Secretary for Commerce, Industry & Technology Joseph Wong will leave tonight for a two-day visit to Xiamen, meeting officials from the Fujian provincial government and State Ministry of Commerce.

Mr Wong will tomorrow speak at the opening of the First Forum on the Economic Zone on the Western Coast of the Taiwan Straits, where the WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy, Macau Chief Executive Edmund Ho, the Cross-Straits Common Market Foundation's Chairman Vincent Siew, and Fujian Governor Huang Xiaojing are also speakers.

Mr Wong will attend the inaugural meeting of the Committee for the Promotion of Fujian Taiwan Economic Co-operation as one of the officiating guests.

On September 8, Mr Wong will officiate at the opening ceremony of the 10th China International Fair for Investment & Trade. He will also witness the signing of a pact by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, Fujian Provincial Department of Foreign Trade & Economic Co-operation, and the Fujian Provincial Economy & Trade Committee.

He will meet leaders of the Fujian provincial government and the Vice-Minister of Commerce Liao Xiaoqi before returning to Hong Kong on Friday.