Beijing will continue to provide support for Hong Kong's economy, but no timetable has been set for constitutional reforms, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa said after meetings with Chinese leaders.
Tung's comments, widely reported in local newspapers on Monday, were the clearest indication yet that Beijing wants to keep Hong Kong's attention firmly focused on its economy and stall discussions about democratic reforms.
China has offered a raft of economic goodies to Hong Kong in recent months, hoping that growing demands for universal suffrage will evaporate as the economy improves.
"More good news is on the way," Tung told reporters after the meetings in Beijing.
Areas to benefit included tourism, finance, infrastructure, aviation, tariff concessions and the services industry, Tung said. He would not elaborate, saying only that they would be announced "very soon."
Tung, who was selected by Beijing and not popularly elected, also said he had discussed Hong Kong's debate on constitutional reforms with leaders in Beijing.
But he said "there is no timetable" for such electoral changes.
China, fearing demands for more voting rights in Hong Kong could spread to the mainland, has tried to silence demands for expanded democracy with a steady stream of attacks on pro-democracy forces in recent weeks.
Politician tension between Hong Kong and Beijing heated up further last week after one of the territory's leading pro-democracy legislators flew to Washington to brief top US presidential advisers and senators on Hong Kong's growing calls for reforms.
Lee's visit has drawn vitriolic attacks from Chinese officials and the media, calling him a "clown" and a "traitor".
While Hong Kong's constitution allows for the possibility of full popular elections from 2007, it does not provide a roadmap and gives Beijing the final say over any electoral reforms.
"No one in Hong Kong would argue with the need to continue on the path of economic recovery," the South China Morning Post said in an editorial.
"Yet it is hard to believe that economic recovery and the debate over political reform cannot continue on parallel tracks, or that more perks will distract the public from its conviction that Hong Kong would be better off with a government that is accountable to a broader portion of the population.
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