HONG KONG people will continue to enjoy 17 annual public holidays after 1997, but will no longer celebrate the Queen's birthday or Liberation Day, according to a Preliminary Working Committee sub-group yesterday.
To make up for this, July 1 - the day Hong Kong returns to Chinese sovereignty - will be added to the holiday list.
The day will be marked by large-scale celebrations and the issuance of new stamps designed and printed by China's Post and Telecommunications Bureau.
Chinese National Day, October 1, and the following day will also be public holidays.
At present, people get days off on the Queen's birthday, June 11, and the following Monday. Liberation Day, the last Monday in August, and the preceding Saturday are also holidays.
Hong Kong co-convenor of the PWC cultural sub-group, Raymond Wu Wai-yung, said there was no need to alter other existing holidays, such as Christmas and Easter.