The Chinese mainland will set up an examination center in Hong Kong for local IT professionals to take the national computer and software technology qualification examination.

Officials with the Ministry of Personnel and Ministry of Information Industry say the move will help promote exchanges in information, human resources and technology between the mainland and Hong Kong, China Radio International reported Thursday.

It also reflects the progress that has been made in the service trade after the mainland and Hong Kong endorsed their Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement last year.

The national computer and software technology qualification examination was first launched on the mainland in 1991 and attended by nearly 50,000 people every year.

(Xinhua News Agency August 26, 2004)