Lawmakers return from historic Beijing trip with insights on Hong Kong’s 5-year plan

Legco president Starry Lee highlights delegation meeting with Xia Baolong, director of Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, at Great Hall of the People Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, meets lawmakers in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Photo: Handout Hong Kong lawmakers have said they gained new insights on how best to assist the government in creating the city’s first five-year plan following an unprecedented study trip to Beijing that wrapped up on Saturday. Upon returning to Hong Kong, Legislative Council president Starry Lee Wai-king shared key takeaways from the week-long trip, highlighting a delegation meeting with Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, at the Great Hall of the People. She added that lawmakers would draw on the experience to strengthen Legco’s research role and formulate proposals that reflected the broad interests of different parties and businesses. “Director Xia encouraged us to fully play our role in the Legislative Council under this new era to promote good governance, strengthen Hong Kong’s development momentum, assist the Hong Kong government in resolving deep-seated, long-standing problems and address the pressing issues that residents urgently hope to see solved,” she said. “All of us lawmakers will certainly strengthen our learning and enhance our professional capabilities.” Legco president Starry Lee and members of the delegation attend the meeting with Xia Baolong. Photo: Handout According to Lee, lawmakers briefed mainland Chinese officials on the latest local economic and social developments, while experts offered recommendations for Hong Kong’s five-year plan. The government is currently conducting a two-month public consultation on the blueprint, which aims to align Hong Kong’s development with the nation’s five-year plan covering 2026 to 2030. Citing experts’ views, lawmaker Ronick Chan Chun-ying stressed that infrastructure planning must anticipate future needs that might not be immediately quantifiable. “Because changes in the world happen far too quickly and on a massive scale, if our infrastructure planning only relies on current estimates, it may not adapt well to future needs,” Chan said, adding that the city’s plan must strengthen alignment with the national blueprint. “ For Hong Kong, our initial five-year plan should first focus on industries or projects where we hold a competitive advantage. Additionally, measures introduced should be tangible so that residents can truly feel their impact,” he said. The city should also continue investing in basic research to reach global standards, the lawmaker added. “Furthermore, the experts hope we can encourage more private enterprises to participate in the innovation and technology sector. For Hong Kong, this means encouraging more friends from the commercial and industrial sectors to engage in our innovation and tech industry,” Chan said. On Friday, Xia urged Legco to “assume a greater role in supporting the chief executive and the [government] in administering Hong Kong in accordance with the law, so as to enhance governance efficacy of [the city], inject new impetus into the city’s growth and tackle the most pressing concerns of the people”. Unhandled type: inline-plus-widget {"type":"inline-plus-widget"} The delegation’s visit to the capital marks the first of its kind for Legco since Hong Kong’s return to Chinese sovereignty in 1997. Lee said on Saturday that meeting with Xia in the Great Hall of the People, where the country’s lawmakers convene, underscored the importance the central government attached to the trip. The legislators also toured innovation and technology projects in Beijing, including the Xiaomi Auto Super Factory, sensing technology firm Beijing Tashan and Robot World in the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area. At the National Academy of Governance, they attended a series of lectures covering topics such as mitigating national security risks, the international relations landscape, the mainland’s legislative mechanisms and the priorities for 15th five-year plan. One lecture addressed the handling of major disasters, drawing comparisons between last November’s deadly Tai Po fire and the 2021 Henan province floods, which killed over 300 people and affected more than 3 million residents.