HK-MAINLAND TALKS MAKE GOOD PROGRESS

Talks aimed at forging closer economic links between Hong Kong and the mainland have made substantial progress, the commerce chief said yesterday. 'We have made some substantial and concrete progress and our target is to complete talks on major arrangements in June,' the Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology, Henry Tang Ying-yen, said. But Mr Tang, who has stressed that the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement should be introduced throughout the mainland to bring maximum benefits to Hong Kong, declined to reveal further details of the discussions, which resumed last week for the first time since August.