With its advantages in foreign trade and fund raising, Hong Kong can serve as a bridge between western China and the outside world, said Donald Tsang, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's chief secretary for administration, yesterday in this capital of Southwest China's Sichuan Province, China Daily reports.

According to him, one important aspect of China's western development strategy is to further develop western China's trade and introduce foreign funds and management methods.

Enterprises in western China can establish trade partnerships with overseas counterparts via Hong Kong to gain a bigger share of the overseas market, Tsang said.

Tsang also hoped that enterprises in western China can make full use of Hong Kong's advantages in trade and its market networks to tap the overseas markets together with their Hong Kong counterparts.