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Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
香港特別行政區政府

Emblem of Hong Kong
Formation	1 July 1997; 27 years ago (1997-07-01)
Founding document	Hong Kong Basic Law
Jurisdiction	Hong Kong
Website	gov.hk
Legislative branch
Legislature	Legislative Council
Meeting place	Legislative Council Complex
Executive branch
Leader	Chief Executive
Appointer	Premier, State Council of China
Headquarters	Central Government Complex
Main organ	Executive Council
Departments	13 (full list)
Judicial branch
Court	Court of Final Appeal
Seat	Court of Final Appeal Building

Politics and government of Hong Kong

Laws Basic Law Drafting Committee Consultative Committee Article 23 (national security laws) 2020 law 2024 law Article 45 Article 46 Article 69 One country, two systems Sino–British Joint Declaration Criminal law Capital punishment in Hong Kong Criminal procedure Jury system Law enforcement in Hong Kong Human rights LGBT rights in Hong Kong Internet censorship in Hong Kong

Executive Chief Executive: John Lee Office of the Chief Executive Committee for Safeguarding National Security of the HKSAR Principal officials Chief Secretary: Eric Chan Financial Secretary: Paul Chan Secretary for Justice: Paul Lam Executive Council Convenor: Regina Ip Government Secretariat and Government agencies Civil Service Bureau Joint Secretariat for the Advisory Bodies on Civil Service and Judicial Salaries and Conditions of Service Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau Registration and Electoral Office Offices in the Mainland and Taiwan Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau Leisure and Cultural Services Department Tourism Commission Education Bureau University Grants Committee Secretariat Working Family and Student Financial Assistance Agency Environment and Ecology Bureau Environmental Protection Department Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department Food and Environmental Hygiene Department Hong Kong Observatory Government Laboratory Health Bureau Department of Health Home and Youth Affairs Bureau Home Affairs Department Information Services Department Labour and Welfare Bureau Social Welfare Department Security Bureau Hong Kong Police Force Hong Kong Fire Services Department Correctional Services Department Customs and Excise Department Immigration Department Government Flying Service Civil Aid Service Auxiliary Medical Service Transport and Logistics Bureau Transport Department Civil Aviation Department Highways Department Marine Department Housing Bureau Housing Department Commerce and Economic Development Bureau Intellectual Property Department Invest Hong Kong Office of the Communications Authority Post Office Trade and Industry Department Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices (Overseas) Radio Television Hong Kong Development Bureau Architectural Services Department Buildings Department Civil Engineering and Development Department Drainage Services Department Electrical and Mechanical Services Department Lands Department Land Registry Planning Department Water Supplies Department Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau Census and Statistics Department Companies Registry Government Logistics Department Government Property Agency Inland Revenue Department Official Receiver's Office Rating and Valuation Department Treasury Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau Efficiency Office Office of the Government Chief Information Officer Innovation and Technology Commission Hong Kong Civil Service Administrative Officer Political Appointments System

Legislature Legislative Council President: Andrew Leung List of Members of the Legislative Council Political camps: Pro-Beijing camp Pro-democracy camp Localist camp

JudiciaryCourt of Final Appeal Chief Justice: Andrew Cheung High Court Chief Judge: Jeremy Poon Court of Appeal President of the Court of Appeal Court of First Instance District Court Chief District Judge: Justin Ko Magistrates' Court Chief Magistrate: So Wai-tak Special courts and tribunals: Coroner’s Court Labour Tribunal Lands Tribunal Market Misconduct Tribunal Obscene Articles Tribunal Small Claims Tribunal

DistrictsDistrict Officers District Councils Central and Western Eastern Islands Kowloon City Kwai Tsing Kwun Tong North Sai Kung Sha Tin Sham Shui Po Southern Tai Po Tsuen Wan Tuen Mun Wan Chai Wong Tai Sin Yau Tsim Mong Yuen Long Area committees

ElectionsElectoral Affairs Commission Registration and Electoral Office Chief Executive Elections Election Committee Legislative elections Geographical Constituencies Functional Constituencies Election Committee Constituency District council elections List of constituencies of Hong Kong Political parties Universal suffrage

Foreign relationsDocuments Hong Kong identity card HKSAR Passport BNO Passport Consular missions in Hong Kong Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office Hong Kong–United Kingdom relations Hong Kong–United States relations Hong Kong–Philippines relations Hong Kong–Singapore relations Hong Kong–China relations Hong Kong Liaison Office Office of the Government of the HKSAR in Beijing Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement Hong Kong–Taiwan relations Hong Kong Economic, Trade and Cultural Office Hong Kong–Taiwan Economic and Cultural Co-operation and Promotion Council

Related topics Culture Economy Education Geography History Hong Kong portal

v t e

The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government) is the executive authorities of Hong Kong. It was established on 1 July 1997, following the handover of Hong Kong.

