President says she made important contributions in safeguarding the nation's sovereignty, security, development interests

President Xi Jinping commended on Thursday outgoing Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor's contributions to returning the city from chaos to order, saying that the central government fully recognizes her work in the past five years.

Xi made the remarks during a meeting with Lam in Hong Kong. He said that over the past five years, Lam, supported by the central government, had faithfully honored her constitutional responsibility as chief executive and firmly followed and implemented the principle of "one country, two systems" as well as the Basic Law of the Hong Kong SAR.

Lam had led the SAR government in administering Hong Kong in accordance with the law, uniting residents from all walks of life in stopping violence and chaos and making all-out efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, and actively integrating the region's growth into the country's overall development, Xi said.

The president praised Lam for her courage in shouldering responsibilities, saying that she had made painstaking efforts and important contributions in safeguarding the nation's sovereignty, security and development interests and Hong Kong's prosperity and stability, implementing the principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong" and returning the city from chaos to order.

He expressed his hope that Lam would actively support the incoming chief executive, John Lee Ka-chiu, and the new SAR government in exercising law-based governance, and that she would continue to contribute to the development of Hong Kong and the motherland.

Lam expressed her sincere gratitude to Xi for his attendance at the meeting to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland and the inaugural ceremony of the sixth-term government of the Hong Kong SAR, as well as his inspection of Hong Kong, despite the recurrence of the pandemic in the region.

Xi's visit fully demonstrates his personal care for Hong Kong compatriots, she said.

The past five years were eventful in Hong Kong, Lam said, adding that it was a great honor to contribute to realizing the principle of "one country, two systems". She wished the nation strength and prosperity and hoped that Xi's inspection tour of Hong Kong would be a great success.

Xi also met with Leung Chunying, vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and Ho Iat Seng, chief executive of the Macao Special Administrative Region.

During the meeting with Leung, who is also a former chief executive of the Hong Kong SAR, Xi praised him for the tremendous efforts he has made in promoting national modernization and Hong Kong's prosperity and stability.

Xi expressed his hope that Leung will fully support the incoming chief executive of the Hong Kong SAR and the sixth-term SAR government in exercising law-based governance, and make new contributions to the enduring success of "one country, two systems" along with people from different sectors.

Leung expressed his gratitude for President Xi's care and encouragement, and pledged all-out efforts to continue serving Hong Kong and the motherland.

While meeting with Ho, Xi urged the Macao SAR government not to slacken its pandemic response efforts, and to consistently and effectively relieve hardships in people's lives, boost economic recovery, promote a diversified economy and make every effort to uphold social stability.

Ho, who is also in Hong Kong for events celebrating the 25th anniversary, vowed to make solid efforts in all aspects to resolutely promote the sound development of Macao.

Also on Thursday afternoon, Xi met separately with people from various sectors in Hong Kong, representatives of the Hong Kong Disciplined Services－which include the city's police, fire, correctional services, customs and immigration departments, members of the executive, the legislature and the judiciary, as well as central government officials based in Hong Kong and senior executives of Hong Kong branches of mainland enterprises and institutions.

Xi also asked relevant parties to convey his greetings to Vice-Chairman of the CPPCC National Committee Tung Chee-hwa, who is also a former chief executive of the Hong Kong SAR.