Officials from the central and Hong Kong authorities on Tuesday called for the special administrative region to put more emphasis on women’s development and family values in its strategic planning, particularly the city’s inaugural five-year plan, stressing women’s crucial role in social progress and family harmony.  

The remarks were made at the 2026 Hong Kong Family and Women Development Summit.

State Councilor Shen Yiqin, who is also head of the National Working Committee on Children and Women under the State Council, told the summit that the Hong Kong authorities must consider the needs of women and families within their development roadmaps, particularly those framed by new circumstances and priorities in the country’s 15th Five‑Year Plan (2026-30) period.

Opening the summit, Shen said she hoped Hong Kong’s first five-year plan would produce substantive measures on women’s rights protection, employment support, care services and family education, all pivotal to fostering a fairer, more inclusive and family-friendly social matrix.

In her address, Shen recognized the SAR government’s work in strengthening women’s growth and family cohesion, citing a rise in workforce participation and their expanding presence in decision-making and managerial positions across the city.

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Shen called these trends “important for economic development and social stability” and a “brilliant chapter” in the “patriots administering Hong Kong” principle’s implementation.

Riding this wave of progress, Shen urged Hong Kong’s women to lend their full support to the SAR’s chief executive and the territory’s government.

She emphasized that personal ambition and domestic harmony are inextricably linked to the vitality of the city and key national strategies, and said she looks to women to champion Hong Kong’s role in advancing the integrated growth of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Drawing on the city’s unique strength as a global gateway, Hong Kong’s women and families must also take a greater part in global discussions and governance, with intensified efforts to tell the story of “Chinese women”, including those from Hong Kong, in the strive for development.

Addressing the event, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said his administrative vision is to build Hong Kong into a “home founded on care and inclusion”. “Family is at the kernel of a caring, inclusive home-like Hong Kong,” he said, likening it to “a great tree that shelters all its members”.

Women who are self-reliant, self-empowered and play a central role in society can “make that tree more resilient and deeply rooted”, he added.

Lee told the audience that women make up around 54 percent of Hong Kong’s population and are more than half of the workforce across professional sectors such as law and accounting.

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Within the city’s government, eight of the 15 policy bureau directors are women — representing a majority, he added.

He pledged that the government will continue to foster an environment conducive to women’s development and refine policies in support of employment, entrepreneurship, lifelong learning and physical and mental wellbeing to further unleash their development potential.

Meanwhile, the government will work harder to embed the concepts of “family, family education and family values” into the fabric of society, Lee added.

Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak Mei-kuen said empowering women and family development would be fully reflected in the city’s inaugural five-year plan, due to be completed before the end of the year, to better align the city’s development with the national 15th Five-Year plan.

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According to Mak, the government-run Women Empowerment Fund and similar initiatives have long been instrumental in helping “equip” the city’s women. The fund has supported over 450 projects, with more than HK$66 million ($8.42 million) disbursed. Its annual allocation was boosted to HK$30 million under the 2025 Policy Address.

The half-day summit featured keynote speeches from distinguished women and leading proponents of women’s empowerment, alongside two panel discussions exploring women’s roles and opportunities across industry, as well as their experiences of responsibility, marriage, and child-rearing.

Contact the writer at wanqing@chinadailyhk.com