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President Hu Jintao, accompanied by Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, visited the HKSI on 29 June. This was the first stop on his three-day visit programme, where he was met by HKSI Chairman Dr Eric Li Ka-cheung and President of the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China, Hon Timothy Fok Tsun-ting.

President Hu met top local athletes including Wong Kam-po (cycling), Chan Ka-man (karatedo), Sze Hang-yu (swimming) and Chow Tsz-ki (fencing) while visiting the Fitness Training Centre. When talking to Wong Kam-po and cycling coach Shen Jinkang, President Hu praised Wong for his outstanding achievements, saying, "Your gold medals in the Asian Games held in Doha last year and the UCI Track Cycling World Championships held in Spain this year have brought glory to Hong Kong and the country. You are more valuable than gold to us!"

Afterwards, President Hu watched demonstrations by wheelchair fencers Yu Chui-yee and Chan Yui-chong, and table tennis players Li Ching and Ko Lai-chak, and encouraged them to continue their efforts to reach for gold in the Beijing Olympics next year. The demonstrations were followed by a friendly table tennis match between President Hu and 13-year-old athlete Chiu Chung-hei, where Hu appreciated Chiu's playing skills and urged him to continue his hard work in training. President Hu indicated that he had long cared about sports development in Hong Kong and knows well some of Hong Kong's outstanding athletes like Wong Kam-po and Lee Lai-shan. "In recent years, these outstanding Hong Kong athletes and coaches have shown a remarkable lack of fear for their competitors, and have performed brilliantly in a series of important competitions including the Olympics and the Asian Games." He praised the Hong Kong delegation for its record achievements capturing 6 gold, 12 silver and 11 bronze medals at the Doha Asian Games last year. President Hu paid tribute to all of them and said, "Beijing will host the Olympic Games next year. It will be a unique opportunity for all of you to showcase your talents and strive for glory for Hong Kong and the country. Through training hard and backed up by strong scientific support, you will do yourselves proud - my sincere good wishes to you all."

Before leaving, President Hu presented a silver cyclist statue to the HKSI and some 2008 Beijing Olympic Games souvenirs to a number of elite athletes. In all, the visit was a real demonstration of President Hu's desire to see Hong Kong become a real force in international sport.

After the visit, Tsang Tak-sing, the new Secretary for Home Affairs, has shown his appreciation to the HKSI in writing. "We greatly appreciate all the efforts the HKSI had made to make the visit a success. I am sure the elite athletes would find the meeting with the State Leader a very valuable experience, and a substantial boost to their preparation of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games," he said.

As a sequel to the visit, local athletes including Ko Lai-chak (table tennis), Li Ching (table tennis), Angie Tsang (wushu), Sze Hang-yu (swimming), Chan Yun-to (bodybuilding), and Chan Ka-man (karatedo) attended a variety show held on 30 June to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the establishment of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). They, together with China athletes such as Liu Xiang, Guo Jingjing and Zhang Yining, expressed their blessing to Hong Kong in the acrobatics performance and recited "One World One Dream. Beijing and Hong Kong forge ahead to 2008 Olympic Games with one heart" to re-affirm their strong desire for success at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.