Tag Archives: China

     Following is a question by Dr the Hon Kennedy Wong and a written reply by the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Miss Rosanna Law, in the Legislative Council today (June 18):
 
Question:
 
     It is learnt that a number of large-scale concerts have been held recently at the Kai Tak Sports Park (KTSP), the AsiaWorld-Expo, the Hong Kong Coliseum and the Queen Elizabeth Stadium respectively, attracting tens of thousands of local and overseas “fans”, and large-scale music events will also be held at the KTSP’s Main Stadium one after another. Some commercial tenants in Kai Tak have pointed out that their sales volume surged by three times on the days of the aforesaid concerts, while the business of some catering establishments in Kowloon City District also increased by more than 30 per cent. On the other hand, there were cases in which a large number of Mainland fans had to wait for a long time before they could cross the border via the Huanggang Port after the aforesaid concerts. In this connection, will the authorities concerned inform this Council:
 
(1) in view of the successive holding of large-scale music events and concerts as mega events, whether the Government has established a regular inter-departmental collaboration mechanism to assess and make preparations before the holding of each of the large-scale activities concerned, as well as to make a summary afterwards and announce the situation in a timely manner; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
 
(2) given that large-scale concerts were held at the AsiaWorld-Expo and various sports venues before and after the opening of the KTSP, whether the Government has compiled statistics on the attendances of such concerts and, among them, the respective ratios of local, overseas and Mainland audiences; and
 
(3) whether the Government has assessed the economic benefits in promoting the growth of the hotel, catering, retail and transportation industries, etc, as well as creating job opportunities and so on during the aforesaid large-scale concerts; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     Pop concerts brings substantial economic benefits and employment opportunities, creates a positive atmosphere in society and stimulates local consumption. The Government welcomes commercial organisations to hold concerts of singers and groups of Hong Kong and other places in the city. With its official commissioning in March, the Kai Tak Sports Park (KTSP) provides Hong Kong with the largest and state-of-the-art venues, and quickly becomes a new hub for hosting major international sports and entertainment events. 
      
     In consultation with the Transport and Logistics Bureau and the Security Bureau, my reply to the question raised by Dr the Hon Kennedy Wong is as follows:
 
(1) To offer a pleasant experience to residents and tourists participating in large-scale pop concerts, relevant departments and organisations, for example the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, the Hong Kong Police Force, the Transport Department (TD), event organisers, venue management, public transport operators, maintains close liaison to discuss the detailed arrangements for every large-scale pop concert. Those arrangements include conducting risk assessments, deploying manpower, formulating and implementing comprehensive plans for crowd control, information dissemination, traffic diversion and control point arrangements, with a view to ensuring that the events will take place in a safe and orderly manner with well-prepared contingency plans for any unforeseen circumstances.
 
     For the KTSP, the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau monitors and guides the Kai Tak Sports Park Limited (the operator) in the communication and collaboration with various government departments, event organisers, and public transport providers to implement different preparatory work. Based on factors such as the number of attendees, the nature, ending times, and ticketing situations of the concerts, we make corresponding arrangements as needed, such as arranging special bus routes, increasing frequency of the Mass Transit Railway services, and notifying border control points. The operator also issues press releases and publicises the latest event arrangements and venue rules on social media prior to large-scale pop concerts. After the concerts conclude, relevant departments and the operator consolidate their experience with a view to further optimising the operation of events and concerts in the future.
      
     To facilitate the flow of passengers travelling through various boundary control points (BCPs) after large-scale events, relevant departments closely monitor the real-time situation of BCPs, make flexible deployment of manpower and operate additional counters and channels as necessary with a view to facilitating passenger and vehicular movements. Relevant departments also maintain close liaison with their Mainland counterparts to ensure smooth operations at BCPs.
      
