100,000 members
of functional constituencies and an 800-member Election Commission
drawn from broad regional groupings and other central government
bodies

Executive branch:
chief of state: President of China JIANG Zemin (since 27 March 1993)
head of government: Chief Executive TUNG Chee-hwa (since 1 July 1997)
cabinet: Executive Council consists of three ex-officio members and
10 appointed members; ex-officio members are: Chief Secretary Anson
CHAN (since 29 November 1993), Financial Secretary Donald TSANG
(since 7 March 1995), and Secretary of Justice Elsie LEUNG (since 1
July 1997)
elections: NA

Legislative branch: unicameral Legislative Council or LEGCO (60
seats; 30 indirectly elected by functional constituencies, 20
elected by popular vote, and 10 elected by an 800-member election
committee; members serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 25 May 1998 (next to be held NA 2002)
election results: percent of vote by party--NA; seats by
party--Democratic Party 13, Liberal Party 9, Democratic Alliance for
the Betterment of Hong Kong 9, Hong Kong Progressive Alliance 5,
Frontier Party 3, Citizens Party 1, independents 20

Judicial branch: The Court of Final Appeal in the Hong Kong
Special Administrative Region

Political parties and leaders: Democratic Party [Martin LEE,

Political pressure groups and leaders: Association for Democracy
Kowloon Trade Union Council (pro-Taiwan); Confederation of Trade
Chamber of Commerce; Chinese General Chamber of Commerce
(pro-China); Federation of Hong Kong Industries; Chinese
Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong; Hong Kong Professional
chairman]

International organization participation: APEC, AsDB, BIS, CCC,
ESCAP (associate), ICFTU, IMO (associate), Interpol (subbureau),
IOC, ISO (correspondent), WCL, WMO, WTrO

Diplomatic representation in the US: none (special administrative
region of China)

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Consul General Richard A. BOUCHER
consulate(s) general: 26 Garden Road, Hong Kong
mailing address: PSC 464, Box 30, FPO AP 96522-0002

Flag description: red with a stylized, white, five-petal bauhinia
flower in the center

Economy

Economy--overview: Hong Kong has a bustling free market economy
highly dependent on international trade. Natural resources are
limited, and food and raw materials must be imported. Indeed,
imports and expo