He said the successful launching of the Shenzhou VI manned spacecraft advanced China's space dreams.

Hu Shixiang, deputy chief commander of China's manned space flight project, expressed his thanks for the warm welcome showed by Hong Kong compatriots and conveyed greetings from President Hu Jintao, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Wu Bangguo and Premier Wen Jiabao.

He said the gathering of over 40,000 Hong Kong compatriots at the variety show to celebrate the successful launching of the Shenzhou VI manned spacecraft showed Hong Kong compatriots' concern for the space undertaking of the motherland.

Hu, on behalf of all personnel engaged in China's space industry, wished Hong Kong a more beautiful tomorrow and a more powerful and prosperous motherland.

Hong Kong popular stars as Joey Yung, Leo Ku Kai Kei and Lisa Wong performed at the show. Dragon and lion dances were also staged.

A special part of show was a dialogue between the two astronauts and six primary school students.

Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng first thanked the HKSAR government and Hong Kong citizens for their warm welcome.

Fei said he was honored for having been selected to represent the nation in space.

Nie said the most memorable moments of the mission for him were receiving greetings from the Chinese people, including Hong Kong people. They were the strongest driving force for completing the mission.

Four Hong Kong students presented their paintings to the delegation. They were paintings of flying dragons representing the nation and China's planned future missions to the moon.

(Xinhua News Agency November 28, 2005)