The lawmakers - all in dark clothing and with white masks - gathered at the Legco building’s ground floor lobby this morning to watch the live broadcast. They also observed a three-minute silence during the ceremony.

An announcement from Jiang's funeral committee earlier said people across the country will observe a three-minute silence at 10am.

Meanwhile, national and regional flags displayed at all government departments and schools were flown at half-staff today.

A Tai Wai school told its students through the internal broadcast system at 10am to observe a three-minute silence. The students were seen bowing their heads in silence.

The Education Bureau said earlier that all local schools, including kindergartens, would have to suspend all celebratory activities except for graduation and award ceremonies.

Non-celebratory events should not include entertainment and performances and schools could arrange a live broadcast of the funeral on campus, it said, adding that international schools should also lower flags to half-mast, observe a silence and suspend any celebrations.

Separately, Hong Kong’s bourse suspended the display of data on external screens at its offices while senior executives observed the silence.