'China:towards the 21st century' academic conference

The School of Arts and Social Sciences of the Open University of Hong Kong (OUHK) and the Hong Kong Economic Association jointly organized a Conference on 'China: Towards the 21st Century' on 17 January 1998 on the OUHK campus. The objective of the Conference was to provide a forum for academic discussion and debate on the various aspects of the economic, political and social developments of China as well as its intricate relationships with Hong Kong, Taiwan and the international community as a whole.
More than 20 scholars from overseas, mainland China and Hong Kong attended the Conference. The keynote speaker, Prof. Ng Yew-kwong, Visiting Professor of Economics, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, expected that with an annual growth at eight per cent, China's economy would surpass that of the United States by 2005.
Prof. Ng also believed that the recent East Asian economic turmoil was unlikely to happen in China due to her ample reserve in foreign exchange, low foreign debt and a capital market not yet opened to international hot money.
Dr Xiao Geng, Assistant Professor of the School of Economics and Finance at the University of Hong Kong, said the relatively small workforce of state-owned enterprises made it easier for the government to move to privatization. If the Chinese government could confirm the policy of the gradual privatization of government enterprises as soon as possible, the impact of the move would be as great as Deng Xiaoping's decision to establish the Special Economic Zones and the world's economic picture would be redrawn.
Dr Lee Pak-kuen, Assistant Professor of the School of Arts and Social Sciences at the OUHK, examined the Chinese government's inability to balance the economic situations between different regions using a tax-assignment system and the difficulties involved in putting the system to work. He pointed out that the central government's compromising attitude was the main cause for its lack of fiscal clout to narrow the differences between regions.
Other eminent scholars included Prof. Lin Yi-fu, Head of China Economics Research Centre of Peking University and Prof. Jao Yu-ching of the School of Economics and Finance, the University of Hong Kong. Prof. Lin discussed the reform of governmental enterprises in mainland China and Prof. Jao Yu-ching commented on Hong Kong and Shanghai as financial centres.
Scholars from the Baptist University, Chinese University, City University, Lingnan College and Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand also gave insightful presentations, followed by lively discussions, on a wide range of topics embracing politics, economy, diplomacy, culture and ideology and social developments in Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China. Staff of the School also presented scholarly papers at the conference.
Prof. Ip Po-keung, Dean of the School of Arts and Social Sciences, said there were plans to compile the 20-plus papers into a publication.