Tag Archives: China

     â€‹The Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency (CCIDA) of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau and the Hong Kong Film Development Council (FDC) led an industry delegation to attend the 27th Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF). Through participating in a major film festival on the Mainland and organising project pitching sessions and screening events, Hong Kong films and emerging filmmakers could be promoted, increasing their exposure in the Mainland market and exploring development opportunities. The delegation included Assistant Commissioner for Cultural and Creative Industries and the Secretary-General of the FDC, Mr Gary Mak; directors Oliver Chan and Robin Lee; actors Hedwig Tam and Lo Chun-Yip; as well as Hong Kong directors Anselm Chan, Lawrence Kan, Mandrew Kwan, Paul Sze and Sunny Yip, and Hong Kong producers Lawrence Lau, Samuel Choy and Cora Yim, who attended the pitching sessions. The strong lineup showcased the strength and new blood of the Hong Kong film industry.
      
     In his speech at the Hong Kong New Power Project Showcase Project Pitching Session of the SIFFORUM today (June 18), Mr Mak said that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government (HKSARG) has always been committed to fostering development of Hong Kong’s film industry by supporting film productions and nurturing talent through various funding schemes, encouraging new filmmakers to create high-quality works and explore further and broader markets. In organising this project pitching session, the HKSARG hopes to enhance the visibility of Hong Kong’s emerging filmmakers and foster investment partnerships, joining forces on all fronts to drive the high-quality development of Hong Kong and Mainland film industries.
      
     To provide a platform to showcase upcoming Hong Kong film projects in development or production, and facilitate co-operation and investment, five new film projects were presented at the Hong Kong New Power Project Showcase Project Pitching Session, namely “The Marriage Drive”, “Open Fire”, “Altarage”, “Prison of Love” and “The Excreman – On the Road”, with project teams sharing their creative ideas and market potential of their projects with investors and filmmakers in attendance. Special guest mentors, including the Chief Executive Officer of Bona Film Group Co Ltd, Mr Jiang Defu; Senior Vice President of iQiyi Pictures, Mr Ya Ning; and director Anselm Chan were also invited to give professional advice to the project teams.
      
     The CCIDA and the FDC also organised the Making Waves – Navigators of Hong Kong Cinema film programme, presenting seven Hong Kong films at the SIFF, including “Montages of a Modern Motherhood”, “An Abandoned Team”, “Four Trails” and the restored edition of four classics “Father and Son”, “Shanghai Blues”, “The System” and “PTU”. Director Oliver Chan, actors Tam and Lo of “Montages of a Modern Motherhood”, and director Robin Lee of “Four Trails” participated in the post-screening discussions of their films.

      

     The 2025-26 HYAB Funding Scheme for Youth Exchange in the Mainland is open for the second round of applications starting from today (June 18). Eligible non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are invited to submit applications.
      
     Through the HYAB Funding Scheme for Youth Exchange in the Mainland, the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau and the Youth Development Commission (YDC) provide funding for NGOs to organise youth exchange projects on the Mainland for Hong Kong young people to enhance their awareness and understanding of the country’s development, foster exchanges with Mainland people and strengthen their sense of national identity. Launched last year, the Pilot Scheme on Subsidy to Grassroots Youth for Participating in Exchange Activities Outside Hong Kong will also continue to provide additional subsidies to grassroots youth with financial needs to participate in exchange projects under the 2025-26 funding scheme.
      
     Details of the second round and application forms are available on the YDC website (www.ydc.gov.hk/en/programmes/ep/ep_fundingscheme.html). Interested NGOs should submit their applications on or before July 10. read more

     The Government welcomed the passage of the Employment (Amendment) Bill 2025 (the Bill) by the Legislative Council today (June 18) to revise the “continuous contract” requirement under the Employment Ordinance (EO) (Cap. 57), making it easier for employees to enjoy comprehensive employment rights.
 
     The Bill revises the working hours threshold of the “continuous contract” requirement, which includes lowering the weekly working hours threshold from 18 hours to 17 hours; and providing an alternative of using the aggregate working hours in a specified four-week period as a counting unit in which a week with less than 17 working hours will still be regarded as a continuous employment period if the sum of the working hours of that week and those of the three weeks immediately preceding it reaches 68 hours.
 
     A Government spokesman said, “Since the implementation of the EO, the working hours threshold of the ‘continuous contract’ requirement has been maintained at 18 hours per week. This amendment exercise lowers the working hours threshold of the ‘continuous contract’ requirement and introduces flexibility in the calculation of working hours, reducing the circumstances of disrupting the continuity of an employee’s employment because the working hours of a week occasionally fall below the threshold.
 
     “After the amendments, other provisions of the EO will continue to operate as they currently do, and existing eligibility criteria for employees to enjoy various statutory benefits will remain unchanged. Employees who have met the current ‘continuous contract’ requirement will not be affected,” the spokesman added.
 