The Chief Executive and the principal officials are appointed by the State Council of the People's Republic of China in accordance with the outcome of local processes. The Government Secretariat is headed by the Chief Secretary of Hong Kong, who is the most senior principal official of the Government. The Chief Secretary and the other secretaries jointly oversee the administration of Hong Kong, give advice to the Chief Executive as members of the Executive Council, and are accountable for their actions and policies to the Chief Executive and the Legislative Council.

Under the "one country, two systems" constitutional principle, the Government is, in law, exclusively in charge of Hong Kong's internal affairs and specified external relations. The Government of the People's Republic of China (PRC), from which the Hong Kong government is financially independent, is responsible for Hong Kong SAR's defence and foreign policy, while decisions made by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress can, in certain circumstances, override territorial judicial processes. The Hong Kong SAR government replaced the former British Hong Kong Government (1842–1997) in 1997. Despite gradually evolving, the general governmental structure was inherited from British Hong Kong.

On February 28, 2024, the Financial Secretary of Hong Kong, Paul Chan, announced the Special Administrative Region’s (SAR) government budget for the fiscal year 2024 to 2025 (“2024–25 Budget”). Under the 2024-25 budget, total government expenditure is set to rise by 6.7 percent to HK$776.9 billion (US$99.23 billion).

Head of government

The Chief Executive is the head of the Region and head of government of Hong Kong. The Basic Law designates a system of governance led by a Chief Executive and an Executive Council, under the principles of separation of powers, with a two-tiered system of semi-representative government and an independent judiciary. The Chief Executive is elected by an Election Committee, a 1500-member electoral college consisting of individuals and bodies (i.e. special interest groups) elected within 40 functional constituencies defined in the Basic Law. The winner is then appointed to the position by the Premier of the People's Republic of China. The Chief Executive is responsible for implementing the Basic Law, signing bills and budgets, promulgating laws, making decisions on government policies, and issuing Executive Orders. Then Chief Executive, Carrie Lam, began exercise of her unfettered residual powers of law-making by decree on 4 October 2019, under the Emergency Regulations Ordinance, Chapter 241 of the Laws of Hong Kong, bypassing the legislature.

As of 1 July 1997, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong officially replaced the Governor of Hong Kong as the head of the government for Hong Kong following the handover. The Chief Executive is assisted by the Chief Secretary for Administration and the Financial Secretary, and other secretaries who heads policy bureaus. The secretaries for each government affairs are appointed by the State Council of China on the nomination of the Chief Executive. The Secretary for Justice (SJ) is responsible for legal matters of the government and prosecution for criminal cases in the territory. The Independent Commission Against Corruption and Audit Commission report directly to the Chief Executive. The current Chief Executive is John Lee.

Executive

Executive Council

The Executive Council decides on matters of policy, the introduction of bills to the Legislative Council and the drafting of subordinate legislation. The Council consists of 21 principal officials and 16 non-official members. All members are appointed by the Chief Executive from among the senior officials of the executive authorities, members of the Legislative Council, and other influential public personnels. They serve for a period no longer than the expiry of the Chief Executive's term of office.

Principal officials

In a system popularly called the Principal Officials Accountability System introduced by then Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa in July 2002, all principal officials, including the Chief Secretary, Financial Secretary, Secretary for Justice, heads of government bureaux and the Director of the Chief Executive's Office would no longer be politically neutral career civil servants, but would all be political appointees chosen by the Chief Executive from within or outside the civil service. The system was portrayed as the key to solve previous administrative problems, notably the co-operation of high-ranking civil servants with the Chief Executive.

