Fact · history · 1990-04-04
Basic Law promulgated
《基本法》公布
Figure and reference date
4 April 1990
1990年4月4日
Notes and definition
Took effect on 1 July 1997 when the HKSAR was established.
Other figures in this group (history)
Figures in the same group are not necessarily additive — check the basis note above first. History.
| Item / 項目 | Figure / 數字 | As of / 時點 | Source / 來源 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 香港特別行政區成立 | 1 July 1997 一九九七年七月一日 Hong Kong Yearbook 2021, chapter 22, page 7: “The Hong Kong SAR was established on 1 July 1997.” The same page notes that the Basic Law took effect that day. | 1997-07-01 | Hong Kong Yearbook 2021, Chapter 22: History |
| Hong Kong residents injured in the 2015 Formosa Fun Coast dust explosion 八仙樂園粉塵爆炸中受傷港人數目 | 5 5 Immigration Department reply, 28 June 2015: as at 3.30pm that day, five Hong Kong residents had been confirmed injured. The figure could change later, so citations must state the date. | 2015-06-28 | Immigration Department follows up fire incident in New Taipei City of Taiwan |
| Enquiries handled by the HKSAR Government after the 2011 Japan disaster 日本 311 事件中政府處理查詢數目 | 7,100 7 100 Government press release, 20 March 2011: since the earthquake, tsunami and Fukushima nuclear incident the HKSAR Government had handled “over 7,100” enquiries — the original wording is “over”, so the figure is a floor, not an exact count. | 2011-03-20 | Updates from the HKSAR Government on Assisting Residents in Japan |
| Requests for assistance handled after the 2011 Japan disaster 日本 311 事件中政府處理求助數目 | 2,000 2 000 Same release: the Government had handled “close to 2,000” assistance requests — an approximation in the original wording — and said the vast majority had been settled. | 2011-03-20 | Updates from the HKSAR Government on Assisting Residents in Japan |
| Hong Kong residents killed in the 2002 Bali bombing 峇里爆炸中罹難港人數目 | 2 2 Government press release, 15 October 2002: the Chinese Embassy in Jakarta told the Immigration Department that the names of two people killed in the blast matched two missing rugby team members. The release also notes that one victim was a British national who was a former Hong Kong resident. | 2002-10-15 | Latest development of the Indonesia Bali explosion |
| Enquiries received by the Immigration Department during the 2010 Icelandic ash disruption 冰島火山灰事件中入境處接獲查詢數目 | 234 234 Government press release, 21 April 2010: as at that day the Assistance to Hong Kong Residents Unit of the Immigration Department had received 234 enquiries, mainly about flight information. The figure published the previous day was 168. | 2010-04-21 | Government assists residents stranded in Europe by air traffic disruptions (21 April) |
| Requests for assistance received during the 2010 Icelandic ash disruption 冰島火山灰事件中入境處接獲求助數目 | 11 11 Same release: there were also 11 requests for assistance; the figure published on 20 April was four. | 2010-04-21 | Government assists residents stranded in Europe by air traffic disruptions (21 April) |
| Hong Kong residents returning on special flights during the 2008 Bangkok airport closure 曼谷機場事件中乘特別航班返港港人數目 | 600 600 Government spokesman, 29 November 2008: three special flights operated by Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong Express and Orient Thai Airlines were carrying 600 Hong Kong residents back to Hong Kong. | 2008-11-29 | HK residents returning from Thailand |
| Hong Kong residents on the first chartered flight home from the Diamond Princess 鑽石公主號首批乘包機返港港人數目 | 106 106 Government press release, 20 February 2020: 106 Hong Kong residents from the Diamond Princess, including six who had completed quarantine in Saitama Prefecture and been allowed to leave Japan, arrived in Hong Kong from Tokyo on a chartered flight arranged by the SAR Government. | 2020-02-20 | First batch of Hong Kong residents on board Diamond Princess return to Hong Kong smoothly |
| Diamond Princess passengers who had returned to Hong Kong 鑽石公主號上已返港港人數目 | 208 208 Government press release, 23 February 2020: the last two chartered flights brought back 188 Hong Kong residents; together with 20 passengers who returned on other flights, 208 Diamond Princess passengers had returned to Hong Kong by then. | 2020-02-23 | Third chartered flight taking back Hong Kong residents on board Diamond Princess departed Tokyo |
| Requests for help over Southeast Asia job scams 東南亞求職騙案求助個案數目 | 28 28 Secretary for Security, 20 August 2022: law enforcement had received 28 requests for assistance. The figure changed over time, so citations must state the date. | 2022-08-20 | Secretary for Security on Southeast Asia job scams |
| People who had returned to Hong Kong in the Southeast Asia job scam cases 東南亞求職騙案中已返回香港人數 | 10 10 Same statement: of the 28 requests, 14 people had been confirmed safe and 10 had returned to Hong Kong. | 2022-08-20 | Secretary for Security on Southeast Asia job scams |
156 more figures in this group are listed in History.
