Hong Kong: The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government hit back on Wednesday at critics challenging the city’s prospects, releasing a wealth of data and facts demonstrating its development and competitiveness.
Hong Kong’s resilience, flexibility and long-standing strengths under the “one country, two systems” principle are ready to steer the city through an uncertain global landscape, the government said in a statement issued late on Wednesday.
US economist Stephen Roach, who worked in Hong Kong for decades, had earlier repeated his grim forecast for the development of Hong Kong and China during a trip to the city, following his sensational claim that “Hong Kong is over” in February.
The Hong Kong government said it values pragmatic and constructive views of the community.
However, as deliberate rumors and distortion of Hong Kong’s situation are raised from time to time by external forces, the government believes it should promptly clarify and refute any deliberate slander or unfounded criticism, it said.
“We are duty-bound to present Hong Kong’s strengths, achievements and opportunities and tell the truth about Hong Kong,” the statement said.
It first outlined the city’s major economic indicators, including the 3.3 percent economic growth recorded last year — compared with the average of 1.5 percent in advanced economies according to the International Monetary Fund.
The city also logged 2.7 percent year-on-year growth in the first quarter of this year, and full-year growth is forecast at 2.5 to 3.5 percent, it said.
As for the financial market, Hong Kong stock’s market capitalization has exceeded HK$33 trillion ($4.23 trillion), 10 times the amount in 1997 when the city returned to the motherland. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