     Taking the traffic arrangements after the three concerts held at the KTSP, the AsiaWorld-Expo (AWE) and the Hong Kong Coliseum (HKC) on the evening of May 24 this year as an example, as it was expected that a considerable number of passengers would return to the Mainland via the Lok Ma Chau/Huanggang Control Point after the concerts, the TD co-ordinated with the operators of cross-boundary coaches and Lok Ma Chau-Huanggang cross-boundary shuttle bus (Yellow Bus) in advance to increase the frequency of services to divert passengers. For the traffic arrangements at the KTSP, the number of cross-boundary coaches in service that night was double that of normal days, and about 3 300 passengers who had purchased tickets in advance were diverted within one hour after the concert ended; and after increasing the frequency of the Yellow Bus, it basically completed the transportation of all passengers from San Tin Terminus to Lok Ma Chau Control Point within one hour (from 00.00 to around 01.00).
 
(2) and (3) According to our estimates, more than 285 performance sessions of pop concerts with over 10 000 spectators would be held throughout 2024 and first half of 2025. As a ballpark, these concerts would attract over 3.9 million spectators, including over 1.4 million tourists, whose spending is estimated to be about HK$3.4 billion, bringing a value add of about HK$1.9 billion to the Hong Kong economy.
 
     In 2024 and 2025 (as at May 31), the attendances of all pop concerts at the Kai Tak Stadium and the Kai Tak Arena, the AWE, the HKC and the Queen Elizabeth Stadium (QES) are set out below:
 

Venue	Approximate Attendances of Pop Concerts
	2024	2025 (as at May 31)
Kai Tak Stadium and Kai Tak Arena	Not applicable	590 000
AWE	950 000	221 000
HKC	873 000	275 000
QES	40 000	19 000

     Since the official commissioning of the KTSP, various renowned international and Asian bands and singers have staged a total of 15 large-scale concerts at the Kai Tak Stadium and the Kai Tak Arena, with more than half of the spectators coming from the Mainland and overseas. For pop concerts at the AWE, spectators from the Mainland and overseas take up over 30 per cent of the attendances. read more

     The Labour Department (LD) will hold the Youth Recruitment Day on June 20 for young people aged 15 to 29 with educational attainment at sub-degree level or below.            &… read more

     Following is a question by Dr the Hon Lo Wai-kwok and a written reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun, in the Legislative Council today (June 18):

Question:

     The Financial Secretary announced in the 2025-2026 Budget that an application fee of $600 would be charged for various talent and capital investment admission schemes. The visa fee for approved applications would also increase based on the length of limit of stay of the visa/entry permit, rising from the original flat rate of $230 to $600 (not more than 180 days) or $1,300 (181 days or more). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the number of persons charged a visa fee of $230 by the Immigration Department for visa applications under various talent admission schemes over the past three years, with a breakdown by length of stay of the visa/entry permit (i.e. seven days or less, eight days to one month, two months to six months, and over six months);

(2) whether it has estimated the respective numbers of persons who will pay $600 and $1,300 visa/entry permit issuance fees each year under the new fee structure, as well as the corresponding total amount of application and visa fees received by the Government accordingly; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

(3) as there are views that the new visa fee (with a limit of stay of not more than 180 days) together with the application fee, has actually increased from $230 to $1,200, which will greatly impact those coming to Hong Kong for short-term work (e.g. musicians coming to Hong Kong to compose and perform music for Cantonese opera performances for one to two days), and it is not conducive to the implementation of the policy objectives on culture and tourism, such as the integrated development of culture and tourism in the Greater Bay Area, whether the authorities will consider waiving the relevant visa fees for persons coming to Hong Kong for short-term employment; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

President,

     The various admission schemes for talents and capital investors (specified admission schemes) have been well received since their introduction or enhancement. In respect of talent admission schemes, the number of applications for first entry has grown from around 58 000 in 2022 to more than 221 000 in 2023 and around 208 000 in 2024, representing an increase of more than 250 per cent compared with 2022. Processing such applications involve substantial administrative resources. With reference to the fees charged for similar applications in overseas jurisdictions, the Government decided to, with effect from the day of the announcement of the 2025-26 Budget, introduce an application fee of $600 for each of the applications under the specified admission schemes for entry, change of conditions of stay or extension of limit of stay (including principal and dependant applications); and the visa/entry permit fees for approved applications will be increased, based on the length of the limit of stay, from the original rate of $230 to $600 (with a limit of stay of 180 days or below) or $1,300 (with a limit of stay of 181 days or more) to peg to their costs and reflect the “user pays” principle.

