Hong Kong - Hong Kong fell into a recession Friday as government figures showed a second quarter of contracted growth with the economy growing just 1.7 per cent in the year's third quarter.

The rate of gross domestic product growth in the city of 6.9 million fell from 4.2 per cent in the second quarter to 1.7 per cent in the third, according to official figures.

The Hong Kong government responded by revising downwards its growth forecasts for the year from 4 to 5 per cent to between 3 and 3.5 per cent, meaning it anticipates a possible fourth quarter contraction.

Hong Kong  - Bargain-hunters drove Hong Kong share prices up by more than 2 per cent Friday as nerves eased slightly following heavy losses a day earlier.

The blue-chip Hang Seng Index rose 321.31 points, or 2.43 per cent, to end the week at 13,542.66 points. Turnover was a relatively light 44.7 billion Hong Kong dollars (5.76 billion US dollars).

The minor rebound came after the index fell back more than 5 per cent Thursday. Shares jumped more than 3.5 per cent in early trading Friday but fell back later in the day.

Hong Kong  - Hong Kong might speed up infrastructure projects to boost employment as the economic downturn costs the city thousands of jobs, the territory's deputy leader said Friday.

The announcement came a day after 4,000 Hong Kong construction workers found they were among 11,000 staff who would lose their jobs as casino building works are halted in neighbouring Macau.

Hong Kong - Eleven years after it ceased to be a British colony, English remains the most important language to master in Hong Kong's business and professional world, according to a survey released Friday.

Written English was rated the most important language skill in a survey of more than 2,0000 ethnic Chinese professionals, followed by the local dialect Cantonese and then spoken English.

Hong Kong - Hong Kong shares dropped by more than 5 per cent Thursday an investors dumped stocks following overnight losses on Wall Street and deepening gloom over the economy.

The blue-chip Hang Seng Index fell 717.74 points, or 5.15 per cent, to 13,221.35 points. Turnover was 51.7 billion Hong Kong dollars
(6.67 billion US dollars.)

The closing figures, which took the index to a two-week low, represented a marginal improvement on earlier in the day, when shares plunged by more than 6 per cent in the first minutes of trading.

Hong Kong  - Three Chinese astronauts hailed as national heroes after performing the country's first space walk are to visit Hong Kong and Macau, a news report said Thursday.

Zhai Zhigang, Liu Boming and Jing Haipeng, the three astronauts, often called taikonauts, whose space walk in September generated patriotic fervour, are to tour the territories in early December, the South China Morning Post reported.