The 18th CPC National Congress has elected a new generation of central leadership, shouldering the responsibility of carrying on with the efforts to revive the glory of the Chinese nation. As a special administrative region of our home country, it is of utmost importance for Hong Kong to utilize fully the advantages under the "One Country, Two Systems" policy, and play a more significant role in national affairs.

In the mean time, it is also the Hong Kong government's job to take advantage of the upbeat Chinese economy in the next decade, and further the economic and social development of the city to even higher levels. I would like to take this opportunity to make two points to review the nitty-gritty of the 18th CPC National Congress.

First of all, it was stated in the political report of the CPC congress that after the handover of Hong Kong in 1997, the implementation of the "One Country, Two Systems" doctrine has been remarkably successful, which is highly encouraging to both the city's government and the local citizens. The establishment of the doctrine is a pioneering achievement. Ever since the year of handover, we have been experiencing a succession of twists and turns. Nonetheless, the central government has always adhered to the "One Country, Two Systems" principle and "Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong", in order to keep the territory's "High degree of autonomy" intact.

Second, it was also mentioned in the political report that Hong Kong people will definitely have their significant roles to play in national affairs, and along with other compatriots, share the pride and dignity as part of our country. In my view, this is one of the key expectations of the new Party leaders for Hong Kong. As a special administrative region, not only is it important to manage our city properly, we should also be keen to make contributions to our mother country.

Unquestionably, attributed to the deep-rooted patriotism, free market economy, and experiences in urban planning and entrepreneurship, Hong Kong has been serving as a pivotal "catalyst" to the rocketing Chinese economic reform over the past 30 years. It is also an undeniable fact that we have to be responsible to our mother country as well after the handover. However, some people in Hong Kong don't seem to fully understand this point.

Although it has been 15 years since the transfer of sovereignty took place, due to the city's long standing colonial history, the sense of belonging as "Chinese" among Hong Kong people is generally lower than that of their mainland counterparts. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong government also encountered layers of roadblocks on their way to introducing the national education curriculum to local schools. Coupled with a range of complicated factors, the entire society has been fraught with roars of cliche slogans about resuming the far-behind-us colonial era.

From another point of view, it shows that national education is much needed to teach Hong Kong students more about the dynamism of our motherland. The government officials should also learn from the lesson of the unwavering opposition of introducing national education curriculum, taking the unique political and historical background of the territory into account, to gradually lift up the citizens' sense of belonging to the country.

The entire 18th CPC National Congress has widely dominated the limelight of Hong Kong media, and media here have been closely tracking related news starting from the beginning to the end of the first plenary session. This gives Hong Kong citizens more insight about the mainland's political system, various policies and the CPC itself. As a good start, the general public now realize that the CPC congress is the platform where new State leaders receive their batons, and how decisive the freshly promulgated policies can be to the future development of the whole country including Hong Kong.

In other words, to all Hong Kong citizens, the 18th CPC National Congress is a real-life vivid national education lesson per se. I firmly believe that as the mainland continues to step up its prosperity, democracy and international status, more Hongkongers will take pride in their identities as "Chinese", and embrace the pride and glory of our home country.

The author is vice-chairman of the Henderson Land Development.

(HK Edition 11/28/2012 page3)