Policy Address

Quality 0.50 · 2 views · Updated 2 months ago

Annual address by the Chief Executive of Hong Kong

title: "Policy Address" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["politics-of-hong-kong"] description: "Annual address by the Chief Executive of Hong Kong" topic_path: "politics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Policy_Address" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Annual address by the Chief Executive of Hong Kong ::

::callout[type=note] the address in Hong Kong ::

|order=ts |t=施政報告 |s=施政报告 |j=si1 zing3 bou3 gou3 |p=shīzhèngbàogào ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/2013_Policy_Address_02.jpg" caption="2013 Policy Address debated in Legco"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Hong_Kong_Chief_Executive_Leung_Chun-ying's_first_policy_address_01.jpg" caption="2013 Policy Address by Leung Chun-ying"] ::

In Hong Kong, the Policy Address () is the constitutionally mandated annual address to the legislature delivered by the Chief Executive. The practice of giving annual Policy Addresses is mandated under Article 64 of the Basic Law, which requires the government to "present regular Policy Addresses to the [Legislative] Council". Many people see the Policy Address as a useful way to predict how the Chief Executive will operate.

History

Before 1997

The annual address was first introduced in 1972 by Governor Sir Murray MacLehose during the British rule of Hong Kong, and set out the government's legislative and policy agenda for the coming year. It was called the "Address by the Governor" () and was modelled after the Queen's Speech during the State Opening of Parliament in the United Kingdom. It aimed to strengthen communications with Hong Kong residents after the 1967 Hong Kong riots, and was widely broadcast via television and radio.

Addresses by the Governor took place in October to mark the beginning of the legislative year. The address was renamed to its current Chinese name 施政報告 () in 1986. The English name of the event remained unchanged until the Handover in 1997. Beginning with his first address in 1992, Governor Chris Patten initiated the practice of giving each address a unique title.

In his final annual address, delivered on 2 October 1996, Patten spoke of his anxiety of autonomy being given away "bit by bit" by some in Hong Kong. Observers noted that this line reflected many Hongkongers' greatest fear of efforts to undermine Hong Kong's right to self-government being made not only from outsiders, but also from within.

[[File:HK CWB 銅鑼灣 Causeway Bay Paterson Street near 記利佐治街 Great George Street TV monitor news live Mrs Lam's Policy Address November 2020 SS2 01.jpg|thumb|A television broadcast of [[Carrie Lam]]'s 2020 Policy Address in [[Causeway Bay]]]]

After the Handover (1997-present)

The Chief Executive can decide in which month of the year to deliver the annual Policy Address. From 1997 to 2001, Tung Chee-hwa delivered Policy Addresses in October as the Legislative Council reconvened. In 2002, after his re-election as Chief Executive, Tung rescheduled the October 2002 address to January 2003, ostensibly to allow the newly appointed ministers under the Principal Officials Accountability System to settle into their roles. As a result, no policy address was delivered in 2002. Tung continued to deliver his addresses in January until he resigned in March 2005.

Tung's successor Donald Tsang resumed the previous practice of giving the speech in October; as such, there were two Policy Addresses in 2005. Leung Chun-ying pushed back his Policy Addresses to January, explaining the move by stating that he wished to give lawmakers more time to voice their opinions.

Carrie Lam delivered her Policy Addresses in October, except in 2020, which was rescheduled to 25 November to avoid clashing with CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping's visit to Shenzhen. John Lee, who took office in 2022, has delivered his Policy Addresses in October.

Contemporary practice

Public consultation

The government typically launches a public consultation campaign three to four months before the delivery of the address.

Motion of thanks

Within 14 days after the delivery of the address, the Chairman of the House Committee of the Legislative Council will move a Motion of Thanks, similar to Address in Reply motions in other legislatures, and members of the Council debate the Policy Address.

List of policy addresses

::data[format=table] | Year || width=110px| Given by || English title || Chinese title | |---| | | | 2023 | | 2022 | | | | 2020 | | 2019 | | 2018 | | 2017 | | | | 2016 | | 2015 | | 2014 | | 2013 | | | | 2010–11 | | 2009–10 | | 2008–09 | | 2007–08 | | 2006–07 | | 2005–06 | | | | 2004 | | 2003 | | 2001 | | 2000 | | 1999 | | 1998 | | 1997 | | | | 1995 | | 1994 | | 1993 | | 1992 | ::

There were no titles for the Policy Addresses before 1992.

References

References

  1. "Basic Law - Basic Law - Chapter IV (EN)".
  2. (2024-10-12). "Exclusive {{!}} Hong Kong leader to deliver third policy address, how will it differ this time?".
  3. 馮. 巧欣. (2016-01-11). "". link. [[HK01]]
  4. "1997 Policy Address".
  5. "policy address-archives".
  6. (2 August 2012). "政務司司長會見傳媒談話全文". Hong Kong Government.
  7. "Policy Address available to public on Wednesday".
  8. "Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Berlin".
  9. "CE to deliver Policy Address on Oct 16".
  10. "No.12 POLICY ADDRESS AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSIONS".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

politics-of-hong-kong