BEIJING -- The new electoral system in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region possesses distinctive characteristics and strengths, said a white paper released Monday by China's State Council Information Office.

On September 19, 2021, the polls closed in Hong Kong's 2021 Election Committee Subsector Election, the first major election held successfully under the improved electoral system, said the white paper titled "Hong Kong: Democratic Progress Under the Framework of One Country, Two Systems."

It described the elections for the Seventh Legislative Council as open, fair, just, secure and clean, representing another step forward for democracy in Hong Kong.

The white paper said Hong Kong's new electoral system is broadly representative as it has attracted an impressive range of candidates from a diversity of backgrounds, which would never have happened in Hong Kong in the past.

The new electoral system is politically inclusive, said the white paper. Elections should reflect more than one voice. Candidates for the Legislative Council represent various political groups and interests from different points on the political spectrum, espousing different political philosophies, and aspiring to different goals.

The new electoral system ensures balanced participation of all social groups and all constituencies in the legislature and enables the Legislative Council to better represent the overall interests of Hong Kong, the white paper said.

The new electoral system guarantees fair competition, it said. All 90 seats in the Legislative Council elections were contested -- the first time since Hong Kong's return to China. The system makes election activities more rational, fair and orderly, and it addresses a higher level of attention to issues such as people's lives and regional development. The system has brought benign, rational, fair and clean competition back to elections, so that the true purpose of elections is achieved, to the greater benefit of the people of Hong Kong.