Hong Kong has made remarkable success since 1997 when it returned to the motherland, and it is moving towards an even greater future, said David Miliband, the newly appointed foreign secretary of Britain, on Sunday.

"Today, the U.K. joins Hong Kong in celebrating the city's remarkable success since 1997. This is a real testament to the arrangements which Britain and China negotiated before the handover, and to the people of Hong Kong who have worked to make a reality of 'one country Two systems'," Miliband said in a statement commenting on the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong's return, which was issued by the British Consulate General in Hong Kong.

"Hong Kong is already one of the 21st Century's great cities. With its talented, optimistic and industrious people, vibrant society, free media, and fair and transparent systems of government and law, it is moving towards an even greater future," he said.

Miliband said that Britain hoped that Hong Kong will continue to prosper in the next ten years and beyond, and that Britain and Hong Kong will further develop their already close partnership.

(Xinhua News Agency July 1, 2007)