The Commissioner, who led a six-member delegation, including the Director of Crime and Security, Mr Chau Foo-cheong; the Director of Operations, Mr Tang King-shing, and Liaison Bureau Senior Superintendent, Mr Yu Mun-wah, first visited Beijing on May 12.

During their three-day stay in the Chinese capital, Commissioner Tsang met with China's Public Security Minister, Mr Jia Chunwang, and his assistant, Mr Zhu Entao.

Both sides discussed issues, which included a review of co-operation between the two enforcement bodies in the past year, joint-efforts to combat drug trafficking, commercial crimes, cross-boundary triad activities and training programmes.

As an example of excellent bilateral cooperation, both sides highly commended the success of "Firelily", a recent joint operation between Guangdong and Hong Kong. They agreed that more similar joint operations should be conducted with other provinces whenever necessary.

Apart from holding meetings with the Chinese officials, Mr Tsang also visited the Chinese People's University of Public Security to explore the possibility of increasing joint training with his Mainland counterparts.

On May 14, Commissioner Tsang was invited to attend a local radio programme to talk about the crime situation in Hong Kong and co-operation between the SAR and the Mainland in the fight against cross-boundary crimes.

The party then flew to Xinjiang where they discussed with their Mainland counterparts bilateral training programmes and exchanged views on anti-terrorism measures and toured public security facilities.

On May 18, the party arrived in Chongqing where they met with top officials of the city's Public Security Bureau to discuss matters of mutual interest and training exchange opportunities. The group also toured the city's traffic management bureau and its marine police base.

On training issues, the Commissioner offered assistance to his Mainland counterparts by introducing the "mobile classroom" training scheme adopted by the Force. Under the scheme, the Force will send three trainers to the Mainland to coach public security officers on the Force's tactical and practical measures. A proposal was also made for Mainland counterparts to be sent to Hong Kong to receive specialised training.

The delegation then flew to Guangdong on May 21 and met top officials of the Guangdong Public Security Department. In a series of meetings, both sides discussed ways to curb cross-boundary triad activities, illegal soccer betting and prostitution.

Measures to deter crimes by mainlanders holding two-way permits in Hong Kong were also raised during their discussions.

Both sides have agreed to further enhance cooperation in curbing cross-boundary crimes, and set up a 24-hour hotline to further facilitate communication.

Other agreements reached included further enhancement of the existing intelligence exchange system, and the provision of information on crimes by mainlanders in Hong Kong.

In the last leg of its Mainland visit, the party arrived in Shenzhen in the afternoon of May 22. The discussion with the Director of Shenzhen Public Security Bureau focused on crowd management at the border crossing points and the setting up of referral systems with a view to providing better services to the public.

Mainland's Vice-Minister of Public Security, Mr Tian Qiyu, and Commissioner Tsang Yam-pui