and the rest of the world that has been played by Hong Kong has extended to many cities in the Chinese mainland, including Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Guangzhou and Xiamen since China is totally open in the 21st century.

"Hong Kong should be a very important international city and one of the most important cities of China, providing value-added service to the mainland of China and the rest of Asia through acquiring new knowledge, moving forward in innovation in technology, to move up the value chain," Tung said.

He said that Hong Kong is trying to add value and continue to strengthen in the areas where it already has a successful and dominant position, for instance, as a premium financial center and a center for logistics and trade.

"We have known which way to go," he said, adding that he is confident that in 2007 Hong Kong people would have succeeded in having laid a very solid foundation in restructuring of the economy.

Tung sees great prospect in the Hong Kong's relationship with the Pearl River Delta.

"The combined population in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta amount to 47 million people while the combined GDP has totaled 250billion US dollars, ranking 18th in the world as an economy, and in 10 years time it would increase to 500 billion US dollars," Tung said.

(Xinhua News Agency September 25, 2002)