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(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-02-25 20:23

HONG KONG - British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Monday that the success of China's Hong Kong in its first ten years after returning to China exceeded expectations.

Speaking to a press conference during his first visit to China's Hong Kong as foreign secretary, Miliband said the period between 1997 and 2007 for Hong Kong "seemed to me to exceed the expectations of most people in terms of success of the economic, social and political system that had been developed."

Hong Kong returned to China in 1997 and became a special administrative region that enjoyed a high degree of autonomy, including independent economy and judiciary.

It suffered from the southeastern Asian financial storm and the SARS outbreak during the years but managed to survive and prosper as an increasingly important international financial hub, with annual economic growth topping 6 percent in the past 4 years.

"It certainly defied the predictions of the doomsayers," Miliband said.

Hong Kong's ties with the Chinese mainland had been growing significantly in the recent years, providing financial services and management expertise to the mainland while receiving support in return.

Miliband said the next ten years would be just as important for Hong Kong as the first ten years, adding that he was confident that Hong Kong would be able to meet the economic and social challenges along with the political development.

Miliband arrived in Hong Kong Sunday to begin a six-day official visit to China that will also take him to three other Chinese cities -- Shanghai, Chongqing and Beijing.

He said he was looking forward to the trip, which he said he expected to be instructive, thought-provoking and inspiring in equal measure in a blog entry entitled "Look East, Young Man" just ahead of his visit.