Chief Executive of Hong Kong

Chief Executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
香港特別行政區行政長官
Emblem of Hong Kong
Incumbent John Lee Ka-chiu since 1 July 2022
Government of Hong Kong Office of the Chief Executive
Style	Chief Executive (特首) (informal) The Honourable (尊貴的) (formal)
Type	Head of government
Member of	Executive Council
Residence	Government House
Nominator	Election Committee
Appointer	State Council of the People's Republic of China (Decree signed by Premier) [1]
Term length	5 years Re-electable for another maximum 5-year term
Constituting instrument	Hong Kong Basic Law
Inaugural holder	Tung Chee-hwa
Formation	1 July 1997;27 years ago (1 July 1997)
Salary	US$675,000 [2]
Website	ceo.gov.hk/en

Chief Executive of Hong Kong
Traditional Chinese	香港特別行政區行政長官
Simplified Chinese	香港特别行政区行政长官
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Xiānggǎng Tèbié Xíngzhèngqū Xíngzhèng Zhǎngguān Wade–Giles Hsiang1-kang3 Tʻê4-pieh2 Hsing2-cheng4-chü1 Hsing2-cheng2 Chang3-kuan1 Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Hēunggóng Dahkbiht Hàngjingkēui Hàngjing Jéunggūn Jyutping Hoeng1gong2 Dak6bit6 Hang4zing3keoi1 Hang4zing3 Zoeng2gun1 IPA [hœ́ŋ.kɔ̌ŋtɐ̀k̚.pìt̚hɐ̏ŋ.tsēŋ.kʰɵ́yhɐ̏ŋ.tsēŋtsœ̌ŋ.kún]

The chief executiveof the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is the representative of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and head of the Government of Hong Kong. ^[3] The position was created to replace the office of Governor of Hong Kong, the representative of the Monarch of the United Kingdom during British colonial rule. ^[4] The office, as stipulated by the Hong Kong Basic Law, formally came into being on 1 July 1997 with the handover of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China. The chief executive is head of the executive branch of the Hong Kong government.

The functions of the chief executive include nominating principal officials for appointment by the State Council of China, which is headed by the premier, conducting foreign relations, appointing judges and other public officers, giving consent to legislation passed by the Legislative Council, and bestowing honours. The Basic Law grants the chief executive a wide range of powers, but obliges him or her, before making important policy decisions, introducing bills to the Legislative Council, making subsidiary legislation, and dissolving the Legislative Council, to act only after consultation with the Executive Council (all of whose members are the CE's own appointees). ^[5] The executive council consists of official and non-official members, including the Chief Secretary for Administration, the most senior official and head of the Government Secretariat, in charge of overseeing the administration of the Government.

The Chief Executive holds the title "The Honourable", and ranks first in the Hong Kong order of precedence. ^[6] The official residence of the chief executive is Government House in Central, Hong Kong Island.

The current chief executive is John Lee selected as chief executive in the 2022 election, appointed by the Chinese State Council with the designation decree signed by Premier Li Keqiang on 30 May 2022 and took office on 1 July 2022. Lee is the fifth Chief Executive; each of his four predecessors are still living.

Eligibility for office

According to article 44 of the Basic Law, the chief executive must be a Chinese citizen as defined by the HKSAR Passports Ordinance. ^{[7] [8]} The individual must be at least 40 years old, a Hong Kong permanent resident who is a Chinese citizen with right of abode in Hong Kong, and has ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for a continuous period of not less than 20 years. ^[7] Article 47 further requires that the chief executive be a person of integrity, dedicated to his or her duties. ^[7] In addition, candidates are ineligible to stand for selection by the Election Committee without first obtaining nominations from one eighth of its total members.

Selection

Main article: Elections in Hong Kong

The specific method for selecting the chief executive is prescribed in Annex I of the Basic Law. The Election Committee shall be composed of 1500 members from the following sectors pursuant to the amended Annex I under the 2021 Hong Kong electoral changes initiated by the National People's Congress. The Election Committee consists of individuals (i.e. private citizens) and representatives of bodies (i.e. special interest groups or corporate bodies) selected or elected by 40 prescribed sub-sectors as stipulated in Annex I to the Basic Law.

