British brief: Chief Secretary for Administration Donald Tsang meets with executive members of the China-Britain Business Council in London.

Chief Secretary for Administration Donald Tsang updated British political and business leaders in London on Hong Kong's political and economic development on October 25.

On the first day of a nine-day European trip, Mr Tsang met with Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs & Lord Chancellor Charles Falconer.

He later had meetings with Deputy Opposition Leader Michael Ancram, Liberal Democratic Party Leader Charles Kennedy and Deputy Leader Menzies Campbell, the Foreign Affairs Select Committee of the House of Commons, and a London-based think-tank.

HK making election methods more representative

Mr Tsang said: "My message was that we are working steadily to make our election methods more representative. The final destination is universal suffrage, as set out in the Basic Law. Hong Kong people are reasonable and pragmatic. They understand that constitutional development is a tripartite procedure requiring consensus from two-thirds of the Legislative Council, the Chief Executive and the National People's Congress Standing Committee."

Mr Tsang briefed them on the work of the Constitutional Development Task Force, including its consultations with the community on amending the methods for selecting the Chief Executive in 2007 and forming the Legislative Council in 2008.

With a relatively short history of elections, Mr Tsang said Hong Kong is building experience in public participation in government through the ballot box.

HK economy recovering

He also updated them on Hong Kong's economic recovery, saying initiatives like CEPA and the Pan-Pearl River Delta co-operation forum will create many opportunities by greatly increasing the economic pie in this large area of southern China, with Hong Kong playing a leading role.

Mr Tsang will continue his meetings in London and deliver several speeches on August 26, including addresses at the Hong Kong-Guangdong Business Seminar, the first such joint promotion in Europe, and at the Hong Kong Trade Development Council Annual Dinner.

He will depart for Berlin on August 27 and will later visit Prague and Dublin.