Author Archives: hksar gov

     The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, and his wife, Mrs Janet Lee, at the invitation of the Heilongjiang Provincial Government, will visit Harbin on February 6 to attend the opening ceremony of the 9th Asian Winter Games Harbin 2025 to be held on February 7.
      
     Members of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government delegation joining the Chief Executive on the visit to Harbin include the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Miss Rosanna Law, and the Director of the Chief Executive’s Office, Ms Carol Yip.
      
     During the visit, Mr Lee will meet with the Hong Kong, China Delegation to the Asian Winter Games to learn more about the athletes’ preparations and will watch some Asian Winter Games events to cheer for Hong Kong athletes. He will also visit various local cultural and tourism facilities to learn more about the development of industries in Harbin.
      
     Mr Lee will return to Hong Kong on February 11. During his absence, the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, will be the Acting Chief Executive. During the absence of Miss Law, the Under Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr Raistlin Lau, will be the Acting Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism. read more

     The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Tuesday, February 4, 2025 is 107.6 (down 0.2 against yesterday’s index). read more

     With the dominance of a dry northeast monsoon over southern China for most of the month, January 2025 was marked by dry and sunny weather in Hong Kong. The monthly total sunshine duration amounted to 222.3 hours, about 52 per cent a… read more

     In response to the Japanese Government’s plan to discharge nuclear-contaminated water at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Station, the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene issued a Food Safety Order which prohibits all aquatic products, sea salt and seaweeds originating from the 10 metropolis/prefectures, namely Tokyo, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Miyagi, Chiba, Gunma, Tochigi, Niigata, Nagano and Saitama, from being imported into and supplied in Hong Kong.
 
     For other Japanese aquatic products, sea salt and seaweeds that are not prohibited from being imported into Hong Kong, the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department will conduct comprehensive radiological tests to verify that the radiation levels of these products do not exceed the guideline levels before they are allowed to be supplied in the market.
 
     As the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water is unprecedented and will continue for 30 years or more, the Government will closely monitor and step up the testing arrangements. Should anomalies be detected, the Government does not preclude further tightening the scope of the import ban.
 
     From noon on February 3 to noon today (February 4), the CFS conducted tests on the radiological levels of 142 food samples imported from Japan, which were of the “aquatic and related products, seaweeds and sea salt” category. No sample was found to have exceeded the safety limit. Details can be found on the CFS’s thematic website titled “Control Measures on Foods Imported from Japan” (www.cfs.gov.hk/english/programme/programme_rafs/programme_rafs_fc_01_30_Nuclear_Event_and_Food_Safety.html).

     In parallel, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) has also tested 50 samples of local catch for radiological levels. All the samples passed the tests. Details can be found on the AFCD’s website (www.afcd.gov.hk/english/fisheries/Radiological_testing/Radiological_Test.html).
 
     The Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) has also enhanced the environmental monitoring of the local waters. No anomaly has been detected so far. For details, please refer to the HKO’s website
(www.hko.gov.hk/en/radiation/monitoring/seawater.html).
 
     From August 24, 2023, to noon today, the CFS and the AFCD have conducted tests on the radiological levels of 113 275 samples of food imported from Japan (including 74 091 samples of aquatic and related products, seaweeds and sea salt) and 26 322 samples of local catch respectively. All the samples passed the tests. read more

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:      Exchange Fund Bills tender results:   Tender date : February 4, 2025 Paper on offer : EF Bills … read more