Election Committee

Main article: Election Committee

The Election Committee is responsible for the nomination of chief executive candidates and election of the chief executive-elect. Under the 2021 Hong Kong electoral changes initiated by the National People's Congress, each candidate running for chief executive elections is to be nominated by at least 188 members of the Election Committee, before their eligibility is reviewed and confirmed by the Candidate Eligibility Review Committee of the HKSAR. The chief executive-designate is then returned by the Election Committee with an absolute majority. ^[9]

The Election Committee is now principally elected by body voters. The number of subsectors with individual votes were significantly reduced, together with elimination of mixed individual and body voting:

• Half of seats (150 seats) in Sector III are nominated by members of national professional organisations or filled by ex officio members;
• District Council subsectors were replaced by subsectors consisting of government-appointed representatives of members of Area Committees, District Fight Crime Committees, and District Fire Safety Committees;
• All NPC and CPPCC sectors serve as ex officio EC members; and
• subsectors consisting of grassroot organisations, associations of Chinese Fellow Townsmen, associations of Hong Kong residents in Mainland and Hong Kong members of relevant national organisations were introduced.

Sector	Members [10]
Industrial, commercial and financial sectors	300
The professions	300
Agricultural, labour, religious, Chinese social and townspeople organisations	300
Members of the Legislative Council, representatives of government and mainlanders' organisations	300
HKSAR deputies to the National People's Congress, the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and representatives of Hong Kong members of Chinese national organisations	300
Total	1,500

Chief Executive elections

Chief Executive candidates must receive nominations by at least 188 members of the Election Committee, with nomination by at least 15 members of each sector of the Election Committee. Candidacy is confirmed upon review and confirmation of eligibility by the Candidate Qualification Review Committee, according to opinions issued by the Committee for Safeguarding National Security of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on the basis of a review by the National Security Department of the Hong Kong Police Force on whether a candidate meets the legal requirements and conditions of upholding the Basic Law and swearing allegiance to the HKSAR of the People's Republic of China.

The Chief Executive-designate is then returned by the Election Committee with an absolute majority in a two-round system: ^[11]

Uncontested election	Contested election
Election Committee casts votes of support/not support; the chief executive-designate is to be returned with an absolutely majority (>750 valid votes)	Election Committee casts votes for 1 of the candidates; the chief executive-designate is to be returned with an absolute majority (>750 valid votes)
	If absolute majority won	If absolute majority not won
	Candidate with an absolutely majority of valid votes elected	If: 1. more than 2 candidates obtain the highest and the same no. of votes; or 2. no candidates win an absolute majority Then: elimination of candidates other than those who obtained the highest number of votes in (1) or candidates with the highest and second highest number of votes in (2); second round(s) of voting conducted, until a candidate with an absolutely majority (>750 valid votes) is elected

The chief executive-designate must publicly disaffiliate with a political party within seven days of the election and must not become a member of a party during their term of office. ^[11] The chief executive-designate is then appointed by the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China before taking office.

Electoral reform

In the first selection of the chief executive, the committee consisted of only 400 members. It was expanded to 800 for the second term. ^{[12] [13]} As a result of enabling legislation stemming from a public consultation in 2010, ^[14] and its approval by the National People's Congress Standing Committee in Beijing, the number of representatives was increased from 800 to 1200. ^[15] Following the electoral reform initiated by the Chinese government in 2021 to increase mainland-Chinese controls on Hong Kong, the number of representatives was increased to 1500 but most are appointed or ex-officio seats.

Term

According to article 46 the term of office of the chief executive is five years with a maximum of two consecutive terms. ^[7] If a vacancy occurs mid-term, the new Chief Executive's first term is for the remainder of the previous Chief Executive's term only. The method of selecting the chief executive is provided under Article 45 and Annex I of the Basic Law, and the Chief Executive Election Ordinance. ^[7]

Term of office

Duties and powers

Under the Basic Law the chief executive is the chief representative of the people of Hong Kong and is the head of the government of Hong Kong. The Chief Executive's powers and functions include leading the government, implementing the law, signing bills and budgets passed by the Legislative Council, deciding on government policies, advising appointment and dismissal of principal officials of the Government of Hong Kong to the Central People's Government of China, appointing judges and holders of certain public offices and to pardon or commute sentences. The position is also responsible for the policy address made to the public.

The chief executive's powers and functions are established by article 48 of the Basic Law.

The Executive Council of Hong Kong is an organ for assisting the chief executive in policy-making. ^[16] The council is consulted before making important policy decisions, introducing bills to the Legislative Council, making subordinate legislation or dissolving the Legislative Council.

