Chief Secretary for Administration

The chief secretary for administration is the second-highest government official in Hong Kong, right after the Chief Executive of Hong Kong. When the chief executive is on leave, the chief secretary for administration will act on their behalf.

Chief Secretary for Administration
政務司司長
Emblem of Hong Kong
Incumbent Eric Chan since 1 July 2022
Government Secretariat of Hong Kong Government of Hong Kong
Style	Chief Secretary (司長) (informal) The Honourable (尊貴的) (formal)
Member of	Government Secretariat Executive Council
Reports to	Legislative Council
Residence	Victoria House, 15 Barker Road, Victoria Peak
Nominator	Chief Executive
Appointer	State Council of the People's Republic of China
Term length	No longer than the Chief Executive's remaining term
Constituting instrument	Hong Kong Basic Law
Inaugural holder	Anson Chan
Formation	1 July 1997; 27 years ago (1997-07-01)
Salary	HK$4,500,000 annually[1]
Website	cso.gov.hk

Chief Secretary for Administration
Traditional Chinese	政務司司長
Simplified Chinese	政务司司长
Cantonese Yale	Jingmouhsī Sījéung
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhèngwùsī Sīzhǎng Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Jingmouhsī Sījéung Jyutping Zing3mou6si1 Si1zoeng2 IPA [tsēːŋ.mòu.síː síː.tsœ̌ːŋ]

The chief secretary for administration heads the Government Secretariat, which oversees the administration of the Region to which all other ministers belong. The chief secretary for administration reports to the chief executive and to the Legislative Council. Under Article 53 of the Basic Law, the position is known as "Administrative Secretary".

The chief secretary formulates and implements government policy, gives advice to the Chief Executive as a member of the Executive Council, and is responsible for managing the Government's relationship with the Legislative Council and drawing up the Government's legislative programme. The office (“Department of Administration” per Article 60 of the Basic Law) also exercises certain statutory functions, such as the handling of appeals from designated public bodies.^[2]

Prior to the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997, the office was known simply as "Chief Secretary" (Chinese: 布政司; Cantonese Yale: Boujingsī), and before 27 August 1976, "Colonial Secretary"(Chinese: 輔政司; Cantonese Yale: Fuhjingsī).^[3][4][5] Until the introduction of the Principal Officials Accountability System in 2002, the Chief Secretary was a civil service position, and in this capacity, the head of the public service. In 2005, Henry Tang became the first person who has not been a civil servant to be appointed to the office of the chief secretary.^{[citation needed]}

From the 1870s to 1902 the colonial secretary was the de facto lieutenant governor of Hong Kong which was once held by the commander of British Forces in Hong Kong before 1870s when the post was not lapsed from power. After 1902 the title disappeared from use as the second highest post was transferred to the colonial secretary and later, chief secretary.^{[citation needed]}

List of chief secretaries of Hong Kong

Colonial secretaries, 1843–1941

No.	Portrait	Name	Term of office		Governor	Ref
1		George Alexander Malcolm 麻恭	26 June 1843	29 August 1843	Sir Henry Pottinger (1843–1844)
2		Sir Frederick Wright-Bruce 卜魯斯	9 February 1844	1846		[6]
					Sir John Francis Davis (1843–1848)
3		William Caine 威廉·堅	3 September 1846	12 April 1854		[7]
					Sir George Bonham (1848–1854)
4		William Thomas Mercer 孖沙	13 April 1854	14 May 1867	Sir John Bowring (1854–1859)	[8]
					Sir Hercules Robinson (1859–1865)
					Sir Richard MacDonnell (1866–1872)
5		John Gardiner Austin 柯士甸	7 May 1868	4 April 1878		[9]
					Sir Arthur Kennedy (1872–1877)
					Sir John Pope Hennessy (1877–1882)
6		William Henry Marsh 馬師	3 January 1879	10 June 1887
					Sir George Bowen (1883–1887)
7		Frederick Stewart 史釗域	5 October 1887	6 October 1889	Sir William Des Voeux (1887–1891)
8		Francis Fleming 菲林明	17 January 1890	26 February 1892
					Sir William Robinson (1891–1898)
9		G. T. M. O'Brien 柯布連	11 March 1892	30 April 1894
10		Sir Stewart Lockhart 駱克	26 March 1895	23 April 1902
					Sir Henry Arthur Blake (1898–1903)
11		Sir Francis Henry May 梅含理	14 May 1902	30 April 1911		[10][11]
					Sir Matthew Nathan (1904–1907)
					Sir Frederick Lugard (1907–1912)
12		Warren Delabere Barnes 班士	7 June 1911	28 October 1911		[12]
13		Sir Claud Severn 施勳	22 February 1912	14 November 1925
					Sir Francis Henry May (1912–1918)
					Sir Reginald Stubbs (1919–1925)
14		Sir Thomas Southorn 修頓	1 May 1926	23 March 1936	Sir Cecil Clementi (1925–1930)
					Sir William Peel (1930–1935)
					Sir Andrew Caldecott (1935–1937)
15		Norman Lockhart Smith 史美	26 November 1936	8 December 1941
					Sir Geoffry Northcote (1937–1941)
					Sir Mark Aitchison Young (1941)
16		Sir Franklin Gimson 詹遜	8 December 1941	25 December 1941

