"The future of Hong Kong's economy and development will be bright if the city moves to seize the opportunities and ties into the mainland's economic growth," he said in an interview with Xinhua.

Hui said that since 1997, the one factor that affected Hong Kong's development the most was the extent and the pace of the mainland's economic growth.

As China has emerged as one of the largest economies and a major mover of the world's economy as a result of globalization, Hong Kong has benefited more from the mainland's growth than other economies in the world have.

He cited the listing of a large number of mainland companies in Hong Kong over the past years, noting that without such listings, Hong Kong's stock and capital markets could not have been so prosperous.

Official figures indicated that by the end of 2006, 367 mainland companies had been listed on Hong Kong's stock market, accounting for half of the Hong Kong's total market value and 60 percent of trading volume.

"As long as we do not let go of this golden opportunity, we will continue to prosper. We should also note that the better the integration, the better the flow of people, cargo and capital, the greater the benefit for Hong Kong," he said.

However, Hui stressed that closer economic ties and deeper integration would not affect the "one country, two systems" concept, as it is guaranteed by the Basic Law.

Over the past ten years, both the central government and the HKSAR government have strictly adhered to the Basic Law, and Hong Kong's freedom of speech, legal system and judiciary system have remained intact, he said.

And there can be much creativity and flexibility under the "one country, two systems" principle, which will benefit Hong Kong, he said, citing the Shenzhen Bay Port co-location arrangement.

On Thursday, Hui and Shenzhen Mayor Xu Zongheng witnessed the signing of the Shenzhen Bay Port co-location arrangement. The deal covers the use of land in the Hong Kong Port Area and the co-operation framework and implementation details of Shenzhen Bay Port.

"The co-location arrangement at the Shenzhen Bay Port is the first of its kind to be implemented at control points between Hong Kong and the mainland. It fulfills the spirit of the 'one country, two systems' principle, and fully reflects its creativity and flexibility," Hui said.

Asked whether Hong Kong will go on with the West Kowloon project to boost cultural development, he said that he expected the project will be under construction starting from 2009 and that a first facility will be put into operation by 2011.

The project will not only house concert halls, theaters and other performance venues but also provide special places to the performance and study of traditional Chinese operas to showcase traditional Chinese culture to the world.

"We hope Hong Kong will be not only an international financial center, but also a cultural center," he said.