Hong Kong’s leader has pledged to “eliminate bottlenecks” and shorten the time needed to realise economic gains to ensure that residents from all walks of life can benefit from the city’s development.

Speaking at this year’s National Day reception on Wednesday, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu also vowed to continually enhance the city’s national security laws to safeguard economic development while promising to ensure the coming Legislative Council election would be held in a fair and orderly manner.

The city leader told Beijing and local officials, lawmakers and guests at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre that his government would “spare no effort” in three areas of work, namely safeguarding national security, pushing economic growth and deepening reforms.

Describing improving livelihoods as his “ultimate objective” in governance, Lee highlighted how the “dividends” of economic development benefit residents by creating more jobs and driving up wages, which could in turn boost government revenues to invest in more infrastructure and services.

But he conceded not all sectors would benefit from the gains at the same pace.

“In this interplay process, some sectors like finance and trade can enjoy the dividends more promptly, while some other sectors may share the dividends in a more indirect way,” Lee said.