First batch of 376 Hong Kong land leases to be renewed beyond 2047 under new mechanism
- Ordinance gazetted on Friday will allow 50-year extensions to take leases beyond crucial 2047 date, in move hailed by lawmakers and industry
Almost 400 land leases in Hong Kong that are due to expire in six years will be automatically renewed for another 50 years, beyond 2047, under a new arrangement that took effect on Friday.
The newly gazetted Extension of Government Leases Ordinance also allows more than 300,000 commercial, residential and industrial land leases to be automatically extended for another 50 years upon expiry on June 30, 2047.
The date, often referred to as a “cliff”, marked the end of a 50-year extension to most leases in the New Territories and parts of Kowloon, which had previously prompted fears that property owners would lose their assets.
Development minister Bernadette Linn Hon-ho said on Thursday that the ordinance “upholds the land policy made in July 1997 and simplifies the arrangement for extension of land leases”.
She added: “This manifests the solid safeguards to Hong Kong under the steadfast and successful implementation of ‘one country, two systems’, and creates more favourable conditions for Hong Kong to pursue economic growth.”
The one country, two systems governing principle, as stipulated in the city’s Basic Law mini-constitution, guarantees Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy for 50 years after the city’s return to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.
