Photo taken on Sept. 19, 2021 shows a polling station in Tsuen Wan of Hong Kong, south China. The 2021 Election Committee's subsector ordinary elections in China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) started on Sunday morning, the first election after the improvements to Hong Kong's electoral system earlier this year. Photo: Xinhua

 
The election for the next chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) will be held on March 27, 2022, the HKSAR government announced on Friday. 

There will also be elections for seven specified offices, including one from the education subsector, three from the medical and health services subsector, one from the architectural, surveying, planning and landscape subsector, and two from the engineering subsector, according to a press release on the SAR government website. 

The Commissioner's Office of China's Foreign Ministry in the HKSAR on Friday slammed Western-led interference in and smearing of China’s Hong Kong affairs, saying that the disqualification of certain members of the Hong Kong Legislative Council (LegCo) was in accordance with the law, and was necessary to implement the principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong."

In September, voting in the 2021 HKSAR Election Committee's subsector ordinary elections was completed, filling all 1,500 seats in the region's Election Committee, the first after the improvements to Hong Kong's electoral system earlier this year.

On March 11, a decision on reforming the electoral system of the HKSAR was adopted with an overwhelming majority vote at the fourth session of the 13th National People's Congress, which is regarded as an important step implementing "patriots administering Hong Kong."

According to the decision, the Election Committee, expanded to 1,500 members in five sectors, is responsible for electing the chief executive designate and some of the LegCo members, as well as for nominating candidates for the chief executive and LegCo members.