Chief Executive of Hong Kong
The chief executive 'of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region' is the representative of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and head of the Government of Hong Kong.
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. 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. 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. 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 of Hong Kong; 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. 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. Article 47 further requires that the chief executive be a person of integrity, dedicated to his or her duties. 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
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 and representatives of bodies selected or elected by 40 prescribed sub-sectors as stipulated in Annex I to the Basic Law.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.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 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 |
| 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:
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. 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. As a result of enabling legislation stemming from a public consultation in 2010, and its approval by the National People's Congress Standing Committee in Beijing, the number of representatives was increased from 800 to 1200. 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. 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.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. The council is consulted before making important policy decisions, introducing bills to the Legislative Council, making subordinate legislation or dissolving the Legislative Council.
Resignation
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
- One-fourth of all Legislative Council 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;
- 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.