Under the new system, there are 3 Secretaries of department and 13 Directors of Bureaux. The system is aimed at raising the accountability of the civil service, so the political appointees are responsible for all their job aspects and will step down if they make any failure. All heads of bureaux became members of the Executive Council, and came directly under the Chief Executive instead of the Chief Secretary or the Financial Secretary.

Deputy ministers and political assistants

The government released a report on the Further Development of the Political Appointment System on 17 October 2007. Two new layers, deputy directors of Bureaux and Assistants to Directors (AD) would be added to the political appointments. Each Director of Bureau will be assisted by the two new appointees and constitute the political team, who would ostensibly work closely with bureau secretaries and top civil servants in implementing the Chief Executive's policy agenda in an executive-led government. As with the principal officials, these two new posts may be drawn from within or outside the civil service, and appointees may or may not have a political background.

Eight new Under-secretaries were named on 20 May, and nine Political Assistant appointments were announced on 22 May 2008. By the administration's own admission, the announcements were poorly handled, and there was widespread criticism of several key aspects, namely the nationality and experience of appointees, the transparency of the recruitment process and the level of officials' salaries.

Chief Secretary for Administration

The Chief Secretary for Administration is responsible for assisting the Chief Executive in the supervision of policy bureaux and plays a key role in ensuring harmony in policy formulation and implementation. The current Secretary is Chan Kwok-ki.

Financial Secretary

The Financial Secretary is responsible for preparing the Government Budget in accordance with the Chief Executive's agenda in the policy address, ensuring fiscal policies are in accordance to the Public Finance Ordinance. The secretary has to estimate of revenue and expenditure before the Legislative Council each year, and to deliver an annual budget to the Legislative Council, outlining the government's budgetary proposals and moving the appropriation bills. The current FS is Paul Chan Mo-po.

Secretary for Justice

The Secretary for Justice is responsible for prosecutions and legal matters and heads the Department of Justice. The current Secretary for Justice is Paul Lam.

Policy bureaux and departments

The hierarchical structure of the government secretariat and government departments in Chief Executive John Lee's administration since 1 July 2022 is as follows:

Office of the Chief Executive

The Office of the Chief Executive is responsible for ensuring the Chief Executive receives the best advice and support for formulating and co-ordinating policies. It is headed by the Director of the Chief Executive's Office, who would sit in meetings of the Executive Council.

The Policy Innovation and Co-ordination Office, Independent Commission Against Corruption, Audit Commission, Office of the Ombudsman and Public Service Commission report to the Chief Executive directly.

Chief Secretary for Administration's Office

The Human Resources Planning and Poverty Co-ordination Office, Administration Wing and Legal Aid Department are under the Chief Secretary for Administration's Office.

Financial Secretary's Office

The Office of the Government Economist and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority are under the Financial Secretary's Office.

Department of Justice

The Department of Justice is led by the Secretary for Justice (Hong Kong) (Legal Department and Attorney General before the transfer of sovereignty). The Secretary for Justice (SJ) is responsible for all prosecutions in Hong Kong, drafting all government legislation, and advising other policy bureaux and departments of the government on a vast array of legal issues.

The department consists of the Prosecutions Division, the Civil Division, the Legal Policy Division, the Law Drafting Division, the International Law Division and the Administration and Development Division.

Policy Bureaux

The current fifteen policy bureaux is a result of the 2022 government reorganisation, which added, expanded, and re-titled several bureaux. Currently, nine bureaux reports to the Chief Secretary for Administration, and the other six reports to the Financial Secretary. The Chief Secretary for Administration is customarily considered to be the leader of the bureaux.

• Civil Service Bureau
• Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau
• Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau (newly established)
• Education Bureau
• Environment and Ecology Bureau (re-titled from the Environment Bureau and takes over the Food and Health Bureau except health)
• Health Bureau (takes over health policies from the defunct Food and Health Bureau)
• Home and Youth Affairs Bureau (reorganised from the Home Affairs Bureau)
• Labour and Welfare Bureau
• Security Bureau
• Commerce and Economic Development Bureau
• Development Bureau
• Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau
• Housing Bureau (split from the defunct Transport and Housing Bureau)
• Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau (re-titled from the Innovation and Technology Bureau)
• Transport and Logistics Bureau (split from the defunct Transport and Housing Bureau)

