China's men's singles and team table tennis Olympic champion Ma Long was among the visitors to Hong Kong ©Getty Images

The Sport Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China (SF&OC) has hosted a group of athletes who competed for China at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, including table tennis gold medallist Ma Long and sprinter Su Bingtian.

A total of 29 athletes and three coaches across 12 sports from China took part in the three-day visit.

They went to the Hong Kong Sports Institute to meet athletes and students with the aim of sharing and exchanging experiences, and took part in events including the Mainland Olympians Variety Show and a lunch reception with the SF&OC at the Kowloon Shangri-La hotel.

Ma, who triumphed in the men's singles and team events at Tokyo 2020, was among the headline names who visited, while Yang Ning, the Under Secretary of the General Administration of Sport of China, served as the Chef de Mission for the Chinese delegation.

Senior sporting and Governmental figures from Hong Kong helped entertain the visitors, including the chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) Carrie Lim, the deputy director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong SAR Lu Xinning and the SF&OC President Timothy Fok.

The Sport Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China President Timothy Fok called for the consolidation of the special administrative region's relationship with China ©Getty Images
The Sport Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China President Timothy Fok called for the consolidation of the special administrative region's relationship with China ©Getty Images

Fok, an International Olympic Committee honorary member, offered his congratulations to China's athletes for their performance at Tokyo 2020, where they won 38 golds among a total of 88 medals, and thanked the visiting party for travelling to Hong Kong.

He also expressed his hope that Hong Kong would consolidate its relationship with China with the aim of promoting the development of elite sports, and claimed that there was an enthusiastic atmosphere in the special administrative region for the delegation's visit.

In June 2020, China introduced the controversial National Security Law following a wave of pro-democracy protests in the city, which reduces Hong Kong's judicial autonomy and makes it easier to punish demonstrators and activists.

It criminalises secession, subversion and collusion with foreign forces and carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, with critics arguing it violates the "one country, two systems" principle under which the former British colony was handed back to China.

Beijing insists that the law is needed to bring stability to the city.

Hong Kong enjoyed a successful Olympics earlier this year, tripling its all-time medal count to nine with one gold, two silvers and three bronzes in the Japanese capital.