To Executive Councillor Leung Chun-ying, these are good reasons for the government to enhance its official presence on the mainland, so that it can get to better grips with what is happening there and provide a better service to the growing number of Hong Kong people living and working across the border.

'Subject to resource constraints, we should have Hong Kong government representation in major mainland cities with close connections to Hong Kong,' he told the South China Morning Post. 'The offices should not necessarily be answerable to a particular bureau. While they could have trade and immigration staff to look after their respective portfolios, these offices should be multifunctional.'

Mr Leung says a network of mainland offices, if established, can provide valuable input from the ground about problems that may have an impact on Hong Kong.

While he did not comment on the row about contaminated eels and fish, he cited an earlier controversy about the pollution of the East River, the main source of water piped to Hong Kong.

He says it would have helped if someone from the government's office in Guangzhou had gone there to verify reports about deteriorating water quality. But our Economic and Trade Office there did not do so, because water supply falls under the jurisdiction of the environment bureau and is not part of its ambit.

At present, the government has to rely on notification from mainland authorities about problems that affect Hong Kong, be it about water supply, trade, immigration or public health. 'But what is the situation on the ground? We have no one there to provide a first-hand report,' says Mr Leung.

The country's new requirement about Hong Kong people working on the mainland having to contribute to the national social security fund is another case in point, the executive councillor says. The government apparently knew nothing about it until it was in the newspapers.

He says the government should have a person or a group of people to ascertain how central government policies are applied, how they may affect Hong Kong and our people living on the mainland, and whether there is a need to lobby the central government for changes to those policies.

Mr Leung says there is an urgent need for Hong Kong to get to know the mainland better. 'Hong Kong practically has only one neighbour - the mainland.' He points out that it is our biggest trading partner, major destination of personal and corporate investment, and main source of marriage partners, new population, water and food. It is also where the largest number of Hong Kong people travel to for purposes of employment, education, retirement and recreation.

But because of the region's unique status, the assistance Hongkongers need from the government while on the mainland is similar to what foreign nationals need from their embassies and consulates, he says.

Mr Leung is mindful of the sensitivity of likening Hong Kong government offices on the mainland to diplomatic missions of foreign governments. He has therefore coined the term neijiao to denote Hong Kong's 'internal dealings' with other parts of the mainland, distinguishing it from the term waijiao, which means diplomacy.

Mr Leung says he believes 'the central government is open-minded' about the Hong Kong government setting up a network of offices on the mainland. 'Article 22 of the Basic Law provides that Hong Kong can set up an office in Beijing, but that hasn't stopped us from setting up an Economic and Trade Office in Guangzhou.'

'I believe Beijing is understanding. It depends on how we articulate our need,' he says, in regard to enhancing Hong Kong's relations with the mainland under 'one country, two systems'.

He also notes that while the central government is responsible for foreign affairs, Hong Kong has been given leeway to conduct external relations on its own, notably in trade and economic matters, with its main trading partners. Out of a practical need, the Hong Kong government has also been allowed to have direct dealings with foreign consulates on certain matters.

In the same context, Mr Leung says Hong Kong should also have the leeway to set up a network of offices on the mainland to better serve Hong Kong people there and to execute more effectively a broader range of government functions.

Enhanced contact between Hong Kong officials and their provincial counterparts should also facilitate the implementation of national policies at the local level, he says.

'For example,' says Mr Leung, 'if we had a more extensive presence and a deeper understanding of the mainland's potential for our professional services and their problems, I think we could formulate better proposals' under the Closer Economic Partnership Agreement (Cepa) between the mainland and Hong Kong.

'At present, our government does not have sufficient contact with mainland authorities. We have no one there on a long-term basis, even though we have to constantly review Cepa's implementation based on knowledge on the ground. Our negotiation and lobbying with mainland authorities would be much more effective if we had that knowledge.'

To better serve Hong Kong people on the mainland, Mr Leung says a network of mainland offices, once established, should try to find out where Hongkongers reside, what they are doing and what their needs are.

The government has never kept such statistics, and the only official information available is obtained from household surveys.

In 2003, the Census and Statistics Department found that 61,800 people aged 18 and above, while maintaining a home in Hong Kong, had also taken up residence on the mainland.

Another study last year found that 244,000 Hong Kong residents had worked on the mainland in the past 12 months. Of them, about 88 per cent worked in Guangdong, and the rest mostly in Shanghai and Beijing.

Mr Leung is particularly concerned about the need for the Hong Kong government to facilitate the setting up of schools on the mainland that offer a Hong Kong-style syllabus. He regards such a move as critical to developing our potential as a source of talent for the country.

The executive councillor says many Hongkongers have the capability to work on the mainland, but are not doing so because there are no Hong Kong-style schools there, and fees for international schools are prohibitively expensive.

'If there were Hong Kong schools on the mainland, then people could bring their family with them. Very often, because the children cannot go, the wives do not want to go, and if the wives do not want to go, the men can't go.'

Still, he says, the number of Hong Kong people working on the mainland is increasing. 'Previously, they just went to Shenzhen and Guangzhou, now they have gone as far as Dalian, Tianjin and Yunnan,' he says, citing that membership of the 'Hong Kong, China Chambers of Commerce' is rising, notably in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

'These people do not just work for Hong Kong companies, but also for foreign ones. They are our biggest asset. These China experts in various fields - accounting, finance, trade and manufacturing - can expand Hong Kong's influence on the mainland,' says Mr Leung.

'They are also our most valuable export. Just add up their salaries and the sum is enormous. We should make it easier for Hong Kong people, of their own free will, to go north as an additional career choice.'