Author Archives: hksar gov

     The Government announced today (February 28) the appointment of Ms Serena Lau Sze-wan as the Chairperson of the Advisory Committee on Chinese Medicine Development Fund, as well as the appointment of 16 new non-official members and the reappointment of nine incumbent non-official members to the Committee.
 
     The aforementioned appointments will take effect from March 1, 2025, for a term of two years.

     The Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, welcomed the new Chairperson and members to the Committee. He also expressed gratitude to the outgoing Chairperson, Professor Douglas So Cheung-tak, for the Committee’s effective operation under his leadership over the past six years, making a valuable contribution to the development of the Chinese medicine (CM) sector. Professor Lo also thanked the outgoing members for their insights and contributions to the Committee during their tenure. 

     Officially launched in June 2019, the Chinese Medicine Development Fund (CMDF) is the first dedicated fund set up to support CM development, with the objective of enhancing the overall standard of the CM sector to promote the high-quality development of CM in Hong Kong on all fronts. Having regard to the needs of different stakeholders in the sector, the CMDF has launched various support programmes of different aspects to provide support in areas such as talent nurturing, quality enhancement, market development, public education as well as scientific research and innovation.

     As of the end of January this year, an accumulative total of more than 8 800 funding applications were approved by the CMDF, benefitting more than 3 million members of the sector, the general public and relevant organisations, including registered and listed Chinese medicine practitioners (CMPs), CM drug personnel, CM clinics, manufacturers and wholesalers of proprietary Chinese medicines (pCms), retailers and wholesalers of Chinese herbal medicine (Chm), CM-related organisations, local universities and education institutions. Major achievements of the CMDF are listed below: 
 
• Talent nurturing: Close to 3 500 CMPs and CM drug personnel have received subsidies to attend CM professional training programmes for continuously upskilling their professional knowledge and ability. The CMDF has also supported programme providers to design and organise innovative training projects, benefiting over 41 300 practitioners. The CMDF has supported 85 CMPs and CM drug personnel to participate in the Hong Kong Chinese Medicine Talent Training Programme co-organised by the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the Health Bureau to cater for the need of establishing a talent pool;
 
• Quality enhancement: The CMDF has supported more than 550 CM clinics and 220 Chm retailers/wholesalers to upgrade their facilities and equipment with a view to enhancing service quality and the safety and quality control of CM drugs. The CMDF has also supported nearly 180 pCm manufacturers/wholesalers to engage consultancy services or technical support for over 760 pCm products, thereby levelling up the quality of Hong Kong-registered pCm products;

• Market development: The CMDF has provided subsidies for 12 Hong Kong-registered pCm products for external use to be registered and sold on the Mainland through streamlined approval procedures to promote industry development;

• Research and applied studies: The CMDF has supported the commencement of 72 CM research and applied studies projects which are instrumental in driving academic and clinical research as well as the professional and industry development of CM in Hong Kong; and
 
• Publicity and promotion: The CMDF has supported more than 1 100 CM publicity and public education activities of various forms, targeting audiences such as kindergarten, primary and secondary school students, and elderly persons.

     The membership of the Committee with effect from March 1, 2025, is as follows:

Chairperson
———–
Ms Serena Lau Sze-wan

Non-official members
—————————
*Mr Au Ho-ting
#Dr Chris Chan Kam-wa
#Professor Chen Haiyong
#Ms Rosanna Choi Yi-tak
*Mr William Chung Wai-lim
#Mr Fong Wai-leuk
#Dr Gan Pei-tzeng
#Ms Ada Ho Ching-ying
#Dr Ku Ping-yui
#Dr Kwok Tsz-kin
#Mr Dominic Lam Chun-hong
*Mr Lam Kar-yeung
*Miss Anita Lee Yan-kwan
#Ms Catherine Leung Chau-yung
*Mr Samuel Li Hin-yeung
*Mr Ling Kwan-yee
#Mr Ling Wai-man
*Mrs Vivian Mak Tang Wai-man
#Professor Anderson Shum Ho-cheung
*Dr Timothy Tam Tin-lok
*Mr Sky Tang Man-chun
#Dr Tse Man-li
#Dr Tung Shong
#Mr Harry Yeung Kwok-chun
#Professor Jerry Yeung Wing-fai

Ex-officio members
——————–
Representative(s) from the Health Bureau
Representative(s) from the Department of Health
Representative(s) from the Hospital Authority
Representative(s) from the Innovation and Technology Commission 
 
Note:
# New appointees
* Reappointees read more

The following is issued on behalf of the Law Reform Commission:

     The Law Reform Commission (LRC) today (February 28) announced that Professor Xi Chao has been appointed by the Chief Executive as a new member of the LRC for three years with effect from March 1, 2025.

     Professor Xi, who is currently the Dean of the Faculty of Law of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, will succeed Professor Lutz-Christian Wolff, who has been an LRC member since 2020. Professor Xi specialises in Chinese law, corporate law and governance, securities regulation, financial regulation, and empirical legal studies. The LRC believes that Professor Xi’s breadth of knowledge and insights will benefit the LRC’s work in law reform.

     The Secretary for Justice, Mr Paul Lam, SC, who is also the Chairman of the LRC, expressed his appreciation to Professor Wolff for his valuable contributions and advice to the LRC’s work over the years.

