John Lee says next five years are Hong Kong’s golden window
RTHK · 13 SOURCESabout 1 hour ago7 MIN
Summary
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu (李家超) used the conclusion of his 2026 Policy Address and the launch of Hong Kong’s first five-year plan to argue that the city is entering a decisive stage from stability to prosperity, with the coming five years offering a “golden period” for higher-quality development. He linked the local plan directly to proactive alignment with the national 15th Five-Year Plan, while saying the Policy Address serves as the action programme for implementation. In a later television forum, Lee said the plan belongs to Hong Kong rather than any one administration, and that whoever serves as chief executive must implement its targets and report progress to national leaders every year. He also used the forum to elaborate on housing, fertility and targeted welfare policies, as business and education groups publicly endorsed measures tied to the Northern Metropolis, university development and talent attraction.
Key Points
- Lee said Hong Kong had reached repeated new highs in multiple international rankings over the past four years, which he said showed development potential, brighter prospects and international confidence under “one country, two systems”.
- He said the world is undergoing accelerated political and economic change, while the next five years are both a key stage for Chinese modernization and Hong Kong’s golden window for higher-quality growth
- Lee said the first five-year plan sets five goals: economic breakthroughs, stronger international competitiveness and influence, faster Northern Metropolis delivery, significantly better livelihoods, and major progress in serving national development.
- At the press conference, Lee said both the five-year plan and Policy Address are built around “connecting internally and externally”, using Hong Kong’s “one country, two systems” advantage to drive growth and improve livelihoods
- In the television forum, Lee said targets are split into binding and indicative categories; binding targets are ones the government must deliver, while indicative targets require wider stakeholder effort.
Why It Matters
The updated picture is that the five-year plan is being framed not only as a policy blueprint, but as a cross-term accountability mechanism that future chief executives will also be expected to carry forward. For Hong Kong residents, the practical test will be whether long-horizon projects such as the Northern Metropolis, university-city planning and population measures produce visible gains in housing, jobs and daily living standards rather than remaining headline commitments.