Former chief secretary Rafael Hui Si-yan and four other Hong Kong delegates were elected to the Standing Committee of Beijing's top advisory body yesterday.
More than 2,000 national delegates to the 11th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference attended the national committee in Beijing yesterday to elect the president, deputy president, secretary general and Standing Committee members for the next five years.
Of the 298 Standing Committee members, 16 come from Hong Kong.
Other newly elected members include Henry Cheng Kar-shun, managing director of New World Development; sporting sector figure Albert Hung Chao-hong; Stephen Tai Tak-fung, chairman of the listed company Four Seas Mercantile Group; and Li Guikang, deputy director of the central government's liaison office in Hong Kong.
Mr Hui, who said he was happy with his new post, won 2,169 of 2,172 valid votes.
Mr Tai said he believed the new Standing Committee members would make a good team and that the increase of two seats held by Hongkongers reflected Beijing's high regard for the city. As a Standing Committee member, he said he particularly wanted to contribute to policies related to food safety.