Five-Year Plan: Hong Kong eyes boost in innovation spending, ratio of doctors to population among other targets
Hong Kong has set a range of goals as part of its first Five-Year Plan in line with China’s, from boosting spending on innovation to increasing the ratio of doctors to the population. Chief Executive John Lee spent around an hour and 20 minutes reading out key points from the Five-Year Plan before moving on […]
Hong Kong has unveiled its first Five-Year Plan, aligning with China's own initiative, on September 16, 2026. Chief Executive John Lee outlined five key objectives during his Policy Address, which includes boosting innovation spending and improving the ratio of doctors to the population. The plan features 22 anticipatory or binding indicators, mirroring Beijing's evaluation framework.
Among these, authorities aim to increase the domestic expenditure on innovation activities to GDP ratio from 1.63% in 2024 to 3% by 2030. Additionally, the tourism industry's value added is targeted to rise by 40-50% during the same period. In education, Hong Kong plans to increase non-local students in post-secondary full-time programmes by 25%, from 79,800 in 2024/25 to 100,000 in 2029/30.
For healthcare, the city seeks to improve the ratio of doctors to population from 2.25 per 1,000 in 2024 to 2.43 in 2030. Environmentally, Hong Kong has four binding targets: increasing zero-carbon energy in electricity generation from 25% in 2024 to 30% by 2030, reducing PM2.5 concentration from 15 micrograms per cubic meter to below 14, expanding "spade-ready sites" in the Northern Metropolis by 750% cumulatively, and increasing completed housing units in the metropolis by 640%.
Written by urgent.news from Hong Kong Free Press's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
