Six-monthly Report on Hong Kong July-December 2006 Presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs by Command of Her Majesty February 2007 Cm 7037 £5.00 © Crown Copyright 2007 The text in this document (excluding the Royal Arms and departmental logos) may be reproduced free of charge in any format or medium providing that it is reproduced accurately and not used in a misleading context. The material must be acknowledged as Crown copyright and the title of the document specified. Any enquiries relating to the copyright in this document should be addressed to The Licensing Division, HMSO, St Clements House, 2-16 Colegate, Norwich, NR3 1BQ. Fax: 01603 723000 or e-mail:
[email protected] FOREWORD This is the twentieth in a series of reports to Parliament on the implementation of the Sino-British Joint Declaration on the Question of Hong Kong. It covers the period from 1 July to 31 December 2006. In the last report to Parliament, I described Hong Kong’s recent economic growth as remarkable. That growth has continued this period, with the economy outperforming most forecasters’ expectations, unemployment falling to a six-year low, and business sentiment very positive about Hong Kong’s economic future. The reporting period has seen significant developments in Hong Kong’s increasing economic integration with Mainland China. Not least in October, when the Mainland’s largest bank listed its shares simultaneously in Hong Kong and Shanghai in the world’s biggest-ever initial public offering. The announcement, shortly before the time of writing, that mainland financial institutions will soon be permitted to issue Renminbi (RMB) financial bonds in Hong Kong is a further significant step.