Preamble
Hong Kong has been part of China's territory since
ancient ti mes, but it was occupied by Britain after the
Opium War in 1840. On 19 December 1984, the Chinese and
British Governments signed the Joint Declaration on the
Question of Hong Kong, affirming that the Government of the
PRC will resume the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong
on 1 July 1997, thus fulfilling the long-cherished common
aspiration of the entire Chinese people for the recovery of
Hong Kong.
In order to uphold national unity and territorial
integrity and to maintain Hong Kong's prosperity and
stability, and taking account of the history of
the history of Hong Kong
and its realities, the PRC has decided that upon
upon China's resumption of the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong, a
Hong Kong SAR will be established
established in accordance with the
provisions of Article 31 of the Constitution of the PKC and
that under the principle of "one country, two systems", socialist system and policies will not be practised in Hong Kong. The basic policies of the PRC regarding Hong Kong have been elaborated by our government in the Sino-British
Joint De claration.
In accordance with the Constitution of the PRC,
the National People's Congress hereby enacts the Basic Law
of the Hong Kong SAR of the PFC, prescribing the systems to be practised in the Hong Kong SAR in order to ensure the imp le mentation of
of the basic policies of the PRC regarding
Hong Kong.