The State Council, China's Cabinet, appointed on Friday Zhang Xiaoming as director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office.

Zhang, 54, succeeds Wang Guangya. Zhang had been director of the liaison office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and will be replaced by Wang Zhimin.

Leaving Hong Kong at the airport on Friday morning, Zhang urged residents of Hong Kong from all sectors to believe in themselves, in Hong Kong and in the country, reiterating President Xi Jinping's remarks during the 20th anniversary celebration of Hong Kong's return to the motherland in July.

Xi's remarks have already pointed a direction for Hong Kong's future, Zhang said.

Hong Kong people, the city and the country are clearly closely linked. It guarantees Hong Kong's future prosperity and stability, and ensures Hong Kong people's aspiration for better lives will be fulfilled, Zhang said, adding that he always believed Hong Kong is a blessed place.

In parting Hong Kong, Zhang quoted three sentences to express his feelings for Hong Kong after his position there during the past five years.

He quoted a verse from well-known poet Su Shi from the Song Dynasty (960-1279) to sum up his five-year term. The verse was meant to say that looking back with all the ups and downs along the way, the rainy or sunny days in the past shall not matter anymore.

He then quoted early 20th-century Chinese poet Xu Zhimo's renowned verse of Saying Goodbye to Cambridge Again, saying "gently I flick my sleeves, not even a wisp of cloud will I bring away".