Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, arrived in Hong Kong on Saturday to start his visit to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).

At the invitation of HKSAR Chief Executive Donald Tsang, Wu is scheduled to attend the opening ceremony of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Telecom World 2006, the largest telecommunication exposition on the planet, hosted by Hong Kong Sunday night.

Upon his arrival, Wu was greeted by Chief Executive Donald Tsang and HKSAR principal officials at the airport.

After shaking hands with greeting people at the airport, Wu walked through the crowd to the press, expressing his greetings to dozens of reporters covering his arrival. He also asked the reporters to convey his wishes for Hong Kong people.

"When I visited Hong Kong six years ago, it was still under the impact of the Asian financial crisis," Wu told reporters.

Wu said, "Things in Hong Kong are now different. Thanks to the concerted efforts by the HKSAR government and all walks of Hong Kong society, Hong Kong now enjoys social stability, the economy is growing and the people's livelihood has improved."

"I will take this chance to personally experience the new changes in Hong Kong," he said.

With the company of Chief Executive Donald Tsang, Wu visited the Youth College of Hong Kong Vocational Training Council in Kowloon Saturday afternoon and talked with students.

Learning that 90 percent of the college's annual 160,000 trainees can find jobs, Wu said the falling unemployment rate in Hong Kong was largely related to vocational training, especially to young people.

Wu presented more than 500 kinds of books and some audio and visual products to the college at the end of his visit.

The country's top legislator then paid a visit to a nearby local community and dropped in Wu Kin-Wing, a local citizen living at So-Uk Estate.

Learning the host is having a harmonious family and a happy life during his chatting with the family, the top legislator said judging from the good momentum of the economy over the past years, he believed the Hong Kong people would have a much better livelihood in future.

Wu was accompanied by Liao Hui, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, and other officials.

Source: Xinhua