The principle of one country, two systems has been a universally acknowledged success in the past 20 years, according to Zhang Xiaoming, director of the central government's Liaison Office in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Zhang said that no matter what difficulties and challenges arise, confidence and determination in the principle will not be shaken. "The principle is designed to ensure China's sovereign rule over Hong Kong and Macao without changing their capitalist systems and existing ways of life, and it should not be misinterpreted by certain ill-motivated forces as pulling the SAR away from the country," Zhang said in a recent interview.

He said facts in the past two decades since Hong Kong was returned to China have proved that the principle is not only the best solution to solve the Hong Kong question, but also the best system to maintain its long-term prosperity and stability.