Xi Jinping, China’s president, proper, swears-in John Lee, Hong Kong’s leader govt, at a rite in Hong Kong, China, on Friday, July 1, 2022. Hong Kong’s new security-minded chief used to be sworn in via President Xi Jinping as town marks 25 years of Chinese language rule, after pointing out the Asian monetary hub were reborn after a crackdown at the pro-democracy opposition.
Justin Chin | Bloomberg | Getty Pictures
Hong Kong’s new Leader Govt John Lee used to be sworn in on Friday in a rite attended via Chinese language President Xi Jinping.
Analysts be expecting Lee to take on longstanding issues within the particular administrative area, together with Hong Kong’s housing disaster and profitable again the world industry group. Keeping up safety can be key amongst Lee’s most sensible duties, they are saying.
The previous British colony, which returned to China 25 years in the past, is a semi-autonomous area beneath Beijing’s rule. On the other hand, the previous few years had been politically turbulent for town, which noticed pro-democracy protests in 2019 flip violent.
In his inaugural speech, Lee described the “one nation, two techniques” concept because the “institutional safeguard” of Hong Kong, and referred to as it the “cornerstone” in keeping up long-term prosperity and steadiness.
“During the last two and a part a long time, Hong Kong has been identified as the arena’s freest financial system, the arena’s quantity 3 world monetary middle and the 5th best financial system all over the world,” Lee mentioned Friday.
Safety
David Dodwell, the manager govt officer of Strategic Get right of entry to, a consultancy company, mentioned Hong Kong’s new chief confronted many demanding situations.
“The primary precedence is safety and steadiness, no query about it,” Dodwell informed CNBC’s “Capital Connection” on Friday.
“The rustic as a complete and Hong Kong specifically, had been in point of fact traumatized via the six months of boulevard chaos in 2019. And really, very obviously, Beijing would no longer welcome that going down,” Dodwell mentioned, including that the federal government may also must ship on housing.
Industry attraction
The brand new leader govt’s largest problem lay in reinventing Hong Kong’s attraction, mentioned Tara Joseph, senior director at industry possibility consultancy, Technique Dangers, who lately left town after residing there for two decades.
“Hong Kong has been delivered to heel…it’s not open and hooked up with the arena. And John Lee has an enormous task to persuade the world industry group that Hong Kong is a brilliant position to be,” Joseph, — previously the president of the American Chamber of Trade in Hong Kong — informed CNBC’s “Boulevard Indicators Asia” on Friday.
The Asian monetary hub’s connection to the mainland may be vital.
Hong Kong all the time has a possibility to be a win-win if it stays hooked up and open to the arena, as a result of everyone desires industry to occur. China desires industry to occur.
Tara Joseph
Director of Technique Dangers
“Hong Kong all the time has a possibility to be a win-win if it stays hooked up and open to the arena, as a result of everyone desires industry to occur. China desires industry to occur,” Joseph mentioned. “The U.S. and different Western countries [also] need in an effort to have capital and motion into China.”
On the other hand, the management of outgoing Leader Govt Carrie Lam will have “totally underestimated the unintentional penalties [of] so-called integration” with the mainland, mentioned Bernard Chan, former convener of Hong Kong’s govt council beneath Lam.
“There are numerous unintentional penalties. Native folks felt that they are dropping out to their mainland opposite numbers,” he added.
He mentioned the folk felt that the Hong Kong executive used to be no longer doing “sufficient to give protection to their pursuits,” explaining that China’s sturdy middle-class got here to Hong Kong to get admission to wealth control merchandise, hospital therapy, training and so forth.
“However they appear to be competing with locals, and I believe we didn’t do sufficient to mitigate the ones forms of unintentional penalties,” Chan mentioned.
Housing disaster
The brand new management may also have to concentrate on housing, mentioned Chan.
“A housing scarcity has all the time been a large factor in Hong Kong. So simply having a look on the folks he appointed, you’ll inform the principle center of attention can be on solving a few of these very exceptional issues of Hong Kong,” he informed CNBC on Friday.