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 (all of whose members are the CE's own appointees). 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.

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.

{|class="wikitable"

! width=70% | Sector

! width=30% | 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:

{| class="wikitable"

! Uncontested election

! colspan="2" | Contested election

| rowspan="3" | Election Committee casts votes of support/not support;

the chief executive-designate is to be returned with an absolutely majority (>750 valid votes)

| colspan="2" | 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. 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.

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

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:

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;
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.

Residence and office

thumb|right|[[Government House, Hong Kong|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. 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). 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.

Former Chief Executives hold the title "The Honourable", and rank 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.

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).

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, 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.

Criticism of the office

Since the chief executive is directly appointed by the Central People's Government of China after an election by a committee of 1,500 people selected by the Chinese Government, rather than the general population, 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." 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.

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.

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.

List of Chief Executives

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

! No.

! Portrait

! Name

! colspan="2" |Term of office<hr />Duration in years and days

! Election

! Political alignment

! Term

| rowspan=2| 2002

| rowspan=3| 2

| rowspan=2| Tung II (DAB • FTU • LP • TA)

| rowspan=2| Zhu Rongji

| rowspan=2|

| colspan="2" style="font-size:90%; font-weight:normal" |

| rowspan=3 style="background:" |2

| rowspan=3|90px

| rowspan=3|Donald Tsang

(born 1944)

| rowspan=2| 21 June 2005

| rowspan=2| 30 June 2012

| 2005

| Tsang I (DAB • FTU • LP • TA)

| rowspan=5| Wen Jiabao

| rowspan=1|

| rowspan=2| 2007

| rowspan=2| 3

| rowspan=2| Tsang II (DAB • LP • FTU • TA • ES)

| rowspan=2|

| colspan="2" style="font-size:90%; font-weight:normal" |

| rowspan=2 style="background:" |3

| rowspan=2| 90px

| rowspan=2| Leung Chun-ying

(born 1954)

| 1 July 2012

| 30 June 2017

| rowspan=2| 2012

| rowspan=2| 4

| rowspan=2| Leung (DAB • FTU • BPA • NPP • LP)

| rowspan=2|

| colspan="2" style="font-size:90%; font-weight:normal" |

| rowspan="2" style="background:" |4

| rowspan="2" | 90px

| rowspan="2" | Carrie Lam

(born 1957)

| 1 July 2017

| 30 June 2022

| rowspan="2" |2017

| rowspan="2" | 5

| rowspan="2" | Lam (DAB • BPA • FTU • LP • NPP)

| rowspan="4" | Li Keqiang

| rowspan="2" |

| colspan="2" style="font-size:90%; font-weight:normal" |

| rowspan=2 style="background:" |5

| rowspan=2| 90px

| rowspan=2| John Lee

(born 1957)

| 1 July 2022

| Incumbent

| rowspan=2|2022

| rowspan=2| 6

| rowspan=2| Lee (DAB • FTU • BPA • NPP • LP)

| rowspan=2|

| colspan="2" style="font-size:90%; font-weight:normal" |

</div>

{| class="sortable wikitable"

! rowspan=2 | <abbr title="Order of Chief Executives">#</abbr>

! rowspan=2 | Chief Executive

! rowspan=2 | Born

! rowspan=2 | Age at

! rowspan=2 | timespan

! colspan=2 | Lifespan

! Died !! Age

|- style="text-align: left; background:#FFFFFF"

| 1

| data-sort-value="Tung, Chee-hwa" | Tung Chee-hwa

|

| --(Living)

| '

|- style="text-align: left; background:#FFFFFF"

| 2

| data-sort-value="Tsang, Donald" | Donald Tsang

|

| --(Living)

| '

|- style="text-align: left; background:#FFFFFF"

| 3

| data-sort-value="Leung, Chun-ying" | Leung Chun-ying

|

| --(Living)

| '

|- style="text-align: left; background:#FFFFFF"

| 4

| data-sort-value="Lam, Carrie" | Carrie Lam

|

| --(Living)

| '

|- style="text-align: left; background:#FFFFFF"

| 5

| data-sort-value="Lee, John" | John Lee

|

|(Pending)

| --(Living)

| '

Notes

References

External links

Office of the Chief Executive
Relocation of the Residence and Office of the Chief Executive of Hong Kong
Archive – Chief Executive 1 July 2012 – 30 June 2017
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

Eligibility for office

Chief Executive elections

Term

Resignation

Impeachment

Acting and succession

Residence and office

Former chief executives

Remuneration

Criticism of the office

List of Chief Executives

Age-related statistics

See also

Notes

References

External links