HK government official: occupying Central meaningless

A member of the Exectuive Council of the Hong Kong government said that the "Occupy Central" campaign is a meaningless act.

Addressing a forum on Friday, Laura Cha said that "Occupy Central", organized by pro-democratic scholars, law makers and politicians to fight for "genuine universal suffrage", is not constructive.

"The campaign has garnered much public attention," Cha said, "but I don't think it's constructive at all. The situation is worrying."

She said she is optimistic over the future development of the city in the next decade. Also, private enterprises of the Chinese mainalnd and Hong Kong are still getting along, in spite of the looming social disparity.

Talking about the city's economy, Cha said Hong Kong has helped mainland companies raise capital on the global market ever since 1993 when the first company from the mainland entered Hong Kong, and now should capture the chance of mainland firms "going out".

Cha also said the listing of the mainland companies in Hong Kong in the last two decades helped elevate the city to be an international financial center, citing there are now some 740 Chinese-related firms listed in Hong Kong, accounting for 57 percent of total market capitalization.The efforts of Hong Kong regulators and the compliance by the Chinese companies enable Hong Kong to meet the expectation of the international investors.