Elections for Hong Kong's legislature will likely be deferred for a second year to September 2022, as Beijing plans a major overhaul of the city's electoral system, a severe blow to remaining hopes of democracy in the global financial hub.

The delay, which the South China Morning Post and other local media reported Friday, citing unnamed sources, would be in line with a new effort by Beijing to ensure "patriots" are in charge of all public institutions in the former British colony.

The National People's Congress, China's rubber-stamp parliament, will pass the changes at its annual session, which opened Friday and will last a week.