     Our reply, in consultation with the Immigration Department (ImmD), to the Member’s questions is as follows:

(1) and (3) At present, among the seven talent admission schemes, the validity period of the first approved visas/entry permits under the Top Talent Pass Scheme, the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme, the Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates, the Admission Scheme for the Second Generation of Chinese Hong Kong Permanent Residents, and the Technology Talent Admission Scheme is generally 24 months or above. For the employment-tied General Employment Policy (GEP) and the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals (ASMTP), the validity period of the applicants’ approved visas/entry permits is generally determined by the validity period of their employment contracts, ranging from one day to 36 months.

     In 2022-23, about 160 000 applications of different types under the various talent admission schemes were approved by the ImmD; and about 300 000 applications were approved in both 2023-24 and 2024-‍25. The ImmD does not maintain the other statistical breakdowns referred to in the question. However, based on the experience from day-to-day processing, more than half of the approved applications under the GEP and the ASMTP are related to short-term/one-off project-based employment, e.g. for conference and performance, with a limit of stay of 180 days or below. Taking into account the relevant circumstances, the Government introduced two tiers of visa/entry permit issuance fee, which is set at $600 for visa granted with a limit of stay of not more than 180 days, and $1,300 for those with a limit of stay of 181 days or more. We consider that the fee levels are modest, and have balanced various considerations including the “user pays” principle and the impact on the applicants concerned. They are affordable to talent and capital investors targeted by the admission schemes. The numbers of applications and visas/entry permits issued under the specified admission schemes in the past few months are comparable to those in the same period last year, indicating that the new fee structure has not affected Hong Kong’s attractiveness to outside talent.

(2) In considering the new fee structure, the Government, based on the relevant statistics from early 2023 to end August 2024, estimated that the annual caseload for the three financial years from 2025-26 to 2028-29 would be about 400 000 applications of different types under the specified admission schemes; approximately 340 000 visas/entry permits would be issued for a limit of stay of 181 days or more, while around 26 000 will be issued for a limit of stay of not more than 180 days. On this basis, the estimated annual revenue in the next three financial years arising from the new fee structure is around $700 million, comprising about $250 million of application fees and about $450 million of visa/entry permit issuance fees. read more

     Following is a question by Professor the Hon William Wong and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Ms Mable Chan, in the Legislative Council today (June 18):

Question:

     According to the information of the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTPC), the working population in the Hong Kong Science Park (HKSP) has increased substantially from 13 500 to 24 000 over the past three years. Regarding the ancillary transport facilities for HKSP, will the Government inform this Council:
     
(1) whether comprehensive assessment and adjustment relating to the ancillary transport facilities in HKSP have been made by the authorities in the past three years in response to the growth of the working population in HKSP; if so, of the details; if not, whether such assessment and adjustment will be made;

(2) given that, according to the paper submitted by the Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau and the Innovation and Technology Commission to the Panel on Commerce, Industry, Innovation and Technology of this Council on July 16 last year, the works of Batch 1 of Stage 2 of the Science Park Expansion Programme is expected to be completed in the first quarter of this year, whether the works have been completed, and of the details of the relevant additional transport planning support facilities;

(3) whether it has compiled statistics on whether the on-time performance of the public bus and minibus routes in HKSP is up to standard; if it has compiled the statistics and the outcome is in the negative, of the measures to improve the on-time performance of the relevant services;

(4) whether it knows if HKSTPC has regularly collected feedback from the people working in and business operators in HKSP on the ancillary transport facilities in HKSP; if HKSTPC has, of the details; if not, whether HKSTPC will make the relevant arrangements;

