Hong Kong is expected to launch a public consultation in early June for its inaugural five-year plan to align with the national blueprint, with Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu set to present a preliminary framework and gather feedback from various industries through face-to-face sessions, according to sources.
The South China Morning Post learned that the government was also planning a large-scale publicity campaign to promote the consultation exercise, including television advertisements, large banners and other forms of public announcements.
The Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau, led by Janice Tse Siu-wa, who replaced Erick Tsang Kwok-wai in March, is currently consolidating proposals from various departments.
Meanwhile, lawmakers are expected to submit preliminary views spanning six major areas by the end of May after consulting sector representatives.
A source said the government planned to launch the consultation in early June, featuring a preliminary framework designed to facilitate “more focused” discussions on how local policies should align with China’s 15th five-year plan, which guides national development from 2026 to 2030.
“Consultation sessions will be organised by sector, with some attended by the chief executive and relevant ministers to hear views in person,” the insider said.
The source added that officials were aware that the exercise would largely overlap with the annual policy address consultation and that they needed to plan ahead to stagger key milestones between the two blueprints to avoid public confusion.
Last year, the annual policy address consultation kicked off on June 16, with Lee delivering the blueprint on September 17.
Another insider explained that as the consultation for the five-year plan concluded, some key insights were expected to be integrated into Lee’s policy address – the final one of his current five-year term – to ensure the two documents complemented each other.
Hong Kong’s first-ever five-year plan is expected to be released by the end of the year. A dedicated interdepartmental task force, led by Lee, is overseeing the drafting, with the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau spearheading the process.
The insider said that since Lee placed high importance on overseeing the report’s formulation, officials needed to ensure he had sufficient public exposure without appearing too dominant in the process.
Lau Siu-kai, a consultant to the semi-official Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies think tank, said the government should tailor its publicity efforts carefully to avoid creating a sense of repetition between the two consultation exercises.
He noted that drafting a five-year plan was a complex institutional task.
“It’s not an easy feat for Hong Kong’s civil service,” he said. “It took years for local governments on the mainland to master the research and strategic thinking required to deliver a robust five-year plan.”
The legislature has set up a subcommittee to advance Hong Kong’s efforts to align with China’s 15th five-year plan.
Among the members is lawmaker Rock Chen Chung-nin, who serves as a Legislative Council convenor for coordinating views on financial policies related to the city’s five-year plan.
Chen said he was consolidating feedback gathered from several consultation sessions with the sector, and planned to submit the views by the end of the month to ensure they were considered for the initial framework.
He expected that measures addressing immediate concerns would go into the annual policy address, while suggestions for longer-term changes would be considered for the five-year plan.
Lawmaker Priscilla Leung Mei-fun, who is also a subcommittee member, said the consultation should be sector-based instead of a broad citywide exercise, given the limited time frame for formulating the five-year plan and the blueprint’s macro nature.
“The civil service system is inclined to be more conservative. Through the consultation, I hope the government incorporates bolder and more ambitious measures by various sectors, so that officials can focus on how to dismantle walls to achieve these goals in the next five years,” she said.
Legislator Andrew Lam Siu-lo said that although the consultation would be largely sector-based, it provided a vital opportunity to enhance public understanding of national concepts such as “new quality productive forces” and their specific relevance to Hong Kong’s development. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