     With this latest appointment, the LRC comprises the following members:
     
Secretary for Justice (Chairman)
Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal (ex officio member)
Law Draftsman (ex officio member)
Mr Justice Johnson Lam Man-hon
Ms May Chan Suk-mei
Mr Stephen Hung Wan-shun
Mrs Janice Choi Kwan Wing-kum
Mr Chan Chak-ming
Mrs Margaret Leung Ko May-yee
Professor Alexander Loke
Professor Michael Jackson
Ms Frances Lok Man-yin, SC
Professor Xi Chao read more

     â€‹The Commissioner for Labour today (February 28) gave notices in the Gazette under section 16(1A) and/or section 18(2) of the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Ordinance (Chapter 380) for cases with ex gratia paymen… read more

     The Government published in the Gazette today (February 28) the Inland Revenue (Amendment) (Tax Deductions for Assisted Reproductive Service Expenses) Ordinance 2025 (Amendment Ordinance) to amend the Inland Revenue Ordinance to introduce a tax deduction for assisted reproductive (AR) service expenses under salaries tax and personal assessment, with immediate effect. The relevant bill was passed in the Legislative Council on third reading on February 19 this year. The tax deduction is applicable to qualifying AR service expenses paid starting from the year of assessment 2024/25.

     All AR services received for medical reasons are qualifying AR services for claiming the tax deduction, meaning the following two categories of persons are eligible to claim tax deduction for relevant expenses:

(i) infertile couples or persons under specified circumstances, including persons undergoing sex selection of embryos to avoid sex-linked genetic diseases, or single persons continuing to receive a procedure where gametes were, or an embryo was, placed in the body of a woman pursuant to the procedure when they were the parties to a marriage; and

(ii) cancer patients or any other patients who may be rendered infertile as a result of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery, or other medical treatment.

     Expenses paid by a taxpayer, by the taxpayer’s spouse (who is not living apart from the taxpayer), or by both of them for the qualifying AR services are allowable deductions for the taxpayer. The maximum amount of deduction allowable for a year of assessment is $100,000. For married taxpayers, the maximum amount of deduction allowable for both the taxpayer and the spouse is $100,000 in total.

     The Inland Revenue Department may request the taxpayer to provide the Proof of Qualifying AR Service Expenses in support of the deduction claimed. The Government has published a standard form of the Proof, which is available on the website of the Council on Human Reproductive Technology (CHRT) (www.chrt.org.hk/english/publications/files/form_of_proof.pdf). For members of the public who have paid for the abovementioned qualifying AR service expenses on or after April 1 last year (regardless of whether such services were received in the current year of assessment), and intend to claim tax deductions for such expenses, they may now obtain the Proof retrospectively from centres holding an artificial insemination by husband licence, a treatment licence or a storage licence issued by the CHRT (licensed centres). The Proof should be signed by a registered medical practitioner who holds clinical responsibility for the relevant reproductive technology procedure, certifying the date and amount of qualifying AR service expenses paid by the taxpayers for their tax deduction claims.

     Members of the public may visit the Inland Revenue Department’s website (www.ird.gov.hk/eng/tax/ars.htm) for more information on tax deductions for AR service expenses. Information on the licensed centres is available on the CHRT’s website (www.chrt.org.hk/english/licensed/licensed.html). read more

     Photography enthusiasts are invited to enrol in the Portrait of TVB Artistes and Miss Hong Kong activity to be held at 3.30pm on March 13 at Victoria Park in conjunction with the annual Hong Kong Flower Show in mid-March. The shooting session will last for about an hour.
 
     The portrait photo shooting activity is jointly organised by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) and Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB).
 
     Anyone interested may enrol through My SmartPLAY App, the SmartPLAY webpage or Smart Self-service Stations from today (February 28) to March 12. The maximum number of participants is 800. Participants will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Entry fees are $60 (normal rate) and $30 for full-time students, senior citizens aged 60 or above and persons with disabilities.
 
     Additionally, there will be a flower show photo competition entitled “Ablaze with Glory”. It aims to promote community greening with impressive photographs of flowers and plants on display, interesting or touching scenes captured at the showground, and portraits of TVB artistes and Miss Hong Kong titleholders with beautiful garden displays as a backdrop.
 
     The photo competition is divided into three categories. Category A, Portrait of TVB Artistes and Miss Hong Kong, comprises Open and Student Sections, in which all entrants must enrol in the portrait photo shooting activity to be held at 3.30pm on March 13 at Victoria Park.
 
     It is not necessary to sign up in advance for Category B, Flowers, and Category C, Snapshots. However, entrants are required to pay admission fees for taking photographs at the showground during the show period. Photographs must be related to this year’s flower show.
 
     For details, please refer to the flower show webpage at www.hkflowershow.hk/en/hkfs/2025/photo_rs.html or call 2601 8260 for enquiries.
 
     This year’s flower show will be held at Victoria Park for 10 days from March 14 to 23, running from 9am to 9pm daily, featuring cosmos as its theme flower, with the theme being “Ablaze with Glory”.
 
     The flower show is organised by the LCSD. The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust is supporting the flower show for the 13th consecutive year and has been its major sponsor since 2014. read more