Other figures from the same official source
These figures come from the same registered document: “Hong Kong Legal System: The Basic Law” (Department of Justice). Being in one document does not make them additive.
| Item / 項目 | Figure / 數字 | As of / 時點 | Source / 來源 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of articles in the Hong Kong Basic Law 香港基本法條目數量 | 160 articles plus 3 annexes 160 條正文＋3 個附件 The Basic Law of the HKSAR contains 160 articles in 9 chapters, plus 3 annexes (Annex I: method for selecting the Chief Executive; Annex II: method for forming the Legislative Council; Annex III: national laws applied in the HKSAR). | 2026-10-13 | Hong Kong Legal System: The Basic Law |
Verified questions that cite this figure
No. Hong Kong is a special administrative region of the People’s Republic of China, not a country — but the Basic Law gives it its own currency, customs territory, legal system and immigration regime, so the “special” is substantive.
When was the handover, and how long ago was it?
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region was established on 1 July 1997. Its constitutional basis is the Sino-British Joint Declaration signed on 19 December 1984 and the Basic Law promulgated on 4 April 1990.
How many articles does the Hong Kong National Security Law contain?
The Hong Kong National Security Law has 66 articles in six chapters and covers four categories of offences: secession, subversion, terrorist activities, and collusion with foreign or external forces.
How is the Chief Executive chosen?
The Chief Executive is returned by the Election Committee under the procedure in Annex I of the Basic Law, and is then appointed by the Central People’s Government — the local election is only half of the process.
Is Hong Kong’s legal system civil law or common law? What is the role of the Basic Law?
Hong Kong follows the common law tradition, supplemented by statutes, with an independent judiciary. The Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is the constitutional document that defines Hong Kong’s autonomous powers, the fundamental rights and duties of residents, and the relationship between the Central Authorities and the HKSAR.
Key dates in Hong Kong history — what happened in 1842, 1898 and 1997?
In 1842 the Treaty of Nanking ceded Hong Kong Island; in 1860 the Convention of Peking ceded the Kowloon Peninsula south of Boundary Street; in 1898 the Second Convention of Peking leased the New Territories for 99 years. On 1 July 1997 sovereignty returned to China, the HKSAR was established and the Basic Law came into force.
Live politics, party dynamics, legislative debates and policy controversies involve competing viewpoints and real-time change without unified official hard data. The site records only government-press-release headlines and gazetted/LegCo official texts, so this area is left blank.
Since 1 July 1997 Hong Kong has been the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China. Sovereignty rests with China, but under the Basic Law it enjoys a high degree of autonomy, an independent judiciary and the common law.
There is no single founding date: in 1841, during the First Opium War, British forces occupied Hong Kong Island, ceded outright under the Treaty of Nanking in 1842, when it became a British colony; on 1 July 1997 it became a Special Administrative Region of the PRC.
When was Hong Kong "founded by China"?
Strictly, Hong Kong was not "founded by China" on a single day. It opened as a trading port under British colonial rule in 1841; on 1 July 1997 it became the Hong Kong SAR as China resumed sovereignty. So "founding" splits into two dates: the port opened in 1841, and the return was in 1997.
（已核對問題頁目前只有中文版；上面嘅英文標題同答案本身係資料檔嘅官方英文欄位。）
How to cite this figure
Hong Kong Story, “Basic Law promulgated”, https://hongkongstory.org/en/facts/history-basic-law-promulgated, data as at 1990-04-04 (retrieved ＿).
中文：香港紀事館，〈《基本法》公布〉，https://hongkongstory.org/facts/history-basic-law-promulgated，資料時點 1990-04-04（查閱日期 ＿）。
Machine-readable: /api/v1/facts.json (id = history-basic-law-promulgated) · OpenAPI 3.1 ·/llms.txt
Registered source
Hong Kong Legal System: The Basic Law
Department of Justice
The official document carries no registered publication date, so only the retrieval date 2026-09-11 is given — no publication year is invented.
This site is a secondary compilation: the official text prevails. If the figure above differs from the official document, the official document is correct.