Nominations for Hong Kong chief executive election open

The nomination period for Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR)'s fifth term chief executive election started on Tuesday and will run until March 1.

"A nomination form must be subscribed by no less than 150 members of the Election Committee and each member can nominate only one candidate," a Registration and Electoral Office (REO) spokesman said.

A candidate must submit the completed nomination form in person during the nomination period, the spokesman added.

Woo Kwok-hing, Ip Lau Suk-yee, Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and Tsang Chun-wah have announced their candidacy.

According to Hong Kong Basic Law, a Chinese citizen of no less than 40 years of age who is a permanent resident of Hong Kong SAR with no right of abode in any foreign country and has ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for a continuous period of no less than 20 years, is eligible to be nominated as a candidate.

The chief executive election will be held on March 26, when the Election Committee composed of nearly 1,200 members elects the fifth term chief executive to be appointed by the central government of China, by secret ballot.