Xinhua News Agency, Hong Kong, September 16, Title: Drawing up a long-term blueprint to take great strides from governance to prosperity - written on the occasion of the announcement of the first five-year plan of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Xinhua News Agency reporter Guo Xin
The "First Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (2026-2030)" was officially announced on the 16th. The release of Hong Kong's first five-year plan is a key measure for Hong Kong to enter the stage of governance and revitalization, and is an important achievement of the practice of "one country, two systems" in the new era. This programmatic document is based on a new historical orientation, proactively aligns with the country's "15th Five-Year Plan", systematically plans a long-term blueprint for Hong Kong's economic and social development, and charts a clear path for promoting Hong Kong's transformation from governance to revitalization and achieving high-quality development.
At present, Hong Kong's economy is steadily improving, the society is stable and prosperous, and the normal life and development of citizens are effectively guaranteed, creating an indispensable good environment and social foundation for the implementation of Hong Kong's medium and long-term plans. Facing the accelerating evolution of the world's changes over the past century, Hong Kong society calls for a more forward-looking and comprehensive development plan. The launch of the first five-year plan is to respond to the issues of the times, solve deep-seated problems, place Hong Kong's development in the overall national development situation, and set directions, goals and paths for Hong Kong's future development.
The emergence of this five-year plan reflects the profound changes in Hong Kong's governance thinking and development model. It is the SAR government's initiative to recognize, respond to, and seek change, and reflects the significant improvement in governance capabilities under "one country, two systems." The plan adheres to seven major concepts, and the word "reform" runs throughout the entire article, reflecting the SAR government's determination to not avoid problems and seek truth from facts. The plan gathers consensus from all walks of life and will further enhance the governance efficiency of the special zone, making the development direction clearer, resource allocation more effective, social expectations more stable, and the well-being of citizens and the interests of investors in various places more fully protected. At the same time, the SAR government coordinates various undertakings in a five-year cycle and establishes a promotion mechanism with clear goals, clear nodes, and implementation of responsibilities, so that the medium- and long-term strategic blueprint can be transformed into pragmatic actions with clear directions, advancement, and testability.
The plan proposes a better combination of "effective market" and "proactive government." This governance innovation is by no means weakening the role of the market, but rather strengthening the government's strategic guidance, fully activating market vitality, transforming institutional advantages into tangible development efficiency, providing a powerful starting point for solving the deep-seated contradictions that have accumulated in Hong Kong for a long time, allowing the superiority and vitality of the "one country, two systems" system to burst out more, and is an innovative exploration of "one country, two systems" at the governance practice level.
This year is the first year of the country’s “15th Five-Year Plan”. Connecting with the country’s “15th Five-Year Plan” and finding its own positioning are the most distinctive background of this five-year plan. The plan emphasizes consolidating and enhancing Hong Kong's unique advantages, strengthening the construction of Hong Kong's "four centers and one highland", laying a more solid foundation for Hong Kong to fully play its role of "backing on the motherland and connecting the world", and turning national strategic opportunities into Hong Kong's development momentum. Whether it is strengthening traditional advantages, cultivating new productive forces, or gathering global talent resources, this plan is in line with the country's development needs. It not only makes good use of the vast market and complete industrial system of the mainland, but also gives full play to Hong Kong's role as an international platform. It will build Hong Kong into a bridge between the country and the world and an international city that is more attractive, more dynamic and full of opportunities in the world, and achieve better development in the cause of building a strong country and rejuvenating the nation.
The ultimate goal of development is to improve people's livelihood and well-being and allow the general public to share the fruits of development. This plan will improve people's livelihood into a separate chapter, focusing on investment in education, youth, medical care, housing, employment, elderly care and other fields. It clearly proposes to basically solve the problem of inferior subdivided housing in residential buildings within 2030 and benefit from the cumulative number of regional health centers within five years. We have set clear quantitative goals such as reaching 1 million people and increasing the number of public hospital beds to about 35,000 by 2031. We will actively respond to practical challenges such as the aging of the population and declining fertility rates, face the urgent needs and worries of citizens, and take into account long-term system construction and actual improvement of people's livelihood.
Once the blueprint is drawn, the most important thing is to implement it. At a new historical starting point, as long as all walks of life in Hong Kong fully and accurately implement "one country, two systems", adhere to "patriots governing Hong Kong", adhere to and improve administrative leadership, let the government do good things, effective market vitality surges, and the whole society works together, they will surely be able to transform the grand blueprint of the first five-year plan into a beautiful reality, continue to write a new chapter in the journey of better integrating into and serving the overall development of the country, and let the Pearl of the Orient shine even brighter.
