Hong Kong - Hong Kong has the greatest rich-poor divide of any developed country with more than 1 million people living in relative poverty, a party political leader claimed Sunday.

Democratic Party leader Albert Ho called the divide between the rich and poor in the wealthy city of 6.9 million "an embarrassment to our society" and called on Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang to act.

"The government has made it an article of faith and told all of us to believe in the 'trickle-down effect' in the market economy," Ho said on state-run radio.

"In reality, while the amount of wealth generated in Hong Kong has continued to increase, the wealth and poverty gap has grown wider and is now the highest among developed countries."

Ho called on Hong Kong's chief executive Donald Tsang to address the issue by tackling rising unemployment and taking steps to relieve the tax burden on poorer families.

Property prices in Hong Kong have plunged and the Hang Seng Index has lost 50 per cent of its value in the past 12 months with the onset of the global economic crisis. (dpa)