President Jiang Zemin is not expected to meet former US president Bill Clinton when the two men attend a business forum in the SAR next month.
It is understood that Mr Jiang will arrive on May 8 to address the opening dinner of the forum at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre and probably enjoy a fireworks display before leaving the next day.
A source said Mr Jiang would have a tight schedule and it was unlikely he would meet Mr Clinton, who will deliver the closing luncheon remarks on May 10 at the international forum, which is organised by Fortune magazine.
Mr Jiang is, however, expected to meet Tung Chee-hwa and top officials Donald Tsang Yam-kuen and Antony Leung Kam-chung, who will by then have assumed their new roles as Chief Secretary for Administration and Financial Secretary respectively.
Sources said the arrangements were not related to the recent souring of Sino-US relations, because the visits were planned before the spy plane incident on Hainan Island.
The two men steadily built up a personal relationship that helped bring about a gradual, although not constant, improvement in ties during Mr Clinton's eight-year term as US president.