IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SINO-BRITISH JOINT DECLARATION
Committee and Basic Law Consultative Committee were established in 1985 to undertake the drafting of the Basic Law and to canvass public views on the drafts. The first draft was published in April 1988, followed by a five-month public consultation exercise. The second draft, endorsed in February 1989 by the Standing Committee of the NPC for further consultation, reflected many of the views expressed during the first round of consultation. The second consultation exercise ended in October 1989. The second draft of the Basic Law was further reviewed in the light of the outcome of that exercise and formally promulgated in April 1990 by the NPC, together with the designs for the flag and emblem of the SAR. The Basic Law will come into effect on July 1, 1997.
Like the Joint Declaration, the Basic Law provides that the HKSAR will enjoy a high degree of autonomy and that the capitalist system and way of life shall remain unchanged for 50 years after July 1, 1997. It also prescribes the systems to be practised in the HKSAR.
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