The central government Friday appointed Yang Wenchang as commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, replacing Ji Peiding.

Ji held a farewell reception Thursday night to thank the SAR government and people from all spectra of society who helped him with his work during his two-year tenure in Hong Kong.

Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa and Gao Siren, director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in Hong Kong, and some 300 guests attended the reception.

Ji is expected to take up a new post in the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the country's top legislature.

Quoting Premier Wen Jiabao during his recent trip to the SAR, Ji told guests at the reception: "I love Hong Kong, miss Hong Kong, and bless Hong Kong."

Before taking up his current assignment, Yang served as vice-foreign minister from 1998.

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