The Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Patrick Nip, visited Guangxi, Nanning yesterday (July 25) and today (July 26) to meet with officials of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region to exchange views on matters relating to co-operation between the two places. He also toured various facilities and enterprises in Nanning to see for himself the development of the logistics, medical services, education, innovation and technology as well as product testing and certification industries there.

     During his visit, Mr Nip met with the Vice-chairman of the People's Government of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Mr Yang Jinbai, and the Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Mr Shi Donglong, respectively to exchange views on various areas of co-operation between the two places.

     In the evening yesterday, Mr Nip officiated at the founding ceremony of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce in China – Guangxi, Nanning. Addressing the ceremony, Mr Nip pointed out that Hong Kong and Guangxi had been close partners in the fields of commerce and trade, tourism and transport and logistics for years. In addition to the commissioning of the Hong Kong Section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL) and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge last year, train service between the Hong Kong section of the XRL and Nanning also commenced this month. This helps reduce the travelling time between Hong Kong and Guangxi, thus facilitating more frequent people flows and exchanges between the two places.

     Mr Nip visited the Guangxi Planning Exhibition Hall today to keep abreast of the latest planning of Guangxi and the development of the New Land-Sea Corridor (the Corridor). He also met with representatives of a port development and maritime enterprise to receive updates on the business opportunities for Hong Kong’s logistics trade with the development of this Corridor.

     Mr Nip then toured the Guangxi Traditional Chinese Medical University to obtain a better understanding of the development of Chinese medicine tertiary education in Guangxi and collaboration between Hong Kong and Guangxi in this aspect.

     He also visited the Nanning College for Vocational Technology where he was briefed on the progress of co-operation between the two places in the area of vocational training. He said he was pleased to learn that the Guangxi-Hong Kong vocational education development centre, a joint venture between the Hong Kong Vocational Training Council and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Department of Education, would be completed by the end of this year.

     Mr Nip also visited a testing and certification centre and the Nanning-Zhongguancun Innovation Demonstration Base to receive a better understanding of the latest co-operation initiatives between Hong Kong and Guangxi on product quality testing and the development of innovation and technology in Guangxi.

     Mr Nip will return to Hong Kong after concluding the visit tonight.

              

     Excel Piling Company Limited was fined $120,000 at Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts today (July 26) for violation of the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance and the Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Lifting Appliances and Lifting Gear) Regulations. The prosecutions were launched by the Labour Department.

     â€‹The case involved a fatal accident that occurred on November 28, 2017 on a construction site in Kowloon City. A metal holder that was being lifted up by a crawler-mounted crane suddenly detached and struck against a welder working in the vicinity. The welder sustained serious head injury and passed away the following day.

     The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced today (July 26) that in light of possible mass gathering activities in Yuen Long tomorrow (July 27), the leisure and cultural facilities at Fung Kam Street Sports Centre, Yuen Long Stadium, Long Ping Sports Centre, Yuen Long Swimming Pool, Sai Ching Street Tennis Courts, Tai Kiu Market Squash Courts, Yuen Long Jockey Club Squash Courts, Sir Denys Roberts Squash Courts, Yuen Long Theatre and Yuen Long Leisure and Cultural Building will be closed at 1pm tomorrow.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     The Hospital Authority (HA) welcomed the announcement of the Hong Kong Cancer Strategy by the Food and Health Bureau today (July 26). The HA will align with the priority and direction stipulated in the Cancer Strategy to strengthen the services provided to cancer patients and carers through hardware and software improvements, cancer treatment and care, as well as the service of the Hong Kong Cancer Registry.

     An HA spokesperson said, "In terms of hardware, the HA is building new oncology centres in different hospitals through the 10-Year Hospital Development Plan, as well as utilising the funding provided by the Government to upgrade and procure new medical equipment. Regarding software, the HA will recruit additional manpower and streamline multidisciplinary collaboration so as to provide timely and appropriate treatment to patients.
      
     "Besides, the HA is also strengthening the treatment and care services for cancer patients, including the widening of drug formulary coverage and extending the cancer case manager programme to more types of cancer, as well as enhancing support to palliative patients and cancer survivors.
      
     "The Hong Kong Cancer Registry will capture and collate more staging information of different types of cancer for regular release to facilitate surveillance and prevention of cancer with more precise data."
      
     Meanwhile, the HA is formulating a Strategic Service Framework for Cancer Services, aiming at further enhancement of cancer services provided in public hospitals.

     The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department today (July 26) announced that a trace amount of malachite green was found in a mud carp sample. A follow-up is in progress. 

     A CFS spokesman said, "The CFS collected the above-mentioned mud carp sample from a shop in Central for testing under its routine Food Surveillance Programme. The test result showed that the sample contained a trace amount of malachite green at a level of 1 parts per billion."
 
     The spokesman said the CFS had informed the vendor concerned of the irregularity and instructed it to stop the sale of the affected product. The Centre is tracing the source of the product concerned. 

     Malachite green is a type of industrial dye and has been used for treating infections in fish. Malachite green is possibly both genotoxic and carcinogenic. According to the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), there is no safe level of residues of malachite green or its metabolites in food that represents an acceptable risk to consumers. Currently, malachite green has been prohibited for use in food producing animals in many countries. According to the Harmful Substances in Food Regulations (Cap 132AF), no food sold in Hong Kong is allowed to contain malachite green. Offenders will be prosecuted and will be liable to a fine of $50,000 and to imprisonment for six months upon conviction.
 
     The CFS will continue to follow up on the incident and take appropriate action. An investigation is ongoing.