Annual Report 2023

Hon Andrew LEUNG Kwan-yuen, President of the Legislative Council

As the Seventh Legislative Council (“LegCo”) entered its second session, Members continued to monitor and complement the work of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (“HKSAR”) Government with audacity and strong commitment. They actively engaged in deliberations and debates of policy initiatives in a pragmatic and efficient manner, and wholeheartedly dedicated themselves to serving the public.

With the support of the Central Authorities, the HKSAR’s electoral system has been improved, fully manifesting the principle of “patriots administering Hong Kong”. I am glad to see the Executive Authorities and the Legislature working together to promote good governance in Hong Kong, bidding farewell to the past filibustering and internal attritions. I have no doubt that LegCo today truly serves the best interests of our people.

During this session, LegCo conducted a total of 34 meetings, amounting to 313 meeting hours.

The Council passed 32 Government bills and 3 Members’ bills, many of which focused on improving people’s livelihood, and building a better society. These included the Road Tunnels (Government) (Amendment) Bill 2023, which aimed to rationalize traffic among the three road harbour crossings through toll adjustments; the Occupational Safety and Occupational Health Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2022, which sought to impose heavier penalties against breaches of related offences; the Fines and Fixed Penalties (Public Cleanliness and Obstruction) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2023, which aimed to raise the penalties for littering offenses; and the Residential Care Homes Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2022, which sought to enhance the service standards of residential care homes for the elderly.

Other important bills passed in this session included the Appropriation Bill 2023, which set out the Government’s expenditure proposals for the 2023-2024 financial year; and the Regional Flag and Regional Emblem (Amendment) Bill 2023, which sought to better protect the regional flag and regional emblem of the HKSAR.

The Council dealt with 148 items of subsidiary legislation through “negative vetting” or “positive vetting” procedure, as well as 1 478 questions raised by Members seeking oral or written replies from the Government. Many of these questions were closely related to the economy and people’s livelihood.

In this session, the Council debated a total of 45 Members’ motions not intended to have legislative effect. These included motions on improving the mental health of children and young people; facing up to the management and maintenance responsibilities of the Tenants Purchases Scheme units; promoting the nurturing of local professional services talents, etc.

Another key focus of LegCo’s work which had drawn significant public attention would be improving governance at the district level, for the purpose of ensuring that the new term of District Councils (“DCs”) would revert to their original positioning of serving the community and focusing on livelihood issues. The District Councils (Amendment) Bill 2023 was passed in July 2023, and on 10 December of the same year, we witnessed the new term of DCs returned by an election with healthy competition, thus realizing the principle of “patriots administering Hong Kong” in district governance. LegCo Members have been working hand in hand with DC members to address district issues effectively.

During this session, members of the Finance Committee (“FC”) continued to examine and approve Government funding proposals in a diligent, rational and pragmatic manner. The Government also heeded members’ advices and suggestions on the arrangement of agenda items to facilitate the smooth operation of FC, and avoided concentrating multiple items requiring discussion in a few individual meetings. In all, FC held a total of 28 meetings, amounting to approximately 65 meeting hours.

The financial proposals approved by FC involved a total commitment of about $143 billion, comprising 31 public works and 35 non-works proposals. These proposals included the funding of $14.9 billion for building the first batch of Light Public Housing units; $10 billion for the Research, Academic and Industry Sectors One-plus Scheme to promote commercialization of research and development outcomes of local universities; and $6.8 billion for the Dedicated 100% Loan Guarantee Scheme for Cross-boundary Passenger Transport Trade and the Dedicated 100% Loan Guarantee Scheme for Battery Electric Taxis.

In mid-April 2023, FC held 21 sessions of special meetings, spanning approximately 32 hours, to examine the Government’s Estimates of Expenditure for the financial year of 2023-2024. Eighty-eight Members submitted about 3 500 written questions seeking details of the Estimates of Expenditure. During the special meetings, members played a crucial “gatekeeping” role in ensuring the proper use of public funds and the effective implementation of policy measures.

The Chief Executive (“CE”) has been committed to fostering interaction and exchange between the executive and legislative branches. I accepted CE’s proposal to hold the Chief Executive’s Interactive Exchange Question and Answer Session (“Interactive Exchange Q&A Session”) to replace the traditional “question and answer” format. Under this new format, CE and Members were able to raise questions or express views to each other, allowing both parties to engage in focused discussions on major issues.

