Lu Xinhua, commissioner of the Office of the Commissioner of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), pledged Wednesday to give full support and assistance to Hong Kong in its overseas exchanges and cooperation.

Addressing at a media gathering on Wednesday, Lu said he would work hard with his colleagues to give support to Hong Kong in its exchanges and cooperation with all countries and regions in various fields such as trade and economy, science and technology, public health, sports, tourism and the media.

He stressed "we will work closely with the HKSAR government and the Chinese embassies and consulates to protect the legitimate rights and interests of Hong Kong residents abroad and make our effort for the long-term prosperity and stability of Hong Kong.

Lu said, since the establishment of the commission's office in 1997 according to the Basic Law, the HKSAR government has sent its officials to take part in over 860 international conferences as Chinese delegation members and successful hosted over 60 international conferences, with the assistance of the commissioner's office.

He said, the office has also handled 850 cases of judicial assistance in notification and review between HKSAR and other countries, processed applications of 42 countries to establish consulates in Hong Kong since 1997.

Lu said, with close cooperation with Chinese embassies and consulates overseas as well as the HKSAR government, the commissioner's office has handled over 3,000 consular protection cases, accepted 550 applications for arrival or transit of foreign leaders' private planes and military jets as well as 218 applications for port calls by foreign warships in Hong Kong.

He said with the assistance of the commissioner's office, a total of 57 batches of 1,290 Hong Kong journalists have accompanied the Chinese delegations as part of the press team for covering the official visits by Chinese leaders, and there are 1, 213 batches of 1,777 foreign journalists visiting and reporting on the mainland.

Source: Xinhua