Resignation

Main article: Hong Kong Basic Law Article 46 § Resignation and Impeachment

Article 52 of the Basic Law stipulates that the Chief Executive must resign when:

• the Chief Executive loses the ability to discharge his or her duties as a result of serious illness or other reasons;
• the Chief Executive refuses to sign a bill passed by a two-thirds majority of a re-elected Legislative Council, after the Legislative Council is dissolved; or
• the Legislative Council refuses to pass the budget or any other important bill for a second time after the Legislative Council is dissolved.

Impeachment

Main article: Impeachment and no-confidence motions in Hong Kong

The Legislative Council has the power to propose a motion of impeachment of the chief executive for decision by the Central People's Government of China, with the following steps as stipulated in article 73(9) of the Basic Law: ^[17]

• One-fourth of all Legislative Council (LegCo) members can jointly initiate a motion, charging the chief executive with serious breach of law or dereliction of duty;
• the motion for investigation passed by simple majority of votes of each of the two groups of members present; ^{[note 1]}
• the Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal is mandated to form and chair an independent investigation committee for carrying out the investigation and reporting its findings to LegCo;
• the independent investigation committee considers the evidence sufficient to substantiate such charges;
• a two-thirds majority of all LegCo members passes the motion of impeachment;
• the motion of impeachment is reported to the Central People's Government of China for decision.

Acting and succession

The acting and succession line is spelled out in article 53. If the chief executive is not able to discharge his or her duties for short periods (such as during overseas visits), the duties would be assumed by the chief secretary for administration, the financial secretary or the secretary for justice, by rotation, in that order, as acting chief executive. ^[7] In case the position becomes vacant, a new chief executive would have to be selected. ^[18]

Residence and office

Government House, official residence of the chief executive

Prior to the handover in 1997, the office of the chief executive-designate was at the seventh floor of the Asia Pacific Finance Tower. ^[19] When Tung Chee-hwa assumed duty on 1 July 1997, the office of the chief executive was located at the fifth floor of the Former Central Government Offices (Main Wing). ^[20] In the past the governor had his office at Government House. Tung did not use Government House as the primary residence because he lived at his own residence at Grenville House. ^[21] Donald Tsang decided to return to the renovated Government House during his first term, and moved in on 12 January 2006, for both his office and residence. ^[22] In 2011, the office of the chief executive moved to the low block of the new Central Government Complex in Tamar. Government House continues to serve as the official residence of the Chief Executive.

Former chief executives

Upon retirement, former Chief Executives have access to office space at the Office of Former Chief Executives, 28 Kennedy Road. ^[23] The office provides administrative support to former Chief Executives to perform promotional, protocol-related, or any other activities in relation to their former official role. The activities include receiving visiting dignitaries and delegations, giving local and overseas media interviews, and taking part in speaking engagements. ^[24] A chauffeur-driven car is provided to discharge promotional and protocol-related functions.

Depending on police risk assessment, personal security protection is provided. Former Chief Executives also enjoy medical and dental care. ^[25]

Former Chief Executives hold the title "The Honourable", and ranks third in the Hong Kong order of precedence.

Remuneration

Remuneration for the chief executive of Hong Kong is among the highest in the world for a political leader, and only second to that of the prime minister of Singapore. The pay level took a cue from the handsome amounts paid to the city's colonial governors – worth $273,000 per annum plus perks in 1992. ^[26]

In 2005, Tung Chee Hwa received some HK$3 million ($378,500) in pay as Chief Executive. From 2009 until the end of 2014, the salary for the job stood at HK$4.22 million. In January 2015, Leung Chun-Ying reversed a pay freeze imposed in 2012, resulting in its increase to HK$4.61 million ($591,000). ^[27]

In July 2017, directors of bureaux (DoBs) were approved to have a 12.4% pay rise and the 3.5% pay differential between secretaries of departments (SoDs) and DoBs remained, ^[28] indicating a new annual pay of approximately HK$5 million for the city's leading role because the Chief Executive received a salary of 112% of the Chief Secretary. The new salary of Chief Executive of Hong Kong is about thirty-nine times more than the annual salary of President of China. ^[29]

Criticism of the office

Since the chief executive is directly appointed by the Central People's Government of China ^[30] after an election by a committee of 1,500 people selected by the Chinese Government, rather than the general population, ^[31] many people, in particular the pro-democrats, have criticised the office as undemocratic, and have criticised the entire election process as a "small-circle election." ^[32] Former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa has even stated that the election's result is a non-binding one, saying that the Chinese government would refuse to appoint the winning candidate if that person was unacceptable to them. ^[33]

