Hong Kong Chief Executive election, 1996

11 December 1996

→ 2002

All 400 votes of the Selection Committee 201 votes needed to win

Opinion polls
Turnout	99.50%

Nominee	Tung Chee-hwa	Yang Ti-liang	Peter Woo
Party	Nonpartisan	Nonpartisan	Nonpartisan
Alliance	Pro-Beijing	Pro-Beijing	Pro-Beijing
Electoral vote	320	42	36
Percentage	80.40%	10.55%	9.05%

Elected Chief Executive

Tung Chee-hwa
Nonpartisan

The 1996 Hong Kong Chief Executive election was held on 11 December 1996 to select the first Chief Executive (CE) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) which term started from 1 July 1997 after the Chinese resumption of the sovereignty of Hong Kong from the British rule. It was selected by the 400-member Selection Committee installed by the Government of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Tung Chee-hwa, a Shanghai-born Hong Kong businessman who was seen being favoured by PRC President Jiang Zemin, was the ultimate winner of the election, defeating former Chief Justice Ti-liang Yang and tycoon Peter Woo with a large margin.

According to the Basic Law of Hong Kong, the mini-constitution of the HKSAR, the first Chief Executive was selected by a 400-member Selection Committee. The Selection Committee was chosen by the Preparatory Committee in Beijing on 2 November 1996. Members of the pro-Beijing party Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong secured 40 places on the Selection Committee, while Leong Che-hung and some other prominent liberals were not elected.