Incoming Hong Kong leader John Lee Ka-chiu returned home from Beijing on Tuesday with instructions to form a top team of like-minded officials to help him implement his policies as he embarks on a new chapter for the city.

A day after meeting China’s top leaders and receiving his formal letter of appointment before he is sworn in as chief executive on July 1, Lee said he would respond as soon as possible so that the central government could approve his ministerial team.

The former career policeman and security chief said he had also told Chinese Premier Li Keqiang that many Hongkongers were eager to see the full reopening of the city’s border with mainland China.