Tag Archives: China

     An owner and an operator of a scrap trader were each fined $4,000 yesterday (June 10) at the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts for using an inaccurate electronic platform scale for trade, in contravention of the Weights and Measures Ordinance (WMO). The electronic platform scale concerned was also confiscated by the court.

     Hong Kong Customs earlier received information alleging that a scrap trader in Wan Chai used an inaccurate electronic platform scale to weigh scrap copper. Customs officers then took enforcement action by posing as a vendor selling scrap copper to the trader concerned, whereupon they found that the trader had used an inaccurate platform scale for weighing the scrap copper. A subsequent examination by an accredited laboratory confirmed that the electronic platform scale was inaccurate and the weight shown was about 23 per cent less than its actual weight, thereby paying a lower recycling price. The trader paid $60 less in the case.

     Under the WMO, any person who uses for trade, or has in his possession for use for trade, any weighing or measuring equipment which is false or defective commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $25,000. The false or defective weighing or measuring equipment is liable to forfeiture. In addition, if any fraud is committed in the use for trade of any weighing or measuring equipment, the person perpetrating the fraud commits an offence. The maximum penalty is a fine of $25,000 and imprisonment for six months.

     Customs reminds traders that they should use accurate weighing equipment and comply with the requirements of the WMO when recycling scrap.
      
     Hong Kong Customs appeals to the public to report any case of suspected fraud using defective weighing or measuring equipment to the department by 24-hour hotline 182 8080 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) or online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002). 

  

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:      The spokesperson for Castle Peak Hospital made the following update today (June 11) regarding a patient leaving the hospital without notification earlier:   &nb… read more

     Following is a question by the Hon Kingsley Wong and a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Tang Ping-keung, in the Legislative Council today (June 11):
 
Question:
 
     Many members of the public have relayed to me about the increasing number of fraudulent calls, as well as fraudulent SMS messages sent via instant messaging applications (e.g. WhatsApp) and phones in recent years. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) as it is learnt that many members of the public have been repeatedly added to suspected fraudulent groups on instant messaging applications by unknown accounts, many of which are registered with overseas phone numbers, and that these groups use “like-and-earn-rewards” and “stock investments”, etc as bait, of the number of reports received by the Police from members of the public in the past year, the total amount of money defrauded, and the number of arrests made; what targeted measures are in place by the authorities to combat fraud by such groups;
 
(2) as it is learnt that many fraudsters have hacked into the instant messaging application accounts of members of the public to request money and virtual point card top-ups from their contacts, of the number of reports received by the Police from members of the public in the past year, the total amount of money defrauded, and the number of arrests made; whether the authorities have analysed which insecure practices when using such applications increase the risk of account hacking, and what targeted measures are in place to combat such account hacking by fraudsters;
 
(3) as it is learnt that fraudsters falsely pretending to be the official platforms of government departments and organisations, banks, telecommunications service providers or neighbours via mobile phone SMS messages to commit fraud has become increasingly prevalent, of the number of reports received by the Police from members of the public in the past year, the total amount of money defrauded, and the number of arrests made; what respective follow-up actions the authorities have taken regarding fraudulent SMS messages sent from local and overseas sources; the average time required for the authorities to block the phone numbers concerned after such phone numbers are confirmed to be involved in fraud; and
 
(4) as many members of the public have relayed that they have frequently received repeated promotional calls containing fraudulent content, causing them nuisance and indicating a worsening trend, whether the authorities will review if the existing legislation governing such calls is inadequate; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     Deception is a serious crime. Any person who commits the offence of “fraud” under section 16A of the Theft Ordinance (Cap. 210) is liable to imprisonment for up to 14 years, while any person charged with “obtaining property by deception” under section 17 of the same Ordinance is liable to imprisonment for up to 10 years. In addition, any person charged with “dealing with property known or believed to represent proceeds of indictable offence” under section 25 of the Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance (Cap. 455) for proceeds of deception is liable to maximum penalties of 14 years’ imprisonment and a fine of $5 million. Regardless of whether it is committed through telephone, messaging applications or other methods, the Government of the Special Administrative Region will take stern enforcement actions as long as there are illegal activities involved. With the global trend of Internet proliferation, many countries and regions have seen a significant increase in fraud cases in recent years. The Police will continue to combat all types of frauds and to enhance public awareness in full force through enhanced law enforcement measures, publicity and education, multi-agency co-operation, intelligence analysis as well as cross-boundary collaboration.
 
     In consultation with the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau and the Police, the reply to the Member’s question is as follows:
 
(1)  “Stock investment” scams mentioned in the question involve fraudsters using online social media platforms, discussion forums, or instant messaging apps to lure victims into participating in fake investment schemes by promising “low risk, high returns”. The Police classify such scams as “online investment fraud”. In 2024, there were a total of 3 930 cases, involving approximately $2.26 billion in losses; in the first four months of 2025, there were 1 534 cases, involving approximately $1.02 billion.
 
     As for “like-and-earn-rewards” scams mentioned in the question, they involve fraudsters using online social media platforms to recruit victims to register as “like clickers”. The scammers claim that victims can earn rewards by paying a “deposit” and then clicking “like” on a designated social media platform; the more deposit paid, the higher the reward per “like”. However, this is in fact a scheme to defraud victims of their deposits. The Police classify such scams as “online employment fraud”. In 2024, there were 3 853 reported cases, with total losses amounting to approximately $800 million; in the first four months of 2025, there were 1 515 cases, involving approximately $340 million.
 
     The Police do not maintain any breakdown of arrested person by types