The sixth-term administration of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has just marched into its second year, following its inauguration by President Xi Jinping at the ceremony marking its 25th anniversary a year ago. On its 26th anniversary, it is a good time for a preliminary evaluation of the HKSAR government to see if it has measured up to public expectations.
In his speech marking the 25th anniversary in 2022, President Xi set the direction and blueprint for the governing work of the HKSAR over the ensuing five years with key proposals.
Assured of full support from the central authorities, the government must strive for optimal performance to guarantee the city’s continued stability and prosperity.
Taking into account the world economy, which is rocked by geopolitical conflicts and their resultant uncertainties, the HKSAR must work to identify new growth impetus which could make use of the “enormous creativity and development potential” of people from all sectors in Hong Kong.
Guided by this macroeconomic plan, HKSAR officials should work hard to throw in their lot with the wider public, address residents’ difficulties and thus secure stronger public support in creating a city of hope and opportunity.
Residents can now look forward to a foreseeable new momentum in development in the next few years through concerted efforts under “one country, two systems"
Scrutinized against these criteria, it does not fall wide of the mark to say that the HKSAR’s current governing team has performed well. Officials have, on the whole, worked responsibly and responsively, particularly in regard to tackling grass-roots dissatisfaction. The development and housing authorities have speeded up the search for and opening of appropriate sites for building public housing estates to accommodate the burgeoning demand for public rental housing units from underprivileged families. The average time required for the allocation of public housing flats has dropped from 6.1 years last year to 5.3 years, and is expected to fall further to around 4.5 years in a few years. Young people, from especially poor families, are given help in their school education, vocational training, personal growth and accommodation. Along with the business and professional communities, they are offered valuable opportunities to learn about the importance of connection with the flourishing development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. In schools, education authorities have turned a new and well-received page on the teaching and extracurricular programs for national security and patriotic education. Students have become increasingly poised to appreciate the motherland’s fast and innovative growth on all fronts, and to share the right identity and values under the “one country, two systems” framework.
The city has been hampered in its development by labor crunches in both high and low-end sectors. It has lost 200,000 people from the workforce, about half of them from low-skilled categories. Staffing woes have impeded the HKSAR’s progression to prosperity after the three-year-long COVID-19 pandemic. To counter these problems, the government, braving opposition from union representatives, has unfolded plans to import more than 20,000 workers. These will be implemented without giving up prioritization of local employment to protect incomes.
The situation was no less threatening at the upper end of the labor market, which is exacerbated by the HKSAR’s plans to boost innovation and hi-tech industries.
As the vital expansion of high-value-added enterprises has been handicapped by a decline in the workforce by six percent from a peak of 3.68 million in 2018 to only 3.46 million by the end of 2022, the administration hit upon the idea of launching talent admission programs.
In the first five months of this year, these attracted more than 80,000 applications, against a projection of 100,000 candidates for the whole of 2023.
Chief Secretary for Administration Eric Chan Kwok-ki commented that the responses were encouraging and “greatly exceeded” authorities’ original estimates of 35,000 supplementary workers per annum. It was reported that of the 84,000 submissions received by the government from January to May this year under the various talent admission schemes, the Top Talent Pass Scheme offered last December accounted for about 32,000 hopefuls, along with the 49,000 candidates who obtained the green light for relocating to work in the city up to mid-June.
Politically, the current administrative team led by John Lee Ka-chiu is able to firmly uphold the “one country, two systems” principle, thus unleashing the greater strength of the “two systems” for sustainable development of the city as a special administrative region. And by successfully upholding Beijing‘s comprehensive jurisdiction over Hong Kong, the HKSAR government has been able to retain the system with a high degree of autonomy under which the city can be well governed. In addition, the administrative authorities should be given credit for ensuring rule by patriots, in both the government and public institutions. By putting administrative powers in the right hands, these measures and reforms safeguard the city’s prosperity and stability, thereby serving the interests of the region’s population.
While the authorities have been successful in attracting new large-scale events, such as international financial conferences and holding traditional ones (like the Hong Kong Sevens and International Dragon Boat Races) which help reboot the HKSAR’s economy, it seems that the government needs to take increased advantage of the motherland’s backing to strengthen its distinctive status and competitive edge. The findings of recent studies by international research bodies have not been entirely complimentary about Hong Kong’s relative performance as a global economic and academic powerhouse, although such results should be considered alongside the unfavorable impact of the pandemic and geopolitical conflicts stirred up by some Western powers.
Confronted with the uncertainties from such circumstances, the HKSAR’s exports have registered declines in various sectors, by 16.5 percent in the first four months of this year compared with the same period in 2022. In April alone, the city’s exports — despite totaling HK$338.3 billion — fell by 13 percent from a year before, much worse than the 1.5 percent decline registered in March. Statistical performance in foreign trade points to the crucial need for redoubled efforts in reaching out to new and emerging markets for the HKSAR’s products and services. This will reinforce the city’s status as a trading hub and help diversify and revitalize its economy.
The past year has proved rewarding for the HKSAR administration since it has substantially made up for the “lost time and results” in governance. Residents can now look forward to a foreseeable new momentum in development in the next few years through concerted efforts under “one country, two systems”.
The author is a member of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.