2005 Hebei-Hong Kong Week opens in N. China city

The "2005 Hebei-Hong Kong Week," jointly funded by the governments of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) and Hebei Province, opened Thursday in Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei in north China.

The week-long activity aims to promote economic cooperation between Hebei and Hong Kong. It has attracted more than 200 HK delegates, including Elsie Leung Oi-sie, Secretary for Justice of Hong Kong, and Bowen Leung Po-wing, Director of the Office in Beijing of the Government of Hong Kong, and several other senior officials.

Elsie Leung Oi-sie said at the opening ceremony that the festival would provide a platform for understanding, friendship and cooperation between Hong Kong and Hebei.

The festival will feature six seminars on real estate, law, tourism and financial services, as well as a big HK commodities exhibition.

Hong Kong has been the biggest source of investment for Hebei. The province reported 558 million US dollars of investment from Hong Kong last year, about 32.6 percent of the total investment in the province from out of the Chinese mainland. It had 1,225 HK-funded companies in Hebei by the end of 2004, according to the provincial government.

Source: Xinhua