Many events, including the Five Constituencies Referendum in 2010, Umbrella Revolution in 2014 and Anti-Extradition Movement during 2019–20, have attempted to push for greater democracy and universal suffrage. ^[34]

In January 2015, when Leung Chun-Ying reversed a pay freeze imposed on the chief executive and senior civil servants in 2012, he was accused of granting himself a pay rise by stealth and going against the trend of top politicians taking pay cuts instead of pay increases. ^[27]

In July 2021, Carrie Lam refused to remove the legal immunity of the chief executive in anti-bribery legislation, stating that the officeholder has to be accountable to the Beijing government and hence, extending such provisions to CE would 'sabotage its superior constitutional status'. She was accused of positioning herself above the law whilst going against the principles of separation of power and rule of law. ^[35]

List of chief executives of Hong Kong

№	Portrait	Name Chinese name (Birth–Death)	Term of office Duration in years and days		Election	Political alignment	Term [n 1]	Government (supporting parties)	Appointer (Premier)	Ref.
1		Tung Chee-hwa 董建華 (born 1937)	1 July 1997	12 March 2005 [n 2]	1996	Pro-Beijing	1	Tung I (DAB • LP)	Li Peng	[36]
					2002		2	Tung II (DAB • FTU • LP • TA)	Zhu Rongji	[37]
			7 years and 255 days
2		Donald Tsang 曾蔭權 (born 1944)	21 June 2005	30 June 2012	2005	Pro-Beijing		Tsang I (DAB • FTU • LP • TA)	Wen Jiabao	[38]
					2007		3	Tsang II (DAB • LP • FTU • TA • ES)		[39]
			7 years and 10 days
3		Leung Chun-ying 梁振英 (born 1954)	1 July 2012	30 June 2017	2012	Pro-Beijing	4	Leung (DAB • FTU • BPA • NPP • LP)		[40]
			5 years and 0 days
4		Carrie Lam 林鄭月娥 (born 1957)	1 July 2017	30 June 2022	2017	Pro-Beijing	5	Lam (DAB • BPA • FTU • LP • NPP)	Li Keqiang	[41]
			5 years and 0 days
5		John Lee 李家超 (born 1957)	1 July 2022	Incumbent	2022	Pro-Beijing	6	Lee (DAB • FTU • BPA • NPP • LP)		[42]
			2 years and 104 days

1. Successive fixed five-year CE terms in which incumbent
2. Resigned, Chief Secretary for Administration Sir Donald Tsang served as acting chief executive from 12 March to 25 May 2005 and Financial Secretary Henry Tang acted from 25 May to 21 June 2005.

Age-related statistics

#	Chief Executive	Born	Age at start of tenure	Age at end of tenure	Post-tenure timespan	Lifespan
						Died	Age
01	Tung Chee-hwa	7 Jul 1937	59 years, 359 days 1 Jul 1997	67 years, 248 days 12 Mar 2005	19 years, 214 days	2024-10-12(Living)	87 years, 97 days
02	Donald Tsang	7 Oct 1944	60 years, 257 days 21 Jun 2005	67 years, 267 days 30 Jun 2012	12 years, 104 days	2024-10-12(Living)	80 years, 5 days
03	Leung Chun-ying	12 Aug 1954	57 years, 324 days 1 Jul 2012	62 years, 322 days 30 Jun 2017	7 years, 104 days	2024-10-12(Living)	70 years, 61 days
04	Carrie Lam	13 May 1957	60 years, 49 days 1 Jul 2017	65 years, 48 days 30 Jun 2022	2 years, 104 days	2024-10-12(Living)	67 years, 152 days
05	John Lee	7 Dec 1957	64 years, 206 days 1 Jul 2022	69 years, 205 days 30 Jun 2027	(Pending)	2024-10-12(Living)	66 years, 310 days

See also

• China portal
• Hong Kong portal

• List of spouses of chief executives of Hong Kong
• Chief Executive of Macau
• Governor of Hong Kong
• Politics of Hong Kong

Notes

1. First Group: Members returned by the Election Committee; Second Group: Members returned by Functional Constituencies and by Geographical Constituencies.

