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Natalie Wong

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has pledged to push for “further reforms” despite geopolitical risks in the final year of his current term, citing how he had steered Hong Kong through a sustained period of economic growth since taking over in 2022.
Noting how the economy had rebounded strongly, the city leader also said that Hong Kong’s first five-year plan would secure policy continuity while making sure the government’s “attention, energy and resources” would be aligned with national and global developments.
“The road to further reforms and making changes to long-standing problems still has a lot of challenges and tasks ahead. We will continue to work hard,” Lee told the South China Morning Post in an exclusive interview.
“There are interim risks, of course. I think economically, we have quite a positive outlook.”
He backed his confidence by pointing to the government’s recent forecast of full-year real growth at between 2.5 and 3.5 per cent, buoyed by a 5.9 per cent year-on-year expansion in the first three months of 2026 – the fastest quarterly pace since 2021.
Lee also cited broad-based recoveries across multiple sectors, including double-digit growth in tourism arrivals and merchandise exports, alongside a stabilisation in domestic consumption.
When Lee, a former police officer and security chief, assumed office in mid-2022, the city was grappling with the tail-end of pandemic disruptions and a contracting economy under strict Covid-19 rules.
The economy transformed from a 3.7 per cent contraction that year to 3.5 per cent growth in 2025.


Last year’s growth marked the third consecutive year of expansion, primarily driven by strong worldwide demand for tech products that boosted exports and amid increased investment.
Lee said the macroeconomic recovery had trickled down to local households, noting the median monthly salary for residents had climbed by roughly 20 per cent during his tenure, rising from HK$19,000 to HK$23,000 (US$2,424 to US$2,935).
Beyond the economy, Lee highlighted his administration’s willingness to confront issues that had stalled under previous governments.
He said that among them were ride-hailing services and subdivided flats that were being brought under regulatory frameworks, and also the enactment of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance in March 2024.
“We fulfilled our obligation under Article 23 [of the Basic Law] that was outstanding for over 26 years. So, long-standing problems have been addressed,” he said.
Lee also hailed his administration’s achievements in livelihood issues, such as bringing down the composite waiting time for public rental housing from a peak of 6.1 years to 4.7 years.
“I always reflect on what we do. Some of them may not be big reforms, maybe small reforms. In fact, they have long-lasting benefits,” he said.
Other examples he cited included the introduction of time-varying tolls at the city’s three cross-harbour tunnels that he said “created benefits on a daily basis”, and the decision to allow stock market trading during typhoons, which he called vital for Hong Kong’s competitiveness.

Lee’s administration has also emphasised national integration, with the city’s five-year plan being drafted to provide a road map for the next phase of development, which will be overseen by the next term of government.
Formal consultation on the plan is due to begin on Monday, with the outcome expected before the end of the year.
It is designed to guide Hong Kong on how to integrate with the country’s latest national five-year plan within a broader technological and economic agenda.
When asked to envision the concrete differences that Hong Kong would embark upon in the coming five years, Lee said the importance of the blueprint lay in locking in continuity.
“The continuity of the policy will be ensured because the five-year plan doesn’t belong to one term of government. It belongs to Hong Kong,” he said.
He said aligning “attention, energy and resources” in the blueprint could ensure that the entire government worked together to pursue goals “at the same pace”.
Lee likened the approach to running a family as a unit instead of separate entities.
“If you run a family, say you have two children, so you want to think of everything as ‘a wife and two children’, not me and then wife and then children,” he said.
“Being a part of the national five-year plan means that Hong Kong is not just Hong Kong. Hong Kong will be ‘Hong Kong plus our country China’, in fact, plus the world,” he said, appealing to residents to approach the country’s blueprint with “a global vision”.
“It’s about how China interacts with the world. Hong Kong, instead of trying to look to the world ourselves, which we are always doing, we align with a national policy which also aligns with international development.”


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Hong Kong leader also says city’s five-year plan will secure policy continuity while ensuring ‘attention, energy and resources’ align with wider developments


Hong Kong leader also says city’s five-year plan will secure policy continuity while ensuring ‘attention, energy and resources’ align with wider developments.


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.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Hong Kong leader also says city’s five-year plan will secure policy continuity while ensuring ‘attention, energy and resources’ align with wider developments

Hong Kong leader also says city’s five-year plan will secure policy continuity while ensuring ‘attention, energy and resources’ align with wider developments