HK and Macau to get pep talk from premier
Premier Wen Jiabao will meet the chief executives of Hong Kong and Macau and their delegations this morning in an informal meeting expected to touch on the economic challenges facing the two special administrative regions, according to sources.
Sources invited to attend the closed-door meeting believed the premier would use the opportunity to lecture the two chief executives on how to deal with social and economic problems arising from the deepening global financial crisis.
The meeting is scheduled for 9.30am - just 90 minutes before Mr Wen is due to deliver the opening speech to business and political leaders from Asia and the Pacific region attending the Boao Forum on the island of Hainan.
Not all 20 Hong Kong delegates would be invited to attend the meeting, a source said. Only Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen and about 10 other Hongkongers had been invited to meet the premier, a source said last night.
'The theme of the forum is about managing the crisis. My guess is that Premier Wen will lecture us and give us some encouragement to weather the crisis,' said a source, who declined to be named.
'He said Hong Kong will move backwards if it does not move forward. The city will have to find its way out as soon as possible.'
Last week, Mr Wen told reporters on the sidelines of a regional leaders meeting in Thailand that Hong Kong as a financial centre was facing competition from other cities such as Shanghai and that the issue now was about whether one could put its financial system back onto a stable, healthy and sustainable development track.
Hong Kong delegates looked forward to hearing good news on whether the city would be included in the yuan settlement pilot scheme, but many did not expect Mr Wen to deliver the news today. Hong Kong is waiting for the go-ahead.
The three-day economic forum has attracted more than 2,700 government officials, financial sector representatives, academics and businesspeople from the mainland, Taiwan, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
At a panel discussion last night, Yao Gang, vice-chairman of securities watchdog China Securities Regulatory Commission, said that the mainland would soon unveil regulatory details for a second board on the Shenzhen stock exchange.
Rules, regulations and listing requirements for small and medium-sized enterprises to tap equity funding through the planned second board exchange were almost ready, he said.
Mr Yao said the mainland would use the opportunities presented by the global crisis to press ahead with market reforms, especially the way initial public offerings were launched.
'China's capital market is relatively in better shape since the onset of the global credit crisis. At least the central government doesn't need to rescue any brokerages or hasn't invested in any brokerages overseas,' Mr Yao said.
'The stock market surpassed nearly all macroeconomic indicators in the first quarter, which shows the strength of our capital market and confidence arising from the 4 trillion yuan [HK$4.5 trillion] economic stimulus package.'
The Shanghai A-share market gained 30 per cent in the first three months of the year and the Shenzhen market was up 41.7 per cent, he said.
Mr Yao said the regulatory watchdog was willing to strengthen ties with regional markets and that the mainland had already entered into understandings with markets in Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and Thailand, which set the platform for information sharing and discussions.
He said governments in Asia had widely rolled out or increased economic stimulus measures, which would drive the engine of economic recovery and stock markets.
