Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office
The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council is an administrative agency of the State Council of the People's Republic of China responsible for promoting cooperation and coordination of political, economic and cultural ties between Mainland China and the Chinese Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau. Its head office is in Xicheng District, Beijing. Administration. The agency was established in 1978, and has been headed by the Director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office. There are deputy directors which assist the director in running the office . The agency answers to the State Council of the People's Republic of China as well as the Central Leading Group on Hong Kong and Macau Affairs of the Chinese Communist Party. List of directors. Current director Xia Baolong also holds the position of Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, becoming the highest-ranking official to hold the office in a decade. Zhang Xiaoming was replaced by Xia and became deputy director of the office. The office's Deputy Director, from December 2018, is Deng Zhonghua, a lawyer, born 1961. Deng replaced  Feng Wei, born September 1957 and seen by the Hong Kong democratic camp as someone they could talk with. His retirement was delayed by a year so that he could handle Beijing's concerns about 'independence' advocates in Hong Kong. In March 2022, Wang Linggui replaced Deng Zhonghua as a deputy director, leaving a total of 5 deputy directors after the expected departure of Song Zhe. Department structure. From June 2017, discipline inspection within the office is handled by Pan Shengzhou. History. The HKMAO issued a statement against pro-democracy figures who organized primaries for the Hong Kong Legislative Council  in 2020, saying that it was "an unlawful manipulation of Hong Kong elections" and a "blatant challenge" to the Basic Law, despite the Basic Law's Article 68 stating that the ultimate goal is to have universal suffrage for all members of the Legislative Council.