Consulates in Hong Kong may need approval from China foreign ministry to extend property leases
Hong Kong Free Press
Consulates and international organisations in Hong Kong will have to win approval from China’s foreign ministry to extend leases for their properties in the city, the government has said in a proposal to revamp lease extension mechanism ahead of an expected mass expiries.
The Development Bureau on Thursday announced new plans for lease extensions ahead of a “significant number of leases expiring from 2025 onwards.” According to a document submitted to the Legislative Council, the bureau said that about 2,400 leases will expire between June 2025 and June 29, 2047. On June 30, 2047 – 50 years after the city returned to Chinese rule – 300,000 leases will expire on the same day, affecting more than 1.5 million owners.
The bureau proposed replacing the existing mechanism of handling renewals by drawing up individual contracts with properties owners. Instead, authorities would publish Extension Notices and a “non-extension list” no less than six years before leases expire, which would grant 50-year extensions for eligible leases.
China’s approval
The proposal also included a new requirement for consulates and representative offices of international organisations to obtain approval from the Commissioner’s Office of the Chinese Foreign Ministry (OCMFA) in Hong Kong for any lease extensions on wholly or partly owned properties.
“The extension of leases of such properties will be subject to the Government’s decision as landlord as well as OCMFA’s approval,” the Bureau said in the document.
A spokesperson for the bureau said that OCMFA had placed a requirement last June to the 63 consulates and eight officially recognised international bodies – involving 10 plots of land and about 100 flats – that they must not acquire or dispose of properties used as chancelleries or residences of heads and staffs without OCMFA’s prior consent, local media reported.
The requirement was extended to land lease renewals in an OCMFA notice sent to consulates and the international bodies in July, the bureau said.
Officially recognised international bodies in Hong Kong include the European Union Office to Hong Kong and Macau, the office of International Monetary Fund, and the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
They will have to apply for written approval from the OCMFA at least 60 days in advance of their lease expiring, according to the document.
Failure to obtain such approval would result in the foreign entities ceding ownership of their properties to the Financial Secretary Incorporated, a government authority, upon expiry of the leases.
The spokesperson said that the lease renewal arrangements for international entities were a foreign affairs matter that exceeded the authority of the local government. Even if the Lands Department, which decides whether to extend a lease, had approved the extension, it would not come into effect without the OCMFA’s approval.
The bureau added that the factors behind such a decision included “major public interests” and national security. Suspected breaches of national security would not result in the government revoking an approval, it said, instead they would be handled by a sweeping national security law Beijing-imposed in 2020.
The bureau on Friday gazetted the bill ahead of its introduction to the Legislative Council for first reading next Wednesday.
Consulates under scrutiny
The OMCFA has in recent years stepped up scrutiny of the activities of consulates and foreign bodies in Hong Kong.
In September, the Commissioner’s Office requested consulates in Hong Kong to pass on the job titles, residential addresses and identification details of all locally-employed staff. China defended the move, saying it was “international common practice.”
Twice last year, the Commissioner’s Office sought details from consulates on the properties they were using in the city – including floor plans – according to the Financial Times.
The bureau on Thursday said it had not received any opposition from consulates or foreign bodies regarding the new land lease extension arrangements.
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