Colonial secretaries, 1946–1976

No.	Portrait	Name	Term of office		Duration	Governor	Ref
17		David Mercer MacDougall 麥道高	1 May 1946	11 May 1949	2 years, 344 days	Sir Mark Aitchison Young (1946–1947)
						Sir Alexander Grantham (1947–1957)
18		John Fearns Nicoll 列誥	25 May 1949	23 January 1952	2 years, 243 days
19		Sir Robert Brown Black 柏立基	20 February 1952	30 March 1955	3 years, 38 days
20		Edgeworth Beresford David 戴維德	4 May 1955	24 January 1958	2 years, 265 days		[13]
						Sir Robert Brown Black (1958–1964)
21		Claude Bramall Burgess 白嘉時	24 January 1958	10 March 1963	5 years, 46 days		[13][14][15]
22		Edmund Brinsley Teesdale 戴斯德	11 March 1963	28 March 1965	2 years, 18 days		[15][16]
						Sir David Trench (1964–1971)
23		Sir Michael Gass 祈濟時	4 September 1965	22 January 1969	3 years, 141 days		[17][18]
24		Sir Hugh Norman-Walker 羅樂民	29 March 1969	29 September 1973	4 years, 185 days		[19]
						Sir Murray MacLehose (1971–1982)
25		Sir Denys Roberts 羅弼時	30 September 1973	26 August 1976	2 years, 332 days		[20][4]

Chief secretaries, 1976–1997

No.	Portrait	Name	Term of office		Duration	Governor	Ref
1		Sir Denys Roberts 羅弼時	27 August 1976	2 October 1978	2 years, 37 days	Sir Murray MacLehose (1971–1982)	[4][21]
2		Sir Jack Cater 姬達	3 October 1978	19 November 1981	3 years, 48 days		[21][22]
3		Sir Philip Haddon-Cave 夏鼎基	20 November 1981	9 June 1985	3 years, 202 days		[22][23]
						Sir Edward Youde (1982–1986)
4		Sir David Akers-Jones 鍾逸傑	10 June 1985	11 February 1987	1 year, 247 days		[23][24]
5		Sir David Robert Ford 霍德	12 February 1987	28 November 1993	6 years, 290 days	Sir David Wilson (1987–1992)	[24][25]
						Chris Patten (1992–1997)
6		Anson Chan 陳方安生	29 November 1993	30 June 1997	3 years, 214 days		[25]

Chief secretaries for administration, 1997–present

Political party:   Nonpartisan

No.	Portrait	Name	Term of office		Duration	Chief Executive	Term	Ref
1		Anson Chan 陳方安生	1 July 1997	30 April 2001	3 years, 304 days	Tung Chee-hwa (1997–2005)	1
2		Donald Tsang Yam-kuen 曾蔭權	1 May 2001	31 May 2005[a]	4 years, 31 days
							2
3		Rafael Hui Si-yan 許仕仁	30 June 2005	30 June 2007	2 years, 0 days	Donald Tsang (2005–2012)	2
4		Henry Tang Ying-yen 唐英年	1 July 2007	30 September 2011[b]	4 years, 91 days		3
5		Stephen Lam Sui-lung 林瑞麟	30 September 2011	30 June 2012	275 days
6		Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor 林鄭月娥	1 July 2012	16 January 2017[c]	4 years, 200 days	Leung Chun-ying (2012–2017)	4	[26][27]
7		Matthew Cheung Kin-chung 張建宗	16 January 2017	25 June 2021	4 years, 161 days			[28]
						Carrie Lam (2017–2022)	5
8		John Lee Ka-chiu 李家超	25 June 2021	7 April 2022[d]	287 days			[29]
9		Eric Chan Kwok-ki 陳國基	1 July 2022	Incumbent	2 years and 317 days	John Lee (2022–present)	6	[30]

1. Resigned on 25 May 2005, with effect from 1 June 2005, Michael Suen served as acting Chief Secretary between 25 May and 30 June 2005.
2. Resigned on 28 September 2011, with effect from 30 September 2011, Michael Suen served as acting Chief Secretary between 28 and 30 September 2011.
3. Resigned on 12 January 2017, with effect from 16 January 2017, Matthew Cheung served as acting Chief Secretary from 13 to 16 January 2017.
4. Resigned on 6 April 2022, with effect from 7 April 2022; Position vacant until 1 July 2022.

Residence

Victoria House, 15 Barker Road, Hong Kong.

The Chief Secretary resides at an official residence at 15 Barker Road, The Peak, Hong Kong, which is also known as Victoria House and Victoria Flats.

See also

• Hong Kong portal

• Hong Kong Government
• Government departments and agencies in Hong Kong
• Secretary for Justice (Hong Kong)
• Financial Secretary (Hong Kong)
• Secretary for Education and Manpower
• Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
• Lieutenant Governor of Hong Kong - second in command from 1843 to 1870s