Hu in Hong Kong for anniversary

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China's President Hu Jintao is in Hong Kong for a three-day visit marking the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong's handover from Britain to China.

Mr Hu played ping pong with young athletes and visited some local families before attending a dinner with Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang.

This is Hu Jintao's first visit to Hong Kong since he became China's president.

He avoided several protests, where demonstrators demanded full democracy for the special administrative region.

At one demonstration, pro-democracy lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung burned a portrait of Mr Hu and called for the release of political prisoners in China.

Mongolian dance

Mr Hu arrived in thick mist and pouring rain, similar to the rain storms that marked the handover 10 years ago.

The central government and Chinese citizens have supported the Hong Kong government and helped Hong Kong to overcome all difficulties Hu JintaoChinese president

As he arrived, he praised the people of Hong Kong for their hard work and said he had every confidence in the region's future.

"In the past 10 years under the 'one country, two systems' principles Hong Kong people ruled Hong Kong and Hong Kong enjoyed a high degree of autonomy," he said.

"The central government and Chinese citizens have supported the Hong Kong government and helped Hong Kong to overcome all difficulties."

Mr Hu is the guest of honour for a weekend of lavish celebrations to mark the anniversary.

He met athletes in training for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and played ping pong with 13-year-old Chiu Chung-hei.

"You can tell he's played before - he has practised," Chiu said.

He also visited the cramped apartment of a local construction worker.

The man's daughter, Leung Wing-kei, said Mr Hu performed an impression of Mongolian dance after she told him she had recently visited the region.

Mixed feelings

For Beijing, the return of Hong Kong was a proud moment of national unity. It is now eager to show the world that the political experiment of "one country, two systems" has been a success, says the BBC's Jill McGivering in Hong Kong.

President Hu was greeted by flag-waving children as he landed

No foreign representatives were invited to attend the anniversary events, with the focus instead on Hong Kong's closer ties with the mainland.

After some tough years of economic crisis, the economy is doing well. Hong Kong's way of life has not really changed and key institutions are still independent and accountable.

Many citizens increasingly describe themselves as Chinese, as well as Hong Kong people.

But they have retained a note of cynicism when it comes to politics, says our correspondent, with Hong Kong yet to see much progress on the promise of democracy in the Sino-British agreement ending 156 years of British rule.