Chief Secretary for Administration of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government (HKSAR) Matthew Cheung on Sunday appealed to all members of the public to deter violence, and urged youngsters to stay away from violence and cherish their future. 

Pointing out that violence was again looming in Hong Kong, Cheung said in his online article that youngsters were easily to be incited to commit crimes which was a worrying sign. 

"The younger generation is the future and hope of the society as well as the social and economic driving force for the long-term development of Hong Kong," Cheung said, stressing that the HKSAR government is committed to cultivating a responsible and law-abiding younger generation with a positive outlook on life, an international vision and a sense of national identity.

The COVID-19 pandemic and social unrest has delivered a double blow to Hong Kong's economy which has already been in deep recession. Cheung said that many young people will face a rather severe employment situation caused by local economic downturn. 

Cheung said the HKSAR government has introduced a raft of relief measures with the Anti-epidemic Fund to safeguard employment. He added the government will create about 30,000 temporary jobs among public and private sectors in two years, and will also hire 10,000 civil servants this year and increase internships to 5,000. 

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Also on Sunday, Financial Secretary of the HKSAR government Paul Chan warned in an online article that although Hong Kong saw a small window of economic recovery thanks to the signs of improvement in curbing the COVID-19 outbreak, fresh violence could destroy the fragile result. 

Chan pointed out that assemblies and conflicts appeared again in some districts recently, disturbing the business environment of shopping malls and stores, which is definitely bad news for Hong Kong's weakening economy, the retail sector, small shops and workers.

Many shops have their doors closed, with no timetable for reopening. Some stores have "Shop to Let" signs out on the door.

Chan emphasized that Hong Kong's economy was under an unprecedented downsize pressure as its GDP contracted 8.9 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of this year, the sharpest quarterly decline since 1974. 

Chan said the economic outlook is still not optimistic in the second quarter, but believed economic activities may resume as long as the COVID-19 outbreak is controlled well and a turning point is expected to come in the third quarter. 

He again urged members of the public to express their views in a peaceful manner and not at the expense of other people's interests. 

(With input from Xinhua)