The first Interactive Exchange Q&A Session was held under the theme of the spirit of the 20th National Congress and the Two Sessions, while the second Interactive Exchange Q&A Session focused on topics arising from the report to the 20th National Congress. Both themes were closely related to Hong Kong’s impetus for growth and its integration into the national development.

The Ante Chamber Exchange Sessions, held since 2022, have been refined during this session to enable Government officials to fully take Members’ views on board during policy formulation and before implementation, leading to more “down-to-earth” policies. A total of seven such sessions were held in 2023, covering wide-ranging discussion topics such as how Hong Kong could more proactively participate in the Belt and Road Initiative, new directions for Hong Kong’s economic development, attracting enterprises and talents, etc.

(Source: Information Services Department’s video)

Following the implementation of the principle of “patriots administering Hong Kong”, the communication between the Seventh LegCo and the officials of the Central Authorities has been back on the right track. In April 2023, the Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, Mr XIA Baolong, paid a visit to the LegCo Chamber and exchanged views with Members. This marked the first ever LegCo visit by a leader of the Central Authorities.

In July 2023, LegCo hosted a luncheon for the Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR, Mr ZHENG Yanxiong. This was LegCo’s first luncheon with a Director of the Liaison Office in five years since the social unrest in 2019 and the three-year-long COVID-19 pandemic. The amicable exchanges between Members and officials of the Liaison Office were moments for us to cherish.

In addition, the then-Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the HKSAR, Mr LIU Guangyuan, gave a seminar at LegCo. In the face of a complex and ever-changing international environment, it would be crucial for Members to develop a comprehensive understanding of our country’s foreign policies, so as to safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests.

I have always believed that exchanges between Hong Kong and the Mainland can provide new impetus for Hong Kong’s development.

In April 2023, CE led a joint delegation of the HKSAR Government and LegCo to visit four Mainland cities in the Greater Bay Area (“GBA”), where they toured key facilities in areas such as innovation and technology, smart cities, environmental protection, youth development, as well as culture, arts and sports. The delegation size was the largest ever, highlighting the strengthened executive-legislative relationship.

In July 2023, I also led a LegCo delegation to Fujian for a study visit, which was the first ever visit to the province in LegCo’s 25-year history. Members demonstrated a strong team spirit, and worked in collaboration to make well-targeted recommendations in various policy areas, such as finance, tourism, conservation and development, cross-boundary elderly care and medical services, for CE’s consideration.

Many of the recommendations in the duty visit’s report were incorporated into CE’s Policy Address, such as extending the coverage of elderly health care vouchers to suitable medical institutions in GBA, and adopting an “industry-driven and infrastructure-led approach” for the planning and development of the Northern Metropolis. Members’ insights gained from the duty visit were able to transform into tangible outcomes that would be beneficial to our people.

Several LegCo panels also conducted duty visits to different provinces and cities in the Mainland, such as GBA, Shanghai and Hangzhou, focusing on policy areas of environment, welfare, home affairs, cultural and sports, as well as development. While Members gained a more comprehensive understanding of the latest developments in the Mainland, they also explored opportunities for cooperation and identified policies or measures that Hong Kong could adopt.

I would like to express my gratitude to the Secretariat for their professionalism in offering objective and impartial advices as well as support services to Members in facilitating the smooth and efficient operation of LegCo. On the LegCo Complex expansion project, the Secretariat has been working closely with the relevant Government departments and contractors to ensure the safe and effective execution of the construction work while minimizing disruptions to the normal operation of LegCo.

The Secretariat has implemented various initiatives to keep pace with the latest technological advancements to continuously enhance its services. LegCo’s Automatic Speech Recognition System was launched in September 2023 to prepare verbatim records for the meetings of Council and FC. In the beginning of 2024, the service was further extended to the meetings of all committees, allowing the public to keep abreast of the remarks made by meeting participants more quickly and accurately.

The year 2023 marked the 25th anniversary of the establishment of LegCo. In the past quarter of a century, LegCo and Hong Kong society shared both joyful and challenging periods, and went through all the ups and downs together. Today, Hong Kong has risen above chaos and restored order, and we must treasure this hard-earned stability.

While Hong Kong is on the path of advancing from stability to prosperity, the city is still grappling with a heap of economic and livelihood problems. As an integral part of the governing team of the HKSAR, LegCo Members must engage with the people to grasp their sentiments accurately, carry out duties proactively and devotedly, and continuously better themselves through self-supervision. At the same time, Members should continue to build rapport and join hands with the Executive Authorities to foster the development of Hong Kong and tackle difficulties faced by our citizens, as a demonstration of our good governance soaring to new heights and yielding fruitful results.