About 300 business leaders, government officials, consular corps and media executives attended the Spring Reception hosted by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in San Francisco. They all enjoyed the lively performance of the lion dance and the scrumptious Chinese food.

Ms Doris Cheung, Director of Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in San Francisco and Miss Margaret Fong, Hong Kong Commissioner, USA welcomed the guests and shared with them many positive notes on Hong Kong.

The New Year began with welcome news for Hong Kong. In January, Hong Kong was once again ranked the freest economy by the Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal. It is a title that Hong Kong has held with pride for 13 consecutive years.

Ms Cheung said that the three growth engines of Hong Kong’s economy, the financial services, logistics and tourism sectors, have been doing extremely well.

Over US$42 billion was raised in IPOs last year, placing Hong Kong’s stock exchange ahead of New York and second only to London. Hong Kong’s stock market is also the second largest in Asia in terms of market capitalization.

Hong Kong International Airport is the largest international air cargo handler in the world with a throughput of 3.6 million tones in 2006. Hong Kong is also the world’s 7th popular tourist destination.

“Hong Kong remains as the second largest recipient of Foreign Direct Investment in Asia and is home to some 3,800 regional operations. Hong Kong is a vibrant, culturally diversified cosmopolitan city with enormous business opportunities, and a unique gateway to China,” said Ms. Cheung

“2007 is also a very special year as it marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in San Francisco will organize a series of events to commemorate the occasion,” she added.