Hu offers 14-step aid for HK in crisis

Updated: 2008-12-20

By Teddy Ng (China Daily) President Hu Jintao said on Friday that the central government will continue to fully support Hong Kong and Macao in dealing with the challenges brought by the global financial crisis.

Hu made the remarks in his respective meetings in Beijing with Donald Tsang, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), and Edmund Ho Hau-wah, chief executive of the Macao SAR. Tsang and Ho on Friday also met separately with Premier Wen Jiabao.

In the meeting with Tsang, Wen said the central government will implement 14 measures to help Hong Kong weather the financial storm.

Cooperation on financial affairs between the mainland and Hong Kong will be strengthened, including allowing companies to settle trade in renminbi with Hong Kong. The People's Bank of China and the Hong Kong monetary authority have also agreed on a currency swap.

Measures to help small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will also be launched, including increasing tax rebates on exports and assisting the trade sector to explore the internal consumption market. Guarantees will be given to help SMEs get capital.

The individual travelers scheme will be expanded, allowing mainlanders living in Shenzhen but not registered as Guangdong residents to apply for permits to travel to Hong Kong.

The mainland's service industry will also be opened for Hong Kong companies.

Other measures include speeding up infrastructure projects, such as the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, and ensuring the stable supply of food, water, electricity and natural gas.

Economic cooperation between Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta region will be strengthened, and Hong Kong firms will be encouraged to participate in the construction of Shenzhen railway with the Build-Operate-Transfer mode.

Hu said the central government is highly concerned with the financial and economic stability of Hong Kong.

Wen told Tsang the government will exert all its strength to help the region."The motherland will always provide backup to Hong Kong," he said.

In the separate meeting with Ho, Hu said Macao has achieved remarkable progress in the region's development over the past nine years, and pledged supportive measures for Macao.

"The central government will continue to fully support the Macao SAR to overcome difficulties and realize moderately diversified economic development," he said.