References

1. "Government Structure" (PDF). Hong Kong: The Fact. September 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 October 2017. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
2. "11 of the highest-paid world leaders revealed – so who's on top?". South China Morning Post . 29 September 2021.
3. Article 43, Hong Kong Basic Law: "The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall be the head of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and shall represent the Region"
4. "Bill 1999." Info.gov.hk. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
5. Article 56, Hong Kong Basic Law.
6. "Precedence list Archived 22 November 2009 at the Wayback Machine ." Protocol.gov.hk. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
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8. "Nomination of Candidates" Archived 25 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine ." HK Electoral Affairs Commission. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
9. "Chief Executive Election Ordinance (Cap. 569)". Hong Kong e-Legislation. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
10. HK basic law web pdf. "HK basic law." The Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative region of the People's Republic of China. Retrieved on 8 January 2007.
11. "Cap. 569 Chief Executive Election Ordinance". Hong Kong e-Legislation.
12. Chan, Ming K. [1997] (1997). The Challenge of Hong Kong's Reintegration With China. Hong Kong University Press. Hong Kong (China). ISBN   962-209-441-4.
13. "United States Hong Kong Policy Act Report. Archived 27 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine . US Consulate Hong Kong. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
14. "Consent signed for draft Basic Law amendments". Admin & Civic Affairs. Government of Hong Kong. 29 June 2010.
15. Lee, Diana (30 August 2010) "Electoral changes nearer as NPC gives green light" Archived 11 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine
16. "Executive Council". Executive Council. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
17. "Chapter 4 of the Basic Law of HKSAR". Basic Law. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
18. "Acting Chief Executive's opening statement" (Press release). Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. 12 March 2005. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
19. Legco.gov.hk. "HEAD 21 – CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S OFFICE." Retrieved on 28 March 2010.
20. Harbourdistrict.com.hk. "Harbourdistrict.com.hk." Sample letter with address. Retrieved on 28 March 2010.
21. "Tung Chee-hwa: Shipping Tycoon Chosen to Govern Hong Kong". The New York Times . Retrieved 28 March 2010.
22. "CE moves into Government House today" (Press release). The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. 12 January 2006. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
23. 28 Kennedy Road 堅尼地道28號 / 皇仁書院 / 金文泰中學 圖說香港歷史建築. Flickr. 3 April 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
24. "Administration Wing, Chief Secretary for Administration's Office – Office of Former Chief Executives". 17 January 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
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26. Timmons, Heather (23 January 2015). "Hong Kong's little-loved leader is one of the world's best-paid politicians". Quartz.
27. "Leung under fire for lifting pay freeze on himself, top team". Ejinsight. 19 January 2015.
28. "Remuneration package for Politically Appointed Officials serving in fifth-term HKSAR Government" (Press release). The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Press Releases. 12 December 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
29. "Lín zhèng dāngxuǎn: Niánxīn jìn 500 wàn yuán xiǎng yōuhòu fúlì" 林鄭當選：年薪近500萬元 享優厚福利 [Lin Zheng elected: annual salary of nearly 5 million yuan, enjoy generous benefits]. on.cc (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). 26 March 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
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33. "Beijing won’t appoint winner of chief executive race if it finds candidate ‘unacceptable’, elder statesman Tung Chee-hwa warns" Tung Chee-hwa in South China Morning Post 20 Jul, 2018
34. Lee, Diana (17 December 2009). "DAB is ready to rumble in suffrage polls". The Standard. Archived from the original on 12 March 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
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39. "国务院正式任命曾荫权为香港特区行政长官". 中广网. 21 June 2007.
40. "国务院召开第七次全体会议决定任命梁振英为香港特别行政区第四任行政长官". 中央政府门户网站. 28 March 2012.
41. "李克强会见林郑月娥 颁发任命林郑月娥为香港特别行政区第五任行政长官的国务院令". 新华社. 11 April 2017.
42. "李克强会见李家超 颁发任命李家超为香港特别行政区第六任行政长官的国务院令 韩正出席". 新华社. 30 May 2022.

External links

• Office of the Chief Executive Archived 30 July 2020 at the Wayback Machine
• Relocation of the Residence and Office of the Chief Executive of Hong Kong
• Archive – Chief Executive 1 July 2012 – 30 June 2017 Archived 30 September 2019 at the Wayback Machine
• Archive – Chief Executive 21 June 2005 – 30 June 2012
• Archive – Chief Executive 12 March 2005 – 20 June 2005
• Archive – Chief Executive 1 July 1997 – 11 March 2005
• Corpus of Political Speeches, Free access to political speeches by Chief Executive of Hong Kong and other politicians, developed by Hong Kong Baptist University Library