China will continue to urge the Philippines to find a solution to the ongoing repercussions of the 2010 Manila hostage crisis, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said on Tuesday.

Qin Gang was commenting after the mayor of Manila arrived in Hong Kong to apologize for the crisis, which occurred in August 2010, killing eight Hong Kong tourists.

He said at a daily press briefing that the Chinese central government has urged the Philippines to respond to the reasonable and legal demands of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government and family members of the victims, and properly solve the crisis at an early date.

Former Philippine president and now Manila mayor, Joseph Estrada, arrived in Hong Kong on Tuesday afternoon to make an apology in the hope of mending strained ties.

The City Council of Manila passed a resolution in October taking it upon the city government to apologize to the people of Hong Kong for the hostage crisis.