Leung Chun-ying, a former Hong Kong government adviser, won the chief executive election of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China on March 25.
　　Leung won 689 votes of the 1,132 votes cast by members of the 1,200-member Election Committee. According to the city’s Electoral Affairs Commission, a candidate who obtains more than 600 valid votes will win the election. The whole process was under the supervision of the Electoral Affairs Commission, as well as the scrutiny of candidates, the public and the media.
　　Leung said that he will uphold Hong Kong’s core values and will work to solve many issues of social conflict in order to maintain the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong.
　　Born in 1954 in Hong Kong, Leung graduated from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He later studied valuation and estate management in Britain for four years before returning to Hong Kong and joining a real estate firm in 1977.
　　In 1985, Leung was elected secretary general of the Basic Law Consultative Committee. He was the convenor of the Non-Official Members of the Executive Council of Hong Kong from 1999 until resigning the post in October 2011 to stand for election.
　　“In the current complex and everchanging international situation, China and Russia should take a more active stance to implement major consensus on bilateral cooperation, maintain close highlevel contacts and bolster political support for each other.”
　　Chinese President Hu Jintao, agreeing to promote China-Russia relations to a new level, during a meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on the sidelines of the fourth BRICS Summit in New Delhi, India, on March 28
　　“Continued growth in BRICS countries is the biggest contribution to speeding up global economy recovery.”
　　Liu Guijin, former Chinese Ambassador to South Africa and former Special Representative of the Chinese Government on African Affairs, speaking of the power of the five most dynamic emerging economies in Beijing on March 28
　　“China believes the acceptance of the six-point plan is helpful for promoting a political resolution to the Syrian issue. China hopes the Syrian Government and all parties concerned will seize this important opportunity, support and cooperate with Kofi Annan’s mediation efforts, and therefore help ensure the effective implementation of the plan and promote a political resolution process for the Syrian issue.”
　　Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei, applauding the Syrian Government’s acceptance of the six-point plan put forward by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, at a regular press conference in Beijing on March 28
　　“I think we’ve come out of the financial crisis, that confidence is restored and we are in the process of economic recovery. Europe has an economic government which overcame the Greek crisis.”
　　French President Nicolas Sarkozy, stating that the eurozone’s financial crisis has ended and that the economy of the single-currency bloc was recovering, in an interview with the regional daily Ouest-France on March 27