1970s in Hong Kong

Hong Kong in the 1970s underwent many changes that shaped its future, led for most of the decade by its longest-serving and reform-minded Governor, Murray MacLehose. Economically, it reinvented itself from a manufacturing base into a financial centre. The market also began leaning toward corporations and franchises.

Political talks about the Second Convention of Peking resurfaced in the early 70s. The New Territories land lease agreement would end within 27 years in 1997. MacLehose began visiting Beijing to talk about the future of Hong Kong with PRC leaders.

The British government envisioned the possibility of extending the land lease agreement for many more years, thus shelving the problem for a long time. The fact was far from the vision, as the British and the PRC were engaged in a long and uncompromising negotiation eventually involving Margaret Thatcher. What was supposed to be a negotiation on extending the lease deal became a post-colonial framework timeline.

Under Murray MacLehose, 25th Governor of Hong Kong (1971–82), a series of reforms improved the public services, environment, housing, welfare, education and infrastructure of Hong Kong. MacLehose was the longest-serving governor and, by the end of his tenure, had become one of the most popular and well-known figures in the Crown Colony. MacLehose laid the foundation for Hong Kong to establish itself as a global city in the 1980s and early 1990s.

A number of MacLehose's most significant policies included:

The Metric System was adopted under the 1976 Metrication Ordinance. Subsequently, many of the wet markets and traditional Chinese medicine shops used the old Chinese system for at least another decade.

The Hong Kong government introduced the 6-year free compulsory education in 1971, and expanded it to 9-year in 1978. Companies were also seeking highly educated employees for complex projects. 72% of overseas graduates between 1962 and 1976 would come back to Hong Kong to take on highly skilled domestic positions.

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