HONG KONG, May 5 (Xinhua) -- A coalition co-sponsored by 1,545 representatives of various sectors of the Hong Kong society was launched here on Tuesday, with an aim of uniting the community and finding a way out of the current predicament for Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong Coalition, with two former Chief Executives of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Tung Chee-hwa and Leung Chun-ying, both vice chairmen of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference as its chief conveners, announced its launch at a press conference on Tuesday morning.

The coalition issued a joint declaration calling for upholding "one country, two systems" and helping Hong Kong overcome difficulties and start again.

Hong Kong needs to reverse the economic downturn by supporting the struggling economy and safeguarding employment. It also needs to uphold its core value of the rule of law and restore unity of people with different political views and from all walks of life to get out of the current dilemma, it said.

The coalition plans to host a series of activities, the first of which will be distributing 10 million face masks to the residents across Hong Kong in the coming weekend.■