Beijing’s top office overseeing Hong Kong affairs will be restructured into a higher-level outfit reporting directly to the Communist Party’s central leadership in a move seen as a de facto promotion for the body and underscoring the city’s importance to the country’s overall development plans. Sources familiar with the shake-up said Xia Baolong, director of the present Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO), would stay on as head of the new body to continue to supervise and implement the restructuring over the transitional period. Confirming an earlier Post report, Thursday’s announcement came just three days after China concluded its annual meetings of the legislature and top political advisory body. With the change, the high-level body formed on the basis of the HKMAO will answer to the party’s Central Committee instead of the State Council, according to the latest “Party and State Institutional Reform Plan’’ report published on Thursday evening. Setting out the enhanced scope of the new body, the report said it would “commit to the duties of investigating, researching, coordinating and supervising the implementation of the ‘one country, two systems’ principle, the comprehensive jurisdiction of the central government, and governance of Hong Kong and Macau in accordance with the law”. It would also “safeguard national security, guarantee people’s livelihoods and well-being, as well as support Hong Kong and Macau to integrate into the national development plan”. The new overarching body will be called the “Hong Kong and Macau Work Office of the Communist Party Central Committee”, while the original HKMAO name will still be retained. The reshuffle is considered an elevation of the office’s status since most decision-making power rests in the hands of party organs, with Xi Jinping sitting at the heart of the committee as its general secretary. Xi was recently endorsed as president for an unprecedented third term. Beijing official for Hong Kong affairs urges city delegates to be ‘more proactive’ In separate statements, the HKMAO and Beijing’s liaison office in the city said the change fully reflected the great importance Xi placed on the implementation of one country, two systems in Hong Kong and Macau and his deep concern for it, as well as the strong determination and will of the party’s Central Committee to uphold and improve the principle. The central government’s Office for Safeguarding National Security in the city said the new body would foster a new development paradigm through “promoting a new security paradigm”. The national security and liaison offices both said they resolutely supported the establishment of the new body to ensure the steady and long-term implementation of one country, two systems. Hailing the move in a statement, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said the central government had always worked for the good of Hong Kong and its people. He pledged to lead the local administration in maintaining effective communication with the new office to fulfil the duties of the chief executive, so the central government could fully understand the situation in Hong Kong. “[The Hong Kong government] will make good use of the distinctive advantages of enjoying the strong support of the motherland and being closely connected to the world, and more actively align with the national strategy to better integrate into the overall development of the country,” he said. Starry Lee Wai-king, the city’s sole delegate to the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, the nation’s top legislative body, said the upgrade showed the central government attached great importance to the work of Hong Kong and Macau. “The relevant work unit has been upgraded to better implement the relevant policies of the central government, better assist Hong Kong and Macau to integrate into the overall development of the country,” she said, while disagreeing the State Council’s power had been weakened under the change. Beijing’s top Hong Kong office to report directly to Communist Party leaders Sources earlier told the Post the move underscored how Hong Kong affairs remained a key focus for the central government, while political commentators said the upgrade could secure the city from national security threats amid complicated geopolitical tensions. Lau Siu-kai, a consultant at semi-official think tank the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, said the de facto elevation was “a significant step in the strategic planning” of the party and the central government to “centralise” its leadership in the city. “We must recognise that the Communist Party of China is the top policymaker and executor of one country, two systems,” he said, adding that enhancing the leadership of Hong Kong affairs could prevent the city from “becoming a weak link in national security, and be conducive to seamless integration of development strategies”. Political heavyweight Tam Yiu-chung said Beijing had always demanded that the Hong Kong administration improve people’s livelihoods, so stating it as one of the new office’s missions highlighted the central government’s expectations, while local authorities might need help from the mainland during the process. As part of the reform plan, the move was approved during the committee’s second plenary session last month and later submitted to the country’s top legislature, the NPC. Before the announcement, Beijing’s top envoy in the city, Zheng Yanxiong, was the most senior official to have hinted at the institutional change, when the liaison office released a speech he gave during a meeting with local deputies last week at the “two sessions” annual gathering. “Practice has proved, and will continue to prove, that reforms of the leadership system for Hong Kong and Macau are necessary to adapt to changes so as to ensure the party’s strong leadership in work related to one country, two systems,” he said. “[The change] is to ensure that the practice of one country, two systems will proceed steadily and in the right direction.” The HKMAO is the secretariat office of the powerful Central Leading Group on Hong Kong and Macau Affairs – the party’s top body in charge of the special administrative regions’ affairs, which reports direct to the Politburo. Director Xia, 70, began his political career in the Communist Youth League.