New chapter begins for Hong Kong's development: China Daily editorial

Congratulations to John Lee Ka-chiu on his election as the sixth-term chief executive-elect of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland. As the first chief executive to be elected under Hong Kong's new electoral system, his election is of great significance.

With the HK Election Committee Subsector elections successfully held in September last year and the HK Legislative Council General Election in December, the reform of the electoral system of the SAR, provides a solid guarantee for ensuring it is "patriots administering Hong Kong".

The HKSAR Chief Executive Election held on Sunday successfully upheld the principles of fairness, impartiality and openness and was legitimate, fair and clean, representing a good start for the future implementation of "patriots administering Hong Kong" in the electoral system.

The facts prove that the reform of Hong Kong's electoral system has been successful, and the system is a good institutional arrangement that is in line with the principle of "one country, two systems" as well as the actual conditions of the SAR.

If the electoral system, with all necessary improvements as required, can continue to function well in the future, the election of Lee will mark a historical transformation of Hong Kong's development stage from chaos to order, and from good governance to prosperity.

As former chief secretary for administration of the SAR, Lee has served as a civil servant in Hong Kong for 45 years. His rich grassroots work experience makes him more focused on solving residents' problems, and he has demonstrated his command and coordination skills.

Given Hong Kong's complicated development environment, Lee is undoubtedly the type of chief executive the SAR needs most, and his election reflects Hong Kong society's common hope that he can open a new chapter for the city's development at this critical juncture of connecting the past and the future.

Lee stressed in his election campaign that he will uphold a result-oriented principle in solving the different problems confronting the SAR, comprehensively improve the city's competitiveness, and lay a solid foundation for Hong Kong's development.

This gives a glimpse to his focuses over the next five years, which all hit the nail on the head in addressing the challenges Hong Kong faces and will help improve the efficiency and predictability of the SAR's governance.

The next five years will be a crucial stage for Hong Kong to improve its governance. Under the leadership of the new chief executive, all members of the SAR government should demonstrate their loyalty to the country, their love for Hong Kong and their responsibility to the people, and demonstrate their confidence, as well as their ability to overcome the challenges of various kinds.

In addition to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the full support of the central authorities, the SAR government must strengthen coordination of different departments and make the best of what it has to overcome the pressure from the West, particularly the United States, to further enhance Hong Kong's profile as an international financial center and trade center, and make Hong Kong residents the beneficiaries of the city's development and prosperity.

Of course, all this should be based on the prerequisite of a stable environment under the rule of law. Therefore, in the face of the West's interference, sanctions and pressure, the SAR government must take a firm political stance on major issues of principle, and bear in mind it is duty-bound to fight determinedly against the anti-China foreign forces.

The current SAR government, under the leadership of Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, has made arduous efforts to maintain Hong Kong's prosperity and stability. It is to be hoped that the new chief executive can take on the new historical mission and work with all sectors of the SAR society to promote the development of the city ushering a dynamic, united and peaceful Hong Kong to a new development stage.