(5) as quite a number of people working in HKSP have relayed that they have wasted considerable time waiting for buses since the waiting time for a number of public bus routes in HKSP during non-peak hours is 15 to 30 minutes, whether the authorities will discuss with the franchised bus companies to increase bus service frequencies during non-peak hours;

(6) whether it knows if HKSTPC has considered increasing the shuttle bus service frequencies for staff members working in HKSP; and

(7) as it has been reported that the Transport Department is taking forward the project on automated light buses travelling between HKSP and the MTR University Station, whether the authorities have confirmed the specific implementation timetable for the project; of the routes of the automated light buses, and whether such routes will run through the various buildings and major facilities in HKSP, so as to facilitate mobility of the people working in and visitors to HKSP?

Reply:

President,

     The Transport Department (TD) has been working closely with the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTPC) to closely monitor the transport demand of the Hong Kong Science Park (HKSP) with a view to planning suitable transportation facilities and services to facilitate the commuting of HKSP staff for work. Having consulted the TD, the Innovation and Technology Commission and HKSTPC, our reply to Professor the Hon William Wong’s questions is as follows: 
     
(1) To cater for the transportation needs of HKSP staff to commute to and from work, 20 franchised bus routes terminating or passing through HKSP are currently in service during the morning and evening peak hours on working days. Their service areas cover a wide range of districts across the Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories, including Sha Tin, North District, Tai Po, Tuen Mun, Yuen Long, Tsuen Wan, Kwai Tsing, Tseung Kwan O, Kwun Tong, Yau Tsim Mong, Wan Chai, Eastern District and Islands District (including the Airport). In addition, there are six franchised bus routes and five green minibus (GMB) routes providing whole-day feeder services during non-peak hours, which connect HKSP to the MTR University Station, MTR Shatin Station, Sha Tin and Ma On Shan.

     The TD has all along been actively maintaining close liaison with the relevant public transport operators (PTOs) to timely adjust the services to and from HKSP in light of changes in passenger demand, so as to meet the travelling needs of passengers. In the past few years, having regard to the development of HKSP and its vicinity as well as changes in passenger demand, the TD has enhanced the transport services to and from HKSP upon discussion and co-ordination with PTOs. These include introducing new franchised bus routes, arranging for special departures and increasing services during peak hours. Details are set out at the Annex.

(2) Batch 1 of Stage 2 of the HKSP Expansion Programme involves the construction of a building primarily for wet laboratories (i.e. Building 18W), the construction of public transport facilities on the Science Park East Avenue, and improvement works at the junction of Science Park Road and Chong San Road. Relevant improvement works at the junction of Science Park Road and Chong San Road were completed and commissioned in December last year; the construction of Building 18W was completed in March 2025 and is expected to be commissioned in July 2025; while the public transport facilities are expected to be commissioned upon completion in July 2025.

     The TD has discussed with franchised bus operators (FBOs) regarding the development of HKSP and will flexibly enhance the services in light of the patronage in due course (such as strengthening the service of KMB Route No. 272K).

(3) According to TD’s observation, the highest occupancy rate of the current franchised bus routes serving HKSP during the busiest hours ranges from about 10 per cent to 70 per cent, illustrating that the service can meet the passenger demand. Overall speaking, FBOs have generally been able to provide services in accordance with the scheduled timetable except for circumstances beyond their control (such as delays and lost trips resulting from inclement weather, unexpected traffic congestion or other incidents).

     GMB operators serving HKSP are able to deploy resources flexibly to enhance the services in response to passenger demand. In fact, the actual services of the routes concerned during peak hours are more frequent than scheduled to flexibly meet passenger demand during these periods.

(4) HKSTPC conducts transportation surveys with tenants and merchants from time to time. The latest survey was conducted in the third quarter of last year with more than 1 000 questionnaires collected. Major views included requests for lowering fares and increasing frequencies. HKSTPC will take into account relevant survey results in reviewing the operational arrangements for the employees’ bus service of HKSP.

