Chinese President Xi Jinping said Hong Kong had been reborn after facing one ¡°challenge¡± after another since he last visited five years ago, as he returned to the city to mark its 25th anniversary of Chinese rule.

The Chinese leader said the city¡¯s ¡°One Country, Two Systems¡± governance formula would ensure its prosperity and stability, as the finance hub contributed to China¡¯s ¡°great reunification,¡± in a short speech delivered at West Kowloon Station on Thursday afternoon.

Xi arrived with his wife, Peng Liyuan, to crowds of schoolchildren waving flags and a traditional lion dance, after taking the city¡¯s high-speed rail link from mainland China. Outgoing Chief Executive Carrie Lam was at the reception, along with her successor John Lee, former city leader Leung Chun-ying and Zheng Yanxiong, head of the secretive agency China created to implement its controversial security law.