Background

The immediate re-appointment of a Listing Committee Member is permitted on the Main Board only for the purpose of ensuring continuity in connection with the merger under Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, while on the Growth Enterprise Market ("GEM") the immediate re-appointment of a Listing Committee Member is not permitted under any circumstances.

Amendments

Rule 2A.25 of the Main Board Listing Rules and Rule 3.26 of the GEM Listing Rules have each been amended to permit the immediate re-appointment of Listing Committee Members pending the implementation of the recently announced proposed structures concerning listing matters.  The amendments to the Main Board Listing Rules and GEM Listing Rules will come into effect on 8 May 2002. The Main Board Listing Rules (as amended) will be available for viewing on the HKEx website at http://www.hkex.com.hk and the GEM Listing Rules (as amended) will be available for viewing on the GEM website at http://www.hkgem.com from that date.

Re-printed pages of the Main Board Listing Rules and GEM Listing Rules will be distributed in due course.