Who are the 11 new Hongkongers elected to China’s legislature – and what impact will they have on policy making?

Hong Kong’s contingent to the country’s legislature, the National People’s Congress, had a mini-makeover on Tuesday with 11 new faces elected into its ranks, including several low profile business leaders and a former minister.

Some 49 candidates ran in the small-circle election to be among the chosen 36 delegates who represent the city in the legislature but are also widely seen as pro-Beijing in their political leanings.

All but one of the 26 incumbents retained their seats, with the sole loser among the veterans being businessman and former singer Cheung Ming-man.

After the election, NPC vice-chairman Wang Chen, who witnessed the proceedings, said the central government expected the deputies to take a leading role in four areas.

“They should take the lead in supporting Hong Kong’s chief executive and government … in forging and safeguarding social unity, harmony and stability, in caring about young people, and in promoting exchanges and cooperation between the city and the mainland,” he said.

In an election where candidates and voters alike accept that Beijing controlled the strings from behind, there were few surprises. Still, it was notable, said analysts, that the central government made plain that even among pro-establishment candidates, it had clear preferences and expectations.

Hence, while pundits had predicted more professionals would be elected, lawyer Nick Chan Hiu-fung of the Liberal Party, former Law Society president Ambrose Lam San-keung, as well as educator Wong Kwan-yu, president of the Beijing-loyalist Federation of Education Workers, did not make the cut.