A citywide survey of 150,000 Hong Kong residents saw the formation of the city’s new-term Legislative Council in December as 2025’s top government event by influence. Coming in second was November’s fatal fire in Tai Po and the ensuing coordinated post-disaster relief effort.

The “2025 Top 10 Most Influential Government Event” poll also includes the conviction of Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, founder of the now-defunct tabloid Apple Daily, in his national security trial; the turbocharged development of the Northern Metropolis land development project; progress on Hong Kong’s gold-trading market; the opening of Kai Tak Sports Park; and the official landing of the headquarters of the International Organization for Mediation in the city.

The poll also mentions the tripartite success of Hong Kong’s cohosting the 15th National Games and the combined 12th National Games for Persons with Disabilities and the 9th National Special Olympic Games with Guangdong province and the Macao Special Administrative Region.

Addressing Thursday’s awards ceremony for the poll, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu lauded the poll as a major public-opinion platform that allows the government to “take the pulse of the local community”.

Lee reaffirmed that the successful LegCo election is proof that the principles of “executive-led” and “patriots administering Hong Kong” are taking hold, and highlighted that the election — the second under the revamped electoral system — has paved the way for “a new era of positive interactions between the city’s executive and legislature”.

The chief executive added that the fair rulings on national security cases by the city’s Judiciary have showcased Hong Kong’s resolve to safeguard national security and uphold the rule of law. These two pivotal events are like “two sides of the same coin”, together consolidating the fundamental conditions for Hong Kong’s progress from stability to prosperity, he added.

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Lee said he expects the city to “stride forward with grit” in the new year, and promised to lead the administration’s efforts to strengthen executive-led governance, rally patriots to help govern the city, actively integrate into national development, and push through reforms to break down entrenched interests for a better future.

At the same event, Li Dahong, chairman and editor-in-chief of the poll’s founding body, Hong Kong Ta Kung Wen Wei Media Group, said the events residents chose have covered crucial areas such as politics, the economy, innovation and technology, livelihoods, and the city’s deepened integration into the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

He said the list clearly reflects the chief executive’s leadership in enacting “patriots administering Hong Kong”, actively aligning with national development, and vigorously working to grow the city’s economy, drive its development, push reforms, improve public livelihood, and elevate the SAR’s progress.

2026 heralds the start of the country’s 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30), and for the year ahead, “our confidence in Hong Kong is strong — a faith well-placed on the government’s ever-increasing effectiveness of good governance; its persistent drive for reform, and the ever-expanding depth and scope of Hong Kong’s integration into the national development framework”, he said.

Launched in 1998, the annual poll was cohosted by 30 media organizations this year, including China Daily.

Contact the writer at: wanqing@chinadailyhk.com