He said that he had heard of just three declarations for the post, with Shigeru Omi from Japan and Julio Frenk of Mexico the others.

The Hong Kong government said it welcomes the central government's decision to support Margaret Chan for the post, a government spokesman quoted by the Xinhua News Agency as saying yesterday.

The spokesman said Chan has worked tirelessly to improve health services and promote the development of public health services while serving as director of health for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

"Chan comes from Hong Kong and has served the Hong Kong government for 25 years," he said. "We take pride in the nomination."

Chan was unavailable for comment yesterday.