Two years into the tenure of Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s administration, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has witnessed historic changes, unseen over the previous 25 years.

The 1997 return to the motherland marked the city’s integration into the national governance system; whereas the full and accurate implementation of the “one country, two systems” principle and the Basic Law have been achieved only over the past two years, heralding a new era of good governance.

Speaking at a meeting celebrating the SAR’s 25th anniversary and the inaugural ceremony of the sixth-term government of the SAR on July 1, 2022, President Xi Jinping put forward four proposals for the city: to further improve its governance, to continue to create strong impetus for growth, to earnestly address people’s concerns and difficulties in daily life, and to work together to safeguard harmony and stability. In the past two years, Lee’s administration firmly adhered to the governance strategy laid down by President Xi and the central government, greatly improving the SAR’s governance.  

It goes without saying that the completion of Article 23 legislation, or the enactment of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance (SNSO), is the most remarkable achievement of Lee’s administration, which, together with the National Security Law for Hong Kong, provides a robust national security regime.

For a long time after 1997, the SAR had failed to carry out the constitutional responsibility of enacting a local national security law according to Article 23 of the Basic Law, thereby allowing separatist forces to wreak havoc on Hong Kong. To the relief of Hong Kong residents, the incumbent SAR government has overcome all obstacles with the central government’s staunch support, and made up this deficit by enacting the SNSO.

Under the guidance of the central government, the SAR successively completed elections for the Election Committee, the Legislative Council and the chief executive by the new election system in 2021 and 2022. While the principle of “patriots administering Hong Kong” has been put in place in the governance structure, there are still dangerous undercurrents in the HKSAR’s governance.

Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, has repeatedly noted that the root causes of chaos in Hong Kong have not yet been completely eliminated, and the foundation for good governance needs to be fortified. The old district councils were undoubtedly one of the root causes of chaos.

Lee is cognizant of the essence of “patriots administering Hong Kong”, which should not only be embodied in organs of political power but also in district-level governance. His governing team has successfully revamped the district councils, restoring their intended function of providing consultation to the government and services to the community, as prescribed in Article 97 of the Basic Law.

Only two years into its tenure, Lee’s administration has ushered in a sea change in Hong Kong and opened a new chapter in the practice of “one country, two systems”

A proactive, capable government

When President Xi put forward his four proposals two years ago, he talked about the need for the SAR government to adopt a new governance philosophy that combines a proactive and capable government with an efficient market. He also reminded the newly inaugurated SAR government that it should be pragmatic and live up to people’s expectations, which should be the main target of its governance.

Over the past two years, Lee’s administration has relentlessly pursued the objective of forging a proactive and capable government, while prioritizing economic development and people’s livelihoods, both of which have borne fruit.

The talent attraction program launched by the government has so far brought in 140,000 professionals. The administration also launched a campaign to attract overseas enterprises, and established an office tasked with attracting strategic enterprises in 2022, which has successfully recruited 50 leading enterprises with a total investment of HK$40 billion ($5.1 billion), creating more than 13,000 jobs. The business environment continues to improve under the incumbent administration. As of April, there are more than 1.43 million local firms and approximately 15,000 nonlocal companies operating in Hong Kong, a record high. The SAR government has doubled down on promoting a mega event economy. More than 210 international events will be held in Hong Kong this year, which are expected to attract around 1.7 million visitors and generate HK$7.2 billion in consumption.

In the past two years, Lee led delegations to visit the Middle East and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), facilitating the listing of Asia Pacific’s first Saudi Arabian exchange-traded fund in Hong Kong last year. Lee also sought ASEAN countries’ support for Hong Kong to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, as well as incentivizing Southeast Asian family offices to settle in Hong Kong.

Thanks to Lee’s active lobbying, the central government has expanded the number of mainland cities eligible for the Individual Visit Scheme from 49 to 59. In April, the China Securities Regulatory Commission announced five measures on capital market cooperation with Hong Kong to further enhance the interconnectivity between the Hong Kong and mainland capital markets.

Lee’s administration has made a lot of effort to improve people’s livelihoods. It has introduced Light Public Housing and transitional housing units, clamped down on abuses of public housing, and shortened the waiting time for public housing. One task force has been set up to tackle the problem of substandard subdivided units, while another aims to lift underprivileged students out of intergenerational poverty.

These achievements have won residents’ hearts. A recent poll conducted by a media agency showed that the proportion of residents who are satisfied with the overall performance of Lee and his administration is as high as 68 percent and 66 percent respectively. Lee also led his governance team to vigorously fight back against foreign hostility toward Hong Kong. When asked about the US sanctions against him, he simply sneered at such “useless” bullying tactics.

Only two years into its tenure, Lee’s administration has ushered in a sea change in Hong Kong and opened a new chapter in the practice of “one country, two systems”.

The author is vice-chairman of the Committee on Liaison with Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Overseas Chinese of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and chairman of the Hong Kong New Era Development Thinktank.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.