Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu signs the District Councils (Amendment) Ordinance 2023 passed by the Legislative Council, July 7, 2023. (PHOTO COURTESY OF HKSAR GOVT)

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has signed the District Councils (Amendment) Ordinance 2023 passed by the Legislative Council. 

The ordinance will be published in the Gazette on July 10, and commence with immediate effect, the government said in a statement on Saturday.

The amended law will take effect for the purpose of constituting the seventh-term District Council, it added.

"The Ordinance is an important milestone of the work of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in improving district governance and bears symbolic significance to Hong Kong's advancement from stability to prosperity,” Lee said, terming it as one of the most important legislation of the SAR for 2023.

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Thanking the LegCo for passing the relevant bill and support from different sectors of the society, he said: “I affirm the work and efforts of the government team and all colleagues involved.”

The District Councils (Amendment) Ordinance 2023 will be gazetted on July 10, 2023, says the government. (PHOTO COURTESY OF HKSAR GOVT)

The SAR government will take forward various tasks to improve district governance in full force, promulgating guidelines for the operation of the DCs and the performance monitoring mechanism for DC members, and preparing for the election in accordance with the law, so that the new DCs can assume office smoothly on Jan 1, 2024, said the government.

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“The HKSAR government believes that the new term of DCs will work together with the government to resolve the livelihood issues in the districts, bring happiness to the public, unite the community and build a better Hong Kong together,” reads the statement.