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Jeffie Lam

Lo Hoi-ying

Hong Kong’s inaugural five-year plan will not change the capitalist system and instead fully exploit its advantages to map the city’s long-term development, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has said.
In an opinion piece published in the South China Morning Post on Monday, the city leader also stressed that the blueprint, in focusing on the economy, would ultimately “enable citizens to flourish” by creating employment opportunities and upward mobility.
Lee will unveil Hong Kong’s first-ever five-year plan on Wednesday, alongside his annual policy address, to map out the city’s priorities and align with the national blueprint covering the country’s development between 2026 and 2030.
In the article, he sought to address concerns that introducing the five-year plan, a practice in mainland China for over seven decades, meant the city was walking away from its long-hailed laissez-faire system.
“I have also been asked whether formulating a five-year plan would change Hong Kong’s original system. The answer is no,” Lee wrote.
“The five-year plan will uphold Hong Kong’s rule of law and capitalist system, implement the Basic Law and adhere to ‘one country, two systems’ without distorting Hong Kong.
“It will also uphold its status as an international city, ensure the free flow of capital, people, goods and information, while giving full play to the flexibility and advantages of the capitalist market.”




He stressed that the one country, two systems guiding principle had been acknowledged by Chinese President Xi Jinping as a “good system” on multiple occasions that “must be adhered to over the long term”.
Lee said he and his team had studied the experiences of Macau and mainland cities, with the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau also visiting different places to learn from their experience, before devising Hong Kong’s first plan “under an exceptionally tight schedule”.
The government had also adopted artificial intelligence to analyse public feedback after receiving more than 17,000 submissions during the two-month consultation period, with 80 per cent coming from individuals, he said.
Lee recalled that a resident once asked him during the consultation sessions what the plan, which focused on major economic issues, had to do with ordinary citizens.

“My answer then, as now, is direct: I want the people of Hong Kong – every one of you – to share in the dividends of development, and feel a sense of happiness and fulfilment,” he wrote.
He said while the plan’s proposals – such as boosting Hong Kong’s traditional strengths, accelerating the Northern Metropolis megaproject and building global cooperation – focused on the economy, its ultimate goal was to enable residents to flourish.
“With better employment opportunities and more upward mobility for our youth, that can become a tangible reality, turning governance from measures into results,” he said.
Lee said the five-year plan would map out the long-term blueprint and strategic direction for Hong Kong’s development with “far-reaching significance”, while the policy address would continue to serve as an annual report and lay out how the government would implement the plan in a given year.
“In the coming years, the annual policy addresses will continue to implement the blueprint, introducing policies and setting measures according to changing circumstances and economic dynamics,” he said.
The coming policy address will be Lee’s last in his current five-year tenure.
On Sunday, Lee revealed that he would wear a tie and a lapel pin designed by the faculty and students of the Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong during his address.
The blue pin bore the Chinese characters for “one” and “five”, representing the city’s first five-year plan, while the two overlapping squares symbolised Hong Kong uniting resources and diverse talent, Lee said in a social media post.
The tie, which features intersecting tech-pattern lines, was inspired by the Northern Metropolis’ technological development and represented internal and external connectivity, he added.
Separately, a study by the think tank Youth Ideas found that more than half of the roughly 600 respondents aged between 13 and 34 wanted the government’s blueprint to focus on improving livelihoods and happiness, followed by ensuring economic growth benefited all parts of society equally.
The study also found divided youth opinion on the five-year plan’s benefits, with nearly 40 per cent of respondents feeling a lack of involvement and one-quarter being unsure about the opportunities it would bring.
About a quarter of respondents said the plan increased their confidence in Hong Kong’s future and their trust in the government. A similar percentage said these sentiments decreased.
More than 60 per cent also said authorities had failed to explain the blueprint’s significance sufficiently.
Think tank member Manteo Chan Man-to said focus group participants found that the government’s publicity methods were relatively formal and one-sided, with content that was condensed and lacked warmth.
“As a result, youths merely know that there is a plan, but feel that it is very distant and difficult to spark resonance among their peers,” he said.
John Poon Tsz-fung, think tank convenor, called on the government to better engage younger residents in Hong Kong’s long-term planning and include a forward-looking strategic plan to invest in them.
Poon said young people were key stakeholders in Hong Kong’s future and called for a special chapter in the five-year plan focusing on youth development, with resources earmarked to send a “clear signal” about investing in this group.
He proposed forming a cross-departmental “Future Commission” to ensure young people could genuinely participate, offer concrete feedback, and receive actual responses and tangible solutions.


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In opinion piece published in South China Morning Post, city leader stresses that blueprint ultimately aims to ‘enable citizens to flourish’


In opinion piece published in South China Morning Post, city leader stresses that blueprint ultimately aims to ‘enable citizens to flourish’.


Hong Kong 5-year plan to stick with capitalism, uphold ‘one country, two systems’: John Lee

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}In opinion piece published in South China Morning Post, city leader stresses that blueprint ultimately aims to ‘enable citizens to flourish’

In opinion piece published in South China Morning Post, city leader stresses that blueprint ultimately aims to ‘enable citizens to flourish’