Tung Chee Hwa, Vice-Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said he is proud of the achievements Hong Kong achieved in the past 10 years, and he is confident about Hong Kong's future.

"In 1997 when Hong Kong was returned to the motherland, some people in Hong Kong doubted whether the "one country, two systems" principle could be implemented successfully and whether Hong Kong could keep prosperity and stability," said Tung when interviewed by Xinhua recently. "But now the doubts are nowhere as the facts tell the truth."

Tung won by a wide margin the first election of the chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) in December 1996. He was re-elected as the second-term CE in February 2002. In March 2005, he was resigned because of health reasons and elected the Vice-Chairman of the National Committee of the CPPCC the same year.

Tung said that in the past 10 years, Hong Kong survived a lot of difficulties including Asian financial crisis and SARS. The 10 years of experience has proved that Hong Kong people are capable of governing Hong Kong.

In 1998, just shortly after Tung took the position of the CE, the Asian financial crisis hit Hong Kong.

"To stabilize financial market, the HKSAR government decided to enter the market to intervene, which was proved a successful and vital measure," said Tung.

Then the attacks of SARS epidemic made the situation worse.

Tung said that he couldn't forget the days of SARS attacks and the support given by the central government.

"I still remember the time when Chinese President Hu Jintao met me in Guangdong in April 2003, asking me about the situation in Hong Kong, especially the situation of SARS epidemic," said Tung. "He's so busy, but he bears Hong Kong residents in mind at any moment."

He said that the central government has made a batch of arrangements to help Hong Kong pull through, like the implementation of Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), opening up personal tourism for mainland residents to Hong Kong, allowing Hong Kong banks to do Renminbi business...

The joint efforts of the central government and the HKSAR government paid off, said Tung, citing that since the third quarter of 2003, Hong Kong's economy has enjoyed rapid growth for 15 consecutive quarters.

Currently Hong Kong residents understand more about the facts that Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland are bound together and Hong Kong citizens have enhanced their sense of recognition towards their motherland, said Tung.

"It's a good and very important change," said Tung.

From position as the CE of Hong Kong to that of the Vice- Chairman of the National Committee of the CPPCC, Tung has never taken his eyes away from Hong Kong. In recent years, Tung has spared no efforts to introduce Hong Kong to the world and to promote the exchange and cooperation between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland.

"Hong Kong has a lot of advantages, including free-flow information, fair competitive environment, diversified culture, and a transparent, high-efficient local government," said Tung." Taking these advantages into full play, Hong Kong will make a big step forward in future competition."

Source: Xinhua