Departments and agencies

See also

• Chinese Communist Party
  • Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party
  • Central Leading Group on Hong Kong and Macau Affairs
  • Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office
  • United Front Work Department
• Government of China
  • Hong Kong Liaison Office
  • Committee for Liaison with Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Overseas Chinese
• Government of Macau
• Hong Kong Civil Service
• Legislative Council
• District Councils
• Hong Kong government officials
• Hong Kong politicians
• Government Hill
• Central Government Complex
• Principal Officials Accountability System

References

1. "Basic Law of Hong Kong – Chapter IV". basiclaw.gov.hk. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
2. Article 68, Hong Kong Basic Law
3. "Overview of the 2024-25 Hong Kong Budget". March 2024.
4. Creery, Jennifer (1 September 2020). "No separation of powers in Hong Kong says Chief Exec. Carrie Lam, despite previous comments from top judges". Hong Kong Free Press HKFP. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
5. Smith, Michael (5 October 2019). "Violence sweeps Hong Kong after face mask ban". Financial Review. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
6. "Emergency Regulations Ordinance". Hong Kong e-Legislation.
7. "GovHK: Government Structure". Retrieved 25 October 2009.
8. Report on Further Development of the Political Appointment System
9. "Consultation Document on the Further Development of the Political Appointment System", Hong Kong Government, July 2006
10. Michael Ng, "Attracting new political talent 'from all sectors'" Archived 22 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine, The Standard, 27 July 2006
11. Ambrose Leung, "Tsang's assistant may face Legco censure", Pg A3, South China Morning Post, 17 June 2008

External links

• GovHK – One-stop Portal of the HKSAR Government
• Government and Related Organisations
• Government official news
• Organisation Chart of the Government
• HKSAR Government Telephone Directory

v t e Government of Hong Kong
Executive Council Government Secretariat Government agencies
Bureaus	Civil Service Commerce and Economic Development Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Development Education Environment and Ecology Financial Services and the Treasury Health Home and Youth Affairs Innovation, Technology and Industry Justice Labour and Welfare Security Transport and Logistics Housing Culture, Sports and Tourism
Departments	Administration Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Architectural Services Buildings Census and Statistics Civil Aviation Civil Engineering and Development Communications Companies Registry Correctional Services Cultural and Creative Industries Customs and Excise Drainage Services Efficiency Electrical and Mechanical Services Electoral Affairs Environmental Protection Financial Assistance Fire Services Food and Environmental Hygiene Government Flying Service Government Laboratory Government Logistics Government Property Government Records Service Health Highways Home Affairs Housing Immigration Information Technology Information Services Inland Revenue Innovation and Technology Intellectual Property Investment Promotion Labour Land Registry Lands Legal Aid Leisure and Cultural Services Marine Observatory Official Receiver Planning Police Post Railways Rating and Valuation Radio Television Hong Kong Social Welfare Tourism Trade and Industry Transport Treasury Water Supplies
Statutory agencies or authorities	Air Accident Investigation Authority Airport Authority Antiquities Advisory Board Antiquities and Monuments Office Audit Commission Auxiliary Medical Service Centre for Health Protection Civil Aid Service Construction Industry Council Consumer Council Centre for Food Safety Communications Authority Economic Analysis and Business Facilitation Unit Estate Agents Authority Equal Opportunities Commission Examinations and Assessment Authority Exchanges and Clearing Export Credit Insurance Corporation Heung Yee Kuk Housing Authority Housing Society Hospital Authority Independent Commission Against Corruption Insurance Authority Independent Police Complaints Council Liquor Licensing Board Office of the Ombudsman Policy Innovation and Co-ordination Office Science and Technology Parks Corporation Sales of First-hand Residential Properties Authority Securities and Futures Commission Tourism Board Town Planning Board Trade Development Council Travel Industry Authority West Kowloon Cultural District Authority Urban Renewal Authority
Central bank	Hong Kong Monetary Authority
Foreign relations	Foreign relations of Hong Kong
Statutory bodies in Hong Kong Hong Kong Civil Service Administrative Officer

v t e Hong Kong SAR governments
1st (Tung I) 2nd Tung II Tsang I 3rd (Tsang II) 4th (Leung) 5th (Lam) 6th (Lee)
Current government

• Government of Hong Kong
• Hong Kong Government
• Politics of Hong Kong