Chris Patten made a forceful last stand at the farewell ceremony, justifying British rule and his five years in office.
He issued a stern reminder that Beijing should not meddle in Hong Kong's future.
The speech was greeted enthusiastically by the rain-soaked crowd of about 9,000 in the East Tamar parade ground.
Mr Patten said Britain's contribution to Hong Kong had been the scaffolding for the city's prosperity in the form of the rule of law, clean and light-handed authority and the beginnings of a representative government and democratic accountability. Reworking the words of late patriarch Deng Xiaoping - who described his recipe for modern China as 'socialism with Chinese characteristics' - Mr Patten said: 'This is a Chinese city, a very Chinese city, with British characteristics.' He said Britain had never left a dependent territory in better shape and Hong Kong must keep its 'decent values'.
'They are the values of the future in Asia as elsewhere, a future in which the happiest and the richest communities, and the most confident and the most stable too, will be those that best combine political liberty and economic freedom as we do here today.' Prince Charles also read a positive message to Hong Kong from Queen Elizabeth, saying Britain and Hong Kong shared legacies of family, friendship, trade and investment, culture and history.
'Britain is part of Hong Kong's history and Hong Kong is part of Britain's history,' he said.
