Principal officials (), according to the Basic Law, are government officials who are nominated by the

Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...

and appointed by the

State Council State Council may refer to: Government * State Council of the Republic of Korea, the national cabinet of South Korea, headed by the President * State Council of the People's Republic of China, the national cabinet and chief administrative autho ...

of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, sli ...

. They include departmental secretaries and secretaries of policy bureaux. Five other officials are also ''principal officials'' because of the importance of their positions (although three of them report to the secretaries and permanent secretaries of policy bureaux). They are required to be citizens of the People's Republic of China who are

permanent residents of Hong Kong The Hong Kong Basic Law classifies residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region () as either permanent residents or non-permanent residents. Hong Kong residents have rights under the Basic Law including freedom of speech, freedom o ...

with no right of abode in any foreign country who have ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for a continuous period of not less than 15 years. When assuming office, they must, in accordance with law, swear to uphold the Basic Law and swear their allegiance to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. Since the introduction of the

Principal Officials Accountability System Principal Officials Accountability System, commonly referred to as the Ministerial system (), sometimes the Accountability System, was introduced in Hong Kong by chief executive Tung Chee Hwa in July 2002. It is a system whereby all principal ...

on 1 July 2002 (and since 2008

Political Appointments System The Political Appointments System is a scheme introduced in 2008 by the Hong Kong Government to reinforce its ministerial team by superseding the Principal Officials Accountability System and inserting two layers of politically appointed offi ...

), secretaries of departments and secretaries of bureaux (but not the other five officials) are political appointees. Before that all of the principal officials were

civil servants The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

. The civil servants who held the positions of secretaries of bureaux have their titles changed to permanent secretaries, and are no longer principal officials.

List

Secretaries of Departments

Chief Secretary for Administration The Chief Secretary for Administration, commonly known as the Chief Secretary of Hong Kong, is the most senior principal official of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The Chief Secretary is head of the Governme ...

(

Eric Chan Eric Chan Kwok-ki (; born 5 April 1959) is a Hong Kong politician who is the incumbent Chief Secretary for Administration since 1 July 2022. He was also the secretary-general of the Committee for Safeguarding National Security (2020–2022). P ...

) * Financial Secretary (

Paul Chan Mo-po Paul Chan Mo-po (; born 18 March 1955) is the Financial Secretary of Hong Kong and former Secretary for Development of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. He was a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (Accountancy functional co ...

) *

Secretary for Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

(

Paul Lam Paul Lam Ting-kwok (; born 1968) is a Hong Kong Senior Counsel who is the current Secretary for Justice. Education Lam was educated at Wah Yan College, Hong Kong. He obtained a Bachelor of Laws (with Second Class Honour Division One) in 19 ...

)

Deputy Secretaries of Departments

Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration is a ministerial position in the Government of Hong Kong, deputising the Chief Secretary for Administration, the second-highest position in Hong Kong. The position was created in 2022 after John Lee to ...

( Warner Cheuk) *

Deputy Financial Secretary Deputy Financial Secretary is a ministerial position in the Government of Hong Kong, deputising the Financial Secretary. The position was created in 2022 after John Lee took office as Chief Executive. History Deputy Financial Secretary was cr ...

(

Michael Wong Wai-lun Michael Wong Wai-lun, JP (; born 1962) is a Hong Kong government official who has been Deputy Financial Secretary since 2022. Early life Wong received a Bachelor of Social Sciences Degree from the University of Hong Kong and a Bachelor of ...

) * Deputy Secretary for Justice (

Horace Cheung Horace Cheung Kwok-kwan, JP (, born 30 June 1974) is a Hong Kong solicitor and politician and the former vice-chairman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), the largest pro-Beijing party in Hong Kong. ...

)

Directors of Bureaux

* Supervised by the Chief Secretary: **

Secretary for the Civil Service The Secretary for the Civil Service is the head of the Civil Service Bureau in Hong Kong. Unlike other secretaries for bureaux, the Secretary for the Civil Service is filled by an administrative officer from the civil service, who may choose to ...

( Ingrid Yeung Ho Poi-yan) **

Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs The Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs is the head of the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau in Government of Hong Kong, which is responsible for promoting the Basic Law, constitutional affairs, electoral development, and c ...

(

Erick Tsang Erick Tsang Kwok-wai (; born 1 September 1963) is a Hong Kong government official. Since 2020, he has been Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, one of the principal officials of Hong Kong. Prior to that, he was Director of Immig ...

) ** Secretary for Education (Choi Yuk-lin) **

Secretary for Environment and Ecology The Secretary for Environment and Ecology () of the Hong Kong Government is responsible for environment protection policy in Hong Kong. The position was created most recently in 2007 as the Secretary for the Environment to replace portions of the ...

(

Tse Chin-wan The abbreviation TSE can refer to: Education *Toulouse School Of Economics, in Toulouse, France *Turku School of Economics, in Turku, Finland * TSE (examination), Test of Spoken English Health * Testicular self-examination *Transmissible spongifo ...

) **

Secretary for Health The Secretary for Health () is a ministerial position in the Hong Kong Government, who heads the Health Bureau. The current office holder is Lo Chung-mau. The position was created on 1 July 2022, following the reshuffle of the principal of ...

(

Lo Chung-mau Lo Chung-mau (, born 1961) is a specialist in liver transplant, currently the Secretary of Health of the Government of Hong Kong. Before joining the government, he was Hospital Chief Executive at The University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital, Chai ...

) ** Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs ( Alice Mak) **

Secretary for Labour and Welfare The Secretary for Labour and Welfare () of the Hong Kong Government is responsible for labour and social welfare policy in Hong Kong. The position was created in 2007 to replace portions of the previous portfolio of Secretary for Economic Develo ...

( Chris Sun) **

Secretary for Security The Secretary for Security is the member of the Government of Hong Kong in charge of the Security Bureau, which is responsible for public safety, security, and immigration matters. The post was created in 1973 and since the Principal Offi ...

(

Chris Tang Chris Tang Ping-keung (; born 4 July 1965) is a Hong Kong law enforcement administrator, currently serving the Secretary for Security of Hong Kong since 25 June 2021. He previously served as the Commissioner of the Hong Kong Police Force fro ...

) ** Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism (

Kevin Yeung Kevin Yeung Yun-hung (; born 26 January 1963) is a Hong Kong government official. He is the current Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, serving since 2022. He graduated from the University of Hong Kong with a Bachelor of Social Sciences ...

) * Supervised by the Financial Secretary: **

Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development heads the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau of the Hong Kong Government. The Secretary is responsible for promoting commerce and the economic development of Hong Kong. The position was c ...

(

Algernon Yau Algernon Yau Ying-wah (; born 1959) is the current Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development in Hong Kong, appointed on 1 July 2022 as part of John Lee's administration. Biography Yau is the grandson of late Qing Taiwanese Hakka patriot ...

) **

Secretary for Development The Secretary for Development of the Hong Kong Government is responsible for planning, land development and public works related development policy in Hong Kong. The position was created in 2007 to replace portions of the previous portfolios ...

(

Bernadette Linn Bernadette is a French name, a female form of the name Bernard, which means "brave bear". Notable persons with the name include: People * Bernadette (singer) (born 1959), Dutch singer * Bernadette Allen (born 1956), American foreign service o ...

) **

Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, head of Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau of the Hong Kong Government The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, commonly known as the Hong Kong Govern ...

( Christopher Hui) **

Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry The Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry (), formerly Secretary for Innovation and Technology (), is a Hong Kong Government position created in 2015 by the Leung Chun-ying government after years-long opposition of the pan-democracy ...

(

Dong Sun Dong Sun (; born 1967) is a Chinese scientist in Hong Kong who is currently the Chair Professor and Head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Director of the Centre for Robotics and Automation at the City University of Hong Kong. He ...

) **

Secretary for Housing The Secretary for Housing () in Hong Kong is responsible for housing related issues. The position was first created in 1973 and re-created in 2022 after renamed to Secretary for Transport and Housing in 2007. List of office holders Political par ...

( Winnie Ho) **

Secretary for Transport and Logistics The Secretary for Transport and Logistics () in Hong Kong is responsible for transport and logistics related issues. The position was created in 2022 to replace the previous position of Secretary for the Transport and Housing. The position of S ...

(

Lam Sai-hung Lam or LAM may refer to: Organizations * Laguna Art Museum, California, US * Lam Eng Rubber, a Malaysian manufacturer * Lam Research, American semiconductor equipment company * LAM Mozambique Airlines, flag carrier airline of Mozambique * Librari ...

)

Heads of Specified Independent Agencies or Disciplined Services

* Commissioner of Police (

Raymond Siu Raymond Siu Chak-yee (Chinese: 蕭澤頤; born 2 April 1966) is the current Commissioner of Police of the Hong Kong Police Force since 25 June 2021. He previously served as Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations) of the Hong Kong Police Fo ...

) *

Commissioner, Independent Commission Against Corruption The Commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption heads the body that is responsible for investigating and prosecuting corruption in both the public and private realms in Hong Kong. The ICAC was created in 1974 to deal with the c ...

( Woo Ying-ming) *

Director of Audit The chief audit executive (CAE), director of audit, director of internal audit, auditor general, or controller general is a high-level independent corporate executive with overall responsibility for internal audit. Publicly traded corporations typ ...

(

Nelson Lam Nelson Lam Chi-yuen, (, born 20 August 1968) is a Hong Kong accountant and politician who is one of the elected Legislative Council members for the Election Committee constituency which was newly created under the electoral overhaul imposed b ...

) *

Commissioner of Customs and Excise The Commissioner of Customs and Excise () is the head of the Customs and Excise Department, which is responsible for monitoring the movement of goods into and out of Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Sp ...

(

Louise Ho Louise Ho Pui-shan (, born 31 December 1967) is a Hong Kong civil servant and principal official, currently serving as Commissioner of Customs and Excise, the first woman to hold that post. Early years Ho was born on 31 December 1967, and st ...

) *

Director of Immigration The Director of Immigration is the head of the Immigration Department of the Hong Kong Government, which is responsible for immigration issues and controlling entry ports into Hong Kong. Decisions to reject people from entering are made by fro ...

(

Au Ka-wang Au Ka-wang (; born 1967) is the current Director of Immigration of Hong Kong since July 2020. He began service in the Immigration Department in 1988. Career He joined the Immigration Department in November 1988 as an Assistant Immigrati ...

)

External links

Principal Officials of the Hong Kong SAR government
{{HK Principal Officials Hong Kong politics-related lists Government officials of Hong Kong