British Deputy Prime Minister and First Secretary of State John Prescott departed Monday after a two-day visit to Hong Kong, the first leg of his seven-day visit to China.

During his visit in Hong Kong, Prescott discussed with senior officials of the Hong Kong Special Administration Region (HKSAR) government the challenges facing Britain and China's Hong Kong in providing decent housing, good public transport, schools, hospitals and shops, as well as looking at environmental policy.

Prescott said before his departure, "We enjoy excellent relations with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government and I look forward to developing further our dialogue on the key community issues that affect us both."

During the visit, Prescott met with Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang, Financial Secretary Henry Tang and some other business leaders.

At the invitation of the Chinese government, Prescott started from Feb. 19 his eight-day visit to China.

Source: Xinhua