| 行政長官辦公室 | |
 Emblem of the Hong Kong SAR | |
 | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 16 December 1996 |
| Jurisdiction | Government of Hong Kong |
| Headquarters | Office of the Chief Executive, 1 Tim Wa Avenue,Tamar,Admiralty,Hong Kong Island,Hong Kong |
| Agency executives |
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| Website | [1] |
| Office of the Chief Executive | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 行政長官辦公室 | ||||||||
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TheOffice of the Chief Executive (CEO) is agovernment agency that supports the work of theChief Executive of Hong Kong. It consists of the chief executive's closest political aides and support staff who run Government House, the Executive Council, and the chief executive's press office. The current director of the office isCarol Yip [zh], who was appointed in 2022 and is the first woman to serve in the position.
Historically, thegovernor's office consisted of aprivate office staffed bycivil servants, a spokesman, two personal advisers brought from the UK, theCentral Policy Unit, bodyguards from theRoyal Hong Kong Police Force, and anaide-de-camp. The governor's wife additionally had a social secretary.[1]
The Chief Executive's Office in its current form was created on 16 December 1996, shortly after the election ofTung Chee-hwa asChief Executive in the1996 election. The office took over the governor's establishment upon the transfer of sovereignty on 1 July 1997.[2]
Prior to thetransfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong, theGovernor's office was located inGovernment House, which served as the official residence and office for 25 of Hong Kong's 28 governors. After the Handover in 1997, the firstChief Executive of Hong Kong,Tung Chee Hwa, chose not to reside in Government House, citing the "crowded" environment and "badfeng shui". He moved his office to the fifth floor of the main wing of theCentral Government Offices (now known as Justice Place), which at the time housed the offices of the Chief Secretary and Financial Secretary. The move took place in December 1997, with Tung renting office space in the Asia Pacific Finance Tower from July to December 1997.[3][4]
WhenDonald Tsang assumed office in June 2005, he decided to reside in Government House again and initiated a monthslong remodelling of the residence. In January 2006, the office relocated back to Government House.
In 2002, the Executive Council under Tung Chee-hwa approved plans to construct a set of new offices for the government, which was outgrowing its premises in theMurray Building, Central Government Offices andLegislative Council Building. The newCentral Government Complex was completed in 2011, and included a dedicated building for the Chief Executive's office. The office moved into the new building on 8 August 2011 and has remained there since.[5]
The office is led by the director, who is a political appointee. The office's civil service establishment is led by the permanent secretary, who oversees the branches that cover the various areas of work carried out by the office:[2][6]
| Division | Officials | Incumbent | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Private Office | Private Secretary to the Chief Executive
| Vicki Kwok Wong Wing KiJP[7] | The private secretary was the most senior civil servant in the office until 1998. |
| Press Office | Information Coordinator
| ||
| Executive Council | Clerk to the Executive Council | ||
| Administration | Chief Executive Officer (Administration)
|
A small number of other officials in charge of running Government House and the Chief Executive's office are also attached to the Office. Asuperintendent of police serves as the Chief Executive's aide-de-camp.
The director of the office is apolitical appointee ranked at directorate pay scale point 8, equivalent to a secretary of apolicy bureau. The director serves as the Chief Executive'schief of staff.[8]
Political party: Nonpartisan
| № | Portrait | Name | Term of office | Duration | Chief Executive | Term | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Lam Woon-kwong 林煥光 | 1 July 2002 | 6 January 2005 | 2 years, 189 days | Tung Chee-hwa (1997–2005) | 2 | |
| Vacant | ||||||||
| Donald Tsang (2005–2012) | 2 | |||||||
| 2 |  | John Tsang Chun-wah 曾俊華 | 24 January 2006 | 30 June 2007 | 1 year, 157 days | |||
| 3 |  | Norman Chan Tak-lam 陳德霖 | 1 July 2007 | 31 July 2009 | 2 years, 30 days | 3 | ||
| 4 |  | Raymond Tam Chi-yuen 譚志源 | 1 August 2009 | 29 September 2011 | 2 years, 59 days | |||
| 5 |  | Gabriel Matthew Leung 梁卓偉 | 30 September 2011 | 30 June 2012 | 274 days | |||
| 6 |  | Edward Yau Tang-wah 邱騰華 | 1 July 2012 | 30 June 2017 | 4 years, 364 days | Leung Chun-ying (2012–2017) | 4 | |
| 7 |  | Eric Chan Kwok-ki 陳國基 | 1 July 2017 | 30 June 2022 | 4 years, 364 days | Carrie Lam (2017–2022) | 5 | |
| 8 |  | Carol Yip Man-kuen 葉文娟 | 1 July 2022 | Incumbent | 3 years, 116 days | John Lee (2022–present) | 6 | |
The permanent secretary is the most senior civil servant at the office. The position is ranked at directorate pay scale point 6, which is lower than the permanent secretaries of the various policy bureaux, who are ranked at point 8.
Information Coordinator was created byTung Chee Hwa after thetransfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong, prior to the transfer, press release was handle byInformation Services Department.
Traditionally, the Chief Executive would receive petitions outside his or her office every Tuesday before the weekly meeting of theExecutive Council.[9][10] The practice was suspended by Carrie Lam on 31 March 2020 to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and has not been revived since,[11][12] with her successor John Lee stating in 2023 that there was no need to do so as there were already many channels for the government to receive feedback.[13]
After theNational Security Law was passed, the Chief Executive's Office toldApple Daily that it would reveal the list of designated judges for national security cases, but in January 2021,Apple Daily revealed that the Chief Executive's Office had broken its promise and cited confidentiality.[14]
In August 2022, afterNancy Pelosi visited Taiwan,John Lee criticised the visit and vowed that "The Hong Kong government would fully support and facilitate all necessary measures by Beijing to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity."[15] After mainland China suspended imports from hundreds of food factories in Taiwan, the Office of the Chief Executive was asked whether Hong Kong would do the same, and the Office said it had nothing to add.[15]