Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam will head to capital on Monday for annual duty visit, but trip ‘no sign’ of Beijing’s preference in chief executive race

The final visit of her five-year term is expected to include face-to-face meetings with state leaders, though it is not known if President Xi Jinping will be among them

The trip to the capital comes barely three months before a race for city leadership for which Lam has yet to announce her candidacy

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Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng (right) meets with Carrie Lam during her visit to Beijing in March. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 7:01pm, 19 Dec 2021Updated: 12:45am, 20 Dec 2021

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor will travel to Beijing on Monday for her annual duty visit, the Post has learned, just a day after overseeing the first Legislative Council poll to be held since Beijing’s sweeping overhaul of the electoral system.

Sources said as it would be the last duty visit of her five-year term, state leaders were expected to meet Lam in person to formally thank her for her work.

Lam’s presentation of her annual report card in Beijing will take place barely three months ahead of Hong Kong’s March 27 leadership contest, and she is expected to set out the city’s political and economic accomplishments after a second year of battling the coronavirus pandemic.

She has yet to say if she will seek a second five-year term, but will probably brief state leaders on the process and outcomes of Sunday’s election.

Insiders told the Post the trip was unrelated to the coming chief executive poll, and state leaders were not expected to give any indication as to Beijing’s preference in that contest.