Minister for Trade and Foreign Affairs of the United Kingdom Ian Pearson stressed UK's commitment to Hong Kong's stability and prosperity Tuesday in his two-day visit to this special administrative region.

Speaking at a luncheon held by British, Hong Kong and European Chambers of Commerce, Ian Pearson said that UK would remain as committed as ever to Hong Kong's future stability and prosperity.

The British government was looking forward to maintaining its smooth ties with Hong Kong under the new Chief Executive.

During his first visit to Hong Kong, Iran Pearson met with the Chief Executive, members of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and local business leaders.

Their discussions covered bilateral trade and investment, Hong Kong's role as a gateway to the Chinese mainland and the preparations for the WTO ministerial meeting scheduled in Hong Kong in December.

"The results were productive and encouraging," Pearson said.

Hong Kong and UK have well-established and close economic relations. Hong Kong is the 13th largest market for Britain. Its imports from UK reached 2.6 billion pounds (4.56 billion US dollars) in 2004, and around one fifth of its imports went to the mainland.

The British minister noted, "UK companies view Hong Kong not only as an exciting and responsive market, but also as an important gateway into and out of the Chinese mainland, the Pearl River Delta in particular."

Talking about the WTO ministerial meeting to be hosted and chaired by Hong Kong in December, Pearson said, "As the presidency of the EU, UK would do its best to secure real progress towards a final agreement on the Doha Development Agenda next year, which would be a huge boost to world trade and global prosperity."

Pearson is going to visit Shanghai and Beijing from July 5 to July 8 with focus on the UK-China strategic partnership and the potential for enhanced cooperation.

Source: Xinhua