What is behind proposed move for Beijing’s key office on Hong Kong and Macau affairs to report directly to China’s top Communist Party leadership?

Beijing’s top office overseeing Hong Kong affairs is expected to be elevated to a unit answering directly to the leadership body of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, a move seen to be underscoring the city’s importance while also strengthening the party’s oversight role, the Post has learned.

Insiders said the impending change to the reporting line of the ministerial-level Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) – from an administrative agency of the State Council to the party’s Central Committee – was approved during the political body’s second plenary session on Tuesday as part of the “Party and State Institutional Reform Plan”.

The plan will be submitted to China’s top legislative body, the National People’s Congress (NPC), which begins its annual session on Sunday, and will take effect after being endorsed when the country’s two key annual political gatherings, also known as lianghui, conclude later this month.

Once adopted, the move will underscore how Hong Kong affairs remain a key focus for the central government while at the same time clarifying the chain of command between HKMAO and Beijing’s liaison office in the city, which acts as a bridge to the mainland authorities, according to sources.

Two mainland insiders familiar with the proposal told the Post the change might involve adding the official title of “The Hong Kong and Macau Work Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China” to the existing State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office.

It would be a de facto promotion of the office’s status as most decision-making power rests in the hands of the party organs, with President Xi Jinping at the core as its general secretary.

“The new title indicates that the office will officially be an agency under direct management of the party’s Central Committee going forward,” one source based in Beijing said.