OSAKA -- Hong Kong's business executives and administrative officials unanimously stressed July 17 that Hong Kong will maintain its free business environment and will remain a center of finance and trade for the Asian region.
At a seminar held in an Osaka hotel, Lui Che Woo, chairman of K. Wah Group, Hong Kong's major supplier of construction materials and real estate developer, said the Chinese government attaches importance to Hong Kong as a gateway to the rest of the world and that Hong Kong will remain a mediator for foreign firms doing business in China. The seminar was sponsored by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office. Britain returned Hong Kong to China on July 1.
Richard Li, chairman of Pacific Century Group, the creator of Asia's first satellite broadcasting network, Star TV, tried to dismiss fears over what he called the prolonged misconception that China is a negative factor for Hong Kong's future. Takuya Yoshida, president of Japan Satellite Systems Inc. and former vice president of Itochu Corp., said he does not believe, for the time being, that Shanghai will take over the role of Hong Kong -- as some observers have predicted.