No such statement was issued when the government line-up of Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor was announced in 2017, although there were media reports at the time that then HKMAO director Wang Guangya had given the incoming principal officials “some encouragement” during a meeting in Shenzhen.

Professor Lau Siu-kai, vice-president of the semi-official Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies think tank, said the expectations spelled out by the HKMAO in its statement reflected the central government’s determination to exercise comprehensive jurisdiction over Hong Kong.

“The five expectations will be the key indicators used by the central government in future to assess the performance of principal officials in Hong Kong,” Lau said. “Some of the previous administrations in Hong Kong did not conscientiously implement some tasks assigned by the central government.

“In the past, the central government did not hold top officials in Hong Kong accountable for failing to meet the central government’s expectations. But there will be consequences if they fail to deliver.”

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A mainland Chinese expert familiar with Hong Kong affairs, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Beijing’s expectations showed that the new governing team must have the determination to tackle deep-rooted problems as the city was preparing for the silver jubilee of the handover, the halfway mark of Beijing’s pledge to uphold the city’s freedoms for at least 50 years.

“The new team must have the sense of a mission to deliver after taking up their positions in July,” the expert said.

The expert added that the government was now in a better position to deliver as political gridlock in the Legislative Council was gone after the “patriots-only” electoral overhaul ordered by Beijing. Legco no longer has an opposition presence save for one non-establishment member.

Veteran political observer James Sung Lap-kung, of the Hong Kong Progress and Perfection Research Institute, was less optimistic that the Lee government could deliver results soon.

“The diverse background of the new officials also means a longer time will be needed for the team to warm up,” he said. “There are several outsiders and they have no experience in the government. They will probably need some time to understand how the bureaucracy works.

“The public may have high expectations of the new term government too. It can be expected that the John Lee government can enjoy only a short honeymoon period.”

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Sole non-establishment lawmaker Tik Chi-yuen, of the centrist party Third Side, said: “There is no need to overly interpret Beijing’s intention. The five expectations are mainly standard things. The central government has expressed similar views before.

“Some of the ministers have been working in the government for a long time and their performance when dealing with lawmakers in Legco is good.

“They are the action men that we need, and I am rather confident that they can deliver on the tasks set out by the central government.”

Lo Kin-hei, chairman of the opposition Democratic Party, said it was too early to comment on the new officials.

“Let’s wait and see if they can really deliver,” he said.

Meanwhile, the pro-business Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong hailed the diversity of the incoming ministers’ backgrounds. It urged the incoming government to prioritise containing the Covid-19 pandemic and fully reopen the border.

The Liberal Party urged the new government to make use of the city’s advantages to integrate into the nation’s development, while the New People’s Party said it believed the new administration could solve deep-seated problems.