Hong Kong is set to formulate its own five-year development plan to align with the nation’s 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30). This message, recently revealed by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, has quickly become a focal point of public discussion across the special administrative region, with various sectors offering proposals and suggestions. In my view, the formulation of a five-year plan for Hong Kong is not only necessary but also urgent. Such a plan should be grounded in Hong Kong’s real circumstances, closely aligned with national policy directions, and attentive to the evolving global landscape.

Having served for many years as a Hong Kong deputy to the National People’s Congress, I have gained a deep appreciation of the significance of the nation’s five-year planning system. A five-year plan is not merely a road map for government administration; it is also an action program that consolidates social consensus and guides national development. It ensures the stability of national development strategies and enhances policy predictability, providing institutional guarantees for long-term economic growth.

The process of drafting such a plan is itself a process of building consensus across society. Once finalized, the plan becomes a shared blueprint for collective action. Through a combination of binding targets and anticipatory indicators, it ensures that major tasks are effectively implemented, thereby strengthening government policy execution and governance efficiency. The importance of a five-year plan, therefore, cannot be overstated.

The 15th Five-Year Plan has been formally launched after its adoption during the annual two sessions in Beijing. Against this backdrop, Hong Kong’s preparation of its own first five-year plan is both time-sensitive and demanding. The public expects the proposed plan, whose formulation is led by the chief executive, to serve as a strategic reference for the city’s long-term development.

In strategic planning, timing is critical. The faster and more decisively the process moves forward, the better positioned Hong Kong will be to seize opportunities. Ideally, consultation, drafting, and finalization of the SAR’s first five-year plan should be completed between the middle and the end of this year.

Once a clear timetable is established, the drafting process can enter a more substantive research phase. China’s national planning system generally operates on three levels: the national plan, regional or provincial plans, and specialized sectoral plans. Each year also sets priority missions — during the past decade it was poverty alleviation, while the current emphasis is on high-quality development. As a special administrative region, Hong Kong’s development planning should benchmark itself against the national strategy framework while defining its own targets and tasks.

As Hong Kong enters a new stage of transition from stability to prosperity, the time is ripe for the city to formulate its own five-year development plan. When completed, such a plan will help unite all sectors of society, enabling Hong Kong to contribute more proactively and effectively to its own and the nation’s development

According to the chief executive, Hong Kong’s five-year development plan should serve as a systematic policy framework that provides more precise and detailed strategic deployment for key development areas. Identifying these priority areas — and determining how to address them with precision and depth — will be central to the plan.

First, a clear systemic framework is required. Earlier, before an Executive Council meeting, the chief executive noted that Hong Kong will comprehensively, proactively and actively align with the 15th Five-Year Plan through five major priorities. These priorities correspond to the national strategic positioning for Hong Kong: consolidating and enhancing the city’s role as an international financial center, shipping center, and trading center; developing it into an international innovation and technology hub; and building it into a global talent hub.

In my view, Hong Kong should formulate a coherent policy framework around these five priority areas and use this framework to guide other planning initiatives. Such a framework should not be abstract. It must be grounded in a careful assessment of the current global political and economic environment, aligned with the 15th Five-Year Plan, and coordinated with the plans of provinces and cities on the Chinese mainland. In particular, it should strengthen alignment with the five-year development strategies of Macao, Guangdong province, and other cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Enhanced communication with local governments will help produce a plan that truly reflects Hong Kong characteristics.

Second, the plan must be precise. As a forward-looking and systemic policy document for the SAR, it should be concise yet impactful — small but refined. At the same time, it must address Hong Kong’s most pressing challenges in economic development and people’s well-being.

These include the development of the Northern Metropolis, the transformation and upgrading of Hong Kong’s industries, improvements in healthcare services, elderly care, and housing conditions, as well as stronger support for innovation and technology development and talent attraction. Each of these areas requires targeted policies capable of unlocking new growth momentum.

Finally, the plan must be detailed. This aspect will test the capacity of top-level policymakers to ensure effective implementation. A plan is formulated not merely to set goals but to achieve them. Beyond providing a top-level framework, the document should also establish concrete performance indicators for different sectors and stages.

For example, how much GDP growth should Hong Kong aim to achieve over the next five years? How can institutional barriers be removed to accelerate the development of the Northern Metropolis? What fiscal policies can the HKSAR government adopt to stimulate consumption and attract investment? These are issues that the guiding document should address by setting expectations, providing direction, and emphasizing implementation.

In recent decades, the world has observed how China has advanced through successive five-year plans, achieving remarkable improvements in economic strength, technological capacity, national defense, overall national power, and international influence. These achievements stem not only from visionary blueprints and clear goals but also from strong determination in implementation.

As Hong Kong enters a new stage of transition from stability to prosperity, the time is ripe for the city to formulate its own five-year development plan. When completed, such a plan will help unite all sectors of society, enabling Hong Kong to contribute more proactively and effectively to its own and the nation’s development.

The author is a Hong Kong deputy to the National People’s Congress.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.