Hong Kong’s government will launch a consultation exercise on the city’s first five-year plan next month. The plan is set to be released before the end of the year. It’s a monumental task.

Lau Siu-kai, a consultant to the semi-official Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies think tank and former head of the government’s now-defunct Central Policy Unit, has warned as much, saying: “It took years for local governments on the mainland to master the research and strategic thinking required to deliver a robust five-year plan.”

With talk of the government gathering views from different sectors, including Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu joining sessions for direct feedback, it is important to also look at how the government will engage the public.

If it is planning a full-on publicity blitz to promote the consultation exercise, complete with television adverts, large banners and more, then it must be mindful of how it would look if ordinary people are left out of the exercise. The good news is that it can learn from how its mainland counterparts collect and process public feedback in their policymaking.

Maintaining an open door to policy feedback – known as kaimen wence (开门问策) – by extensively soliciting suggestions and pooling people’s wisdom is an integral part of China’s “whole process democracy”. It is designed to incorporate public opinion into top-level national plans. The intricate process includes setting up suggestion-soliciting online platforms that organise and submit comments to policy drafters.

According to the foreign ministry, almost 4,000 suggestions and over 2 million online opinions were solicited for the government work report last year. For years, this system has been used to ensure broad-based consultation and engagement.