HONG KONG, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 700,000 registered volunteers and more than 1,700 registered organizations have committed to volunteering since 1998 in Hong Kong, a city with a population of around 7,000,000, the wife of Hong Kong Chief Executive Selina Tsang said on Saturday.

Speaking at the Hong Kong Volunteer Award presentation ceremony2007, Tsang said that in 2006, volunteers devoted more than 17 million hours of service to the community.

Tsang, who is Volunteer-in-Chief, said that volunteer service is the key to building up a harmonious society. She said participation as a family in volunteer service will not only enhance family harmony but help in building up a caring society.

"This year's voluntary movement will thus focus on families as its recruitment targets so as to realize the objective of 'Family volunteers serving the society together'," she said.

The annual award presentation was organized by the Social Welfare Department's Steering Committee on Promotion of Volunteer Service to recognize the contribution of volunteers and further promote the volunteer movement.

Awards were presented on Saturday to commend the outstanding contribution of various types of volunteers. More than 55,000 volunteer certificates were issued to committed volunteers, including 63 volunteers who had served the community for more than20 years.