China says will keep supporting Hong Kong as world financial hub

China will continue to support Hong Kong's position as a global financial hub, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Thursday, reassuring the investment community in the former British colony as it adjusts to the rise of Shanghai.

Li made the remarks to reporters at the closing of the country's annual parliamentary session on Thursday. Known for its free-wheeling capitalist economy, Hong Kong was returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

(Reporting By Michael Martina, Ben Blanchard and Megha Rajagopalan; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)