COSCO EXECUTIVE SAYS ASIAN FINANCIAL WOES ARE RECEDING

   The negative effects of the Asian financial crisis are now diminishing and the Hong Kong economy has rebounded, a senior executive of COSCO (Hong Kong) Group said.
   Dong Jiufeng, president of the Hong Kong-based shipping company, the largest overseas subsidiary of the China Ocean Shipping Co. group, said that Hong Kong, now run under the "One Country, Two Systems" regime, has good trade prospects.
   "In 1999, under the influence of the Asian financial turmoil, COSCO’s staff made every effort to overcome the difficulties," he said.
   "As China will soon enter into the World Trade Organization, (the) Chinese economy will directly connect to the world economy," Dong commented. With shipping as its core business, COSCO has "many chances" to benefit from the changes, he added.
   Dong pledged that the COSCO group would have a "dual priority" of backing China’s mainland and Hong Kong.
   In a separate development, the COSCO (Hong Kong) executive met Huang Zhendong, minister of the Chinese ministry of communications, in Hong Kong.