(5) As mentioned above, there are six franchised bus routes providing services to and from HKSP during non-peak hours. In fact, the TD reviews the overall demand for transportation services in HKSP from time to time.  For instance, to improve the transportation services during non-peak hours, the TD rationalised the resources of two franchised bus routes (i.e. Route Nos. 272A and 272K) in January this year with a view to enhancing the off-peak services connecting HKSP to the MTR University Station. The TD will continue to monitor the operation of public transport services in HKSP and timely discuss with PTOs on service enhancement proposals having regard to the passenger demand. 

(6) Given that the current patronage of the employees’ bus service of HKSP is still far below its maximum carrying capacity, HKSTPC has no plans to increase the frequency of the shuttle bus service at present. Nonetheless, HKSTPC will closely monitor the operation and patronage of the shuttle bus service, and optimise the bus routes and frequencies based on actual needs and operating conditions.

(7) Since 2017, autonomous vehicle (AV) projects operating under Movement Permits issued by the TD have been conducting trials within HKSP. These trials aim to assess the technical feasibility of AV applications in Hong Kong while gathering valuable data and experience. In 2024, the Government introduced a new regulatory regime for AVs, enabling the TD to provide flexibility for AV trials while ensuring road safety, so as to foster the trials and application of more advanced AV technologies in Hong Kong. To date, the TD has issued two pilot licences for AV trials in North Lantau and the West Kowloon Cultural District, proactively driving advancements in the application of this technology and assisting the trade in taking forward the projects, including autonomous light buses running between HKSP in Sha Tin and the MTR University Station. Funded by the Smart Traffic Fund, this project is currently under development. Upon completion of the autonomous driving system development, demonstrating safe operation through the subsequent assessment by the TD, the research institution expects to conduct road trials at the public roads of HKSP after acquiring a pilot licence by the first quarter of 2026. The proposed route is already under planning and is expected to cover the MTR University Station and the major buildings/facilities within HKSP, including the Harbour View Square on Science Park East Avenue and the Enterprise Place on Science Park West Avenue. Upon successful completion of the trial projects, we anticipate that the AV technology can be progressively refined and implemented to offer enhanced transportation alternatives for both HKSP and neighbouring communities. read more

     The Labour Department (LD) will hold the Creating New Opportunities Job Fair at the Sau Mau Ping Community Hall in Kwun Tong on June 20, providing a large number of vacancies from various industries for job seekers.
     
     The job fair is co-organised by the LD and the Office of Legislative Council Member Mr Ngan Man-yu of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong. About 15 organisations will participate in the job fair, offering over 700 quality job vacancies from various industries, among which more than 500 are from the catering, real estate and retail industries. Around 15 organisations will set up booths and conduct recruitment on the spot. A wide variety of positions will be offered, including branch manager/manageress, concierge officer, property officer, guest services agent, sales coordinator, artisan, taxi driver, cleaner, chef, security guard, baker, airport cargo cleaner, shop assistant, technician, etc. Job seekers can visit the LD’s Interactive Employment Service website (www.jobs.gov.hk) for more details on the vacancies.
     
     Around 92 per cent of the vacancies offered at the job fair are full-time jobs. Most vacancies offer monthly salaries ranging from $12,000 to $22,000. About 97 per cent of the vacancies require a Secondary Seven education level or below. Around 72 per cent are open to job seekers without relevant work experience.
     
     Job seekers can submit job applications during the event and may be selected for on-the-spot interviews. They can also make enquiries about the employment services provided by the LD at its counter inside the venue.
     
     The job fair will be held from 11am to 5.30pm at the Sau Mau Ping Community Hall, 100 Sau Ming Road, Sau Mau Ping Estate, Kwun Tong (near Sau Mau Ping Shopping Centre). Admission is free, with the final admission time at 5pm. read more