     The Employment (Amendment) Ordinance 2025 will be gazetted on June 27, 2025. The revised “continuous contract” requirement will be effective from January 18, 2026, onwards. In the meantime, the Government will publicise and brief the public on the Amendment Ordinance through various channels, presenting it in layman’s terms to enhance employers’ and employees’ understanding. read more

     The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Wednesday, June 18, 2025 is 103.1 (up 0.1 against yesterday’s index). read more

     Following is a question by the Hon Elizabeth Quat and a written reply by the Secretary for Housing, Ms Winnie Ho, in the Legislative Council today (June 18):
 
Question:
 
     According to government information, 15 000-odd public rental housing (PRH) units were recovered by the Housing Department for various reasons in 2023, which was 55 per cent more than the annual number of about 10 000 units in the past. Regarding the recovery of PRH units and the Well-off Tenants Policies, will the Government inform this Council of the following information in the past five financial years:
 
(1) the number of PRH units recovered each year for the following reasons:
(i) death of principal tenants or principal tenants being admitted to residential care homes;
(ii) principal tenants having purchased subsidised sale flats;
(iii) tenants moving out due to breach of tenancy agreements (e.g. ‍accruing 16 points within two years under the Marking Scheme for Estate Management Enforcement or defaulting on rent payment);
(iv) tenants moving out due to failure or refusal to return the declaration form on income and assets as required;
(v) tenants moving out as their family income/total household net asset value exceeded the limits prescribed under the Well-off Tenants Policies;
(vi) tenants were asked to move out as their household members owned domestic properties in Hong Kong;
(vii) voluntary surrender of units by tenants (including moving to other regions/countries, moving to other residences, or for unknown reasons);
(viii) tenants moving out upon application for transfer; and
(ix) other reasons;
 
(2) the number of recovered PRH units used for allocation to applicants on the PRH Waiting List each year;
 
(3) the number of Notices-to-quit (NTQs) issued by the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) to PRH tenants each year and, among them, the number of tenants who lodged appeals in this regard, together with a breakdown by the outcome of the appeals (e.g. ‍cancellation of NTQs, amendment of NTQs and setting of conditions for the tenants lodging appeals to rectify the violations, as well as unsuccessful appeals);
 
(4) the number of cases received by the HA in which applications for granting of new tenancy agreements were made by authorised members of the units due to the death or moving out of the original principle tenants and, among such cases, the number of those which were approved and rejected; among the approved cases, the number of those in which the PRH units involved were granted approval for addition of household members to the tenancy in the past three years;
 
(5) the number of PRH tenants who had successfully applied for deletion of household members from the tenancy each year and, among them, the number of those who were well-off tenants; and
 
(6) the respective numbers of PRH tenants who were required under the Well-off Tenants Policies to pay (i) 1.5 times net rent plus rates and (ii) double net rent plus rates each year?
 
Reply:

President,
 
     In response to the questions raised by the Hon Elizabeth Quat, our reply is as follows:

(1) In the past five financial years (i.e. 2020/21 to 2024/25), the numbers of public rental housing (PRH) units recovered by the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA), categorised by reasons for recovery, are listed in Annex 1.
 
(2) Based on the established allocation policies and programmes, the HA allocates newly completed and refurbished recovered PRH units to meet the needs of applicants under various categories. We will allocate most of the units to PRH applicants and closely monitor the actual allocation figures of other categories (e.g. Compassionate Rehousing) to ensure that any units in excess of the estimated demand under other categories would be allocated to PRH applicants by the end of the year. In the past five financial years, the actual numbers of recovered PRH units allocated to PRH applicants and applicants under other categories are tabulated in Annex 2.
 
(3) In the past five financial years, the numbers of Notices-to-quit issued by the HA, the numbers of appeal cases received by the Appeal Panel (Housing), and the numbers of appeal cases heard by the Appeal Panel (Housing) as well as the rulings are set out by category in Annex 3.
 
(4) According to the HA’s existing Policy on Grant of New Tenancy (GNT), upon the death or moving out of the principal tenant of a PRH unit, the tenancy can be granted to his/her spouse who has been listed in the tenancy. If there is no surviving spouse listed in the tenancy, one of the authorised family members currently living in the unit can be granted a new tenancy, provided that the Comprehensive Means Test and Domestic Property Test set at the level of Well-off Tenants Policies are passed. In the past five financial years, there were approximately 32 000 GNT cases approved upon the death or moving out of the original principal tenant. The Housing Department (HD) does not keep statistics on the number of rejected applications for GNT and the number of approved GNT cases which involved addition of household members.
 
(5) In the past five financial years, the HA approved an average of about 44 000 cases per year on the deletion of family members from PRH tenancies. Among these cases, around 16 700 cases arose from death or admission to elderly homes, while the remaining of about 27 300 cases resulted from moving out or other reasons. The HD does not keep statistics on the number of aforesaid cases which involved “well-off tenants”.
 
(6) In the past five financial years, the numbers of PRH tenants under the HA required to pay 1.5 or double net rent plus rates are listed in Annex 4. read more