NEW YORK, July 2 (Xinhua) -- The top Hong Kong official based in the United States was invited to ring NASDAQ's start-of-trading bell on Monday morning to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China.

　　Margaret Fong, Hong Kong Commissioner for Economic and Trade Affairs in the United States, said in her opening speech: "Under the concept of 'one country, two systems', Hong Kong has continued to thrive as a free, open and dynamic community."

　　"Over the past 10 years, we have taken important strides as a major financial, trading and logistics center. The market capitalization of our stock market has risen five times to 2 trillion U.S. dollars; our total trade in goods and services has increased by 67 percent to 740 billion dollars; our air cargo volume has doubled to 3.6 million tons and our port cargo volume is up by 64 percent to 23.5 million TEUs."

　　Fong lauded the fact that Hong Kong's unwavering commitment to free trade has won it the notable distinction as the world's freest economy.

　　She said as Hong Kong moves into the next decade, "we will consolidate our strengths and seek to maintain our position as the premier financial and trading hub for the Asia-Pacific region."

　　NASDAQ currently has 17 listed companies from Hong Kong, worth a collective 9.6 billion dollars.

　　Adena Friedman, executive vice president of NASDAQ, co-hosted the market's opening ceremony.