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The Chief Executive, Mr Donald Tsang, on behalf of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the people of Hong Kong, congratulated our motherland on the successful launch of Shenzhou-7 spacecraft today (September 25).
：The spacewalk to be conducted by one of the three astronauts carried by Shenzhou-7 spacecraft, including Mr Zhai Zhigang, Mr Liu Boming and Mr Jing Haipeng, marks another historical milestone in China・s manned space programme,； Mr Tsang said.
：It is our country・s third manned space mission which has overcome unprecedented technical difficulties as compared with the previous two missions.
：Since the successful launch and return of Shenzhou-5 in 2003, there has been a big leap forward in the development of our manned space technology and space exploration in the past five years, which has brought great joy and excitement to the Chinese nation.
"We are all looking forward to the victorious return of the crew members after the successful completion of their mission," Mr Tsang added.
Ends/Thursday, September 25, 2008
Issued at HKT 21:45
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