Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu pledged on Monday to accelerate the city’s integration into national development by mapping out the special administrative region’s first five-year plan, seizing opportunities in the nation’s newly adopted 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–30).

This marks Hong Kong’s inaugural medium-term blueprint covering 2026 to 2030 — a fresh approach for one of the world’s freest economies as it navigates global volatility.

Speaking at the Hong Kong Economic Summit 2026, Lee said the SAR government is moving “full steam ahead” to formulate the plan in lockstep with the national plan’s opening year.

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Positioned as a macro, strategic framework rather than an extended policy address, the city’s five-year plan will provide clearer direction for economic, social and livelihood priorities in this open economy, Lee said.

Lee said the new plan will translate national priorities — including innovation, artificial intelligence, digital transformation, high-end manufacturing and a robust domestic market — into “concrete local agendas” to nurture emerging industries and “new quality productive forces.”

Lee told the audience of business elites that under “one country, two systems,” Hong Kong’s role as a superconnector and value creator makes it an ideal bridge for the nation’s global expansion.

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The proposed blueprint will set targets across priority domains: consolidating the city’s status as an international financial, shipping and trade center; expanding offshore renminbi and wealth-management businesses; building an innovation and technology hub; and deepening institutional connectivity with the rest of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

According to Lee, 68, and entering the fifth year of his current tenure, the plan will also incorporate national mandates like a commodities trading ecosystem, high-value supply-chain services, and creating a cultural and arts exchange and an international high-end talent hub.

The plan will give “clear guidance” for Hong Kong’s economic, social and livelihood development, with the ultimate goal of improving residents’ quality of life and strengthening the city’s competitiveness, Lee said.