The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is supportive of raising Hong Kong's international participation and status, Secretary for Constitutional Affairs Stephen Lam says.

Leading a delegation to visit Beijing and Nanjing, Mr Lam said in the capital today the purpose of his visit is to review Hong Kong's conduct of external affairs with the ministry. He said Vice-Minister Zhou Wenzhong is supportive of the fact that Hong Kong has succeeded in securing the right to host the WTO Ministerial Conference later this year.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also applied themselves very fully to help secure the right for Hong Kong to host the International Telecommunication Union's international conference in 2006," he said.

"This is the first time that international conference is being held outside of Switzerland. This will enhance Hong Kong's status as an international telecommunications centre. It will also raise Hong Kong's international profile."

Tomorrow Mr Lam will visit the State Council's Hong Kong & Macau Affairs Office and report on the progress of the Constitutional Development Task Force's work. He said the Secretaries-General meeting was recently held in Sichuan for the exchange views on the "9+2" forum.

After visiting Beijing, Mr Lam will go to Nanjing to learn more about development in the Yangtze River Delta. "This will complement the work which we need to do in Hong Kong in terms of pushing forward co-operation under the '9+2' forum umbrella."