Following is the Speech by the Secretary for the Civil Service, Mr Joseph W P Wong, at the Seminar on the Challenges and Opportunities for China in the New Millennium on 13 October 2001

Mr Pang, Mr Huang, Professor Ye, guests, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen,

It is my great pleasure to be here today at this national affairs seminar organised by civil service staff unions in association with the Social Work Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

The 21^st Century is predicted to be the century of China. Indeed, China gets off to a flying start as the new century begins to unfold this year. After years of unremitting efforts, China has finally completed all the procedures necessary for her accession to the World Trade Organisation and formal admittance is imminent. Beijing succeeded in its bid for hosting the 2008 Olympics. The Chinese National Football Team set its sight beyond Asia as it qualified for the World Cup for the first time in history. China’s economic performance has been remarkable despite uncertainties in the global economy and the forecast for next year still tells of vigourous growth. Given the many challenges and opportunities in store for China in the new millennium, it is essential that we have a better understanding of her present situation and way forward. The staff unions merit the credit for organising this national affairs seminar and for inviting Professor Ye Hetung to give us a thorough analysis of this meaningful topic.

After reunification, the SAR has become more and more closely related to the Mainland. The challenges and opportunities that China encounters in the new millennium will in many respects affect the future development of the SAR. Hence we civil servants of the SAR should have the Mainland in view besides conscientiously performing our duties at our posts and implementing "One Country, Two Systems" by ensuring the smooth operation of the SAR Government.

The SAR Government attaches great importance to the promotion of knowledge of China in the Civil Service. Over the past few years, the Civil Service Bureau and the Civil Service Training and Development Institute have commissioned the Tsinghua University, the National School of Administration, the Zhongshan University and a number of local universities to organise as many as 281 China studies courses for more than 25 000 civil servants. Twenty-four familiarisation visits to the Mainland have also been arranged and a total of 480 civil servants were given the chance to familiarise themselves with the systems and current policies of the Mainland and to experience the life there. These courses and visits met with enthusiastic response and attracted large attendances.

The Civil Service Bureau and the Civil Service Training and Development Institute will continue their efforts in broadening colleagues’ vision and enriching their knowledge of China. We hope our hosts today will organise more national affairs seminars and interflow activities in the future to help colleagues further extend such knowledge. I would also like to call upon other staff unions to follow their example and provide colleagues with more opportunities to widen their acquaintance with national affairs.

The topics of discussion today, namely the merits and demerits of China's accession to the World Trade Organisation, the implications of the development of the western region and the reforms of the government machinery, are all important issues that deserve serious deliberation. It is hoped that colleagues will benefit from Professor Ye's inspiring exposition of these topics.

Thank you.

Saturday, October 13,  2001