Hong Kong will proactively align with national strategies outlined in the country’s latest five-year plan, contributing its strength to further deepening reform comprehensively and advancing Chinese modernization, the special administrative region government said on Thursday.

The statement came shortly after the 14th National People’s Congress, China’s top legislature, approved "Outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of the People's Republic of China", or the 15th Five-Year Plan.

The SAR government expressed sincere gratitude to the central authorities for their support in consolidating and enhancing the city’s competitive edge across various key areas, facilitating its better integration into and service of the overall national development, and deepening the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

“I will lead the HKSAR government to earnestly fulfil its role in bearing the primary responsibility for the governance of Hong Kong, unite various sectors of the community to actively support and proactively align with the national 15th Five-Year Plan,” Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said in a statement.

Terming the latest plan as the blueprint and action agenda for the social and economic development of the country in the next five years, he said the SAR government will map out strategic initiatives of greater comprehensiveness, higher precision and in finer detail for key development areas, and draw up a macroscopic, strategic and forward-looking five-year plan for the first time for Hong Kong.

The preparatory groups set up earlier by various bureaus have been converted into the formulation teams for the alignment with the 15th Five-Year Plan, which will work at full speed to complete the Hong Kong five-year plan within this year, added the CE.

Pointing out that Hong Kong’s first five-year plan – aligned with the nation’s 15th Five-Year Plan – will have far-reaching implications, he said, “Serving as the collective action framework for the HKSAR, it will outline Hong Kong's development vision, core objectives, key areas and major initiatives over the next five years.”

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With the plan providing clear guidance for the city’s socio-economic and livelihood development, driving its deeper integration into and contribution to the overall national development, the most direct benefit of the Hong Kong five-year plan stems from the robust backing of national development, he said.

The country's comprehensive capabilities provide Hong Kong with immense market momentum and development opportunities, he said.

In the area of innovation and technology, Hong Kong can accelerate collaboration and transformation among the industry, academic and research sectors through the development of the Northern Metropolis, Lee added.

As regards industrial upgrading, the city can also integrate into national strategies, such as the 'Artificial Intelligence Plus (AI+) Initiative', to empower its traditional competitive industries, thereby strengthening its new productive forces amid the new round of scientific and technological revolution as well as industry transformation.

“To ensure the smooth progress of the formulation work, I will take the lead in this endeavor, with the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau assuming primary responsibility. All secretaries of bureaus shall fully commit to driving forward and jointly participating in this initiative,” he added.

The SAR government said, the 15th Five-Year Plan explicitly points out that the "one country, two systems" principle, "Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong" and a high degree of autonomy should be implemented with unwavering commitment; the "patriots administering Hong Kong" principle should be put into practice; and governance efficacy should be ensured to promote the city’s economic and social development and give full play to Hong Kong's unique advantages and important role of maintaining close connections with both the mainland and the world.

Pointing out that the 15th Five-Year Plan’s emphasis on boosting cooperation between the SAR and the mainland in the areas of economic, trade, technology and culture, the HKSAR government said the national plan also clearly proposed for the first time to deepen innovation collaboration between industry, academic and research sectors with the mainland, drive breakthroughs in priority areas of cooperation, promote coordinated development of ports, airports and rail transit, advance the preparatory work for the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Western Rail Link, and develop major cooperation platforms including the Loop to high standards.

Enjoying the advantage of connecting the mainland and the world under the "one country, two systems" principle, Hong Kong will fully leverage its international and market-oriented characteristics to promote connectivity with the mainland, said a government spokesman.

Referring to the National Development Planning Law, which was also adopted by the fourth session of the 14th NPC, the spokesman said this fully reflected the staunch support of the central authorities for Hong Kong's alignment with national development planning, providing robust legal safeguards for Hong Kong to better integrate into and serve the overall national development.

With the robust support of the 15th Five-Year Plan, Hong Kong will continue to consolidate and enhance its international competitiveness, deepen international exchanges and cooperation, strengthen its bridging role between the mainland and the world, and pioneer a new phase of high-quality development for Hong Kong, said the spokesman.

“This will enable us to better integrate into and serve the overall national development, thereby making Hong Kong's contributions to the nation's endeavors in building a great country and achieving national rejuvenation.”