June 16 (Bloomberg) -- Former civil servant Donald Tsang will be Hong Kong's next chief executive, after he submitted the only valid nomination for the job, Returning Officer Carlye Chu said at a press conference.

Tsang was endorsed by 674 of the 796-person committee that will pick a successor to former Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa. Nominations closed at 5 p.m. in Hong Kong today.

``I hereby declare Mr. Tsang is returned and elected in the 2005 Chief Executive Election,'' Chu said. Tsang must be appointed by China's government and sworn in before he assumes office, according to Hong Kong's constitution, the Basic Law.

The lack of competition means the Election Committee will skip its planned July 10 vote, and Tsang's selection will be forwarded directly to Beijing, where he will be formally appointed and sworn in, probably some time next week.

For Tsang, appointment to the top job caps a 38-year career in the former British colony's civil service in which he served as finance secretary during Asia's financial crisis and as chief secretary under former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa.

Tsang, who has Beijing's tacit endorsement, replaces Tung who quit in March on grounds of ill health. During his eight years former shipping tycoon Tung saw his popularity plummet amid his government's handling of crises including the severe acute respiratory syndrome epidemic.

This election will fill only the remaining two years of Tung's five-year term. There will be another vote in 2007 to choose an executive for a full five years.

Rivals

Rivals Lee, chairman of the Democratic Party of Hong Kong, conceded the race yesterday, Chim, who represents stockbrokers in the city's legislature, also fell short. Both men yesterday congratulated Tsang on his success.

An improving job market is encouraging Hong Kong citizens to spend more, underpinning expansion in the city's $164 billion economy. The unemployment rate was 5.7 percent in May, the lowest since August 2001.

Construction workers are finding jobs as companies like MGM Mirage build casinos in neighboring Macau, and a string of stock sales has prompted banks to hire workers, said Joe Lo, an economist at Citigroup Inc. Consumer confidence reached a

Government Chief Economist K C Kwok last month said improved domestic demand may ``cushion'' cooling exports. He repeated a forecast that growth will slow to between 4.5 percent and 5.5 percent this year from a four-year high of 8.1 percent in 2004.

To contact the reporter for this story: Joshua Fellman in Hong Kong jfellman@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 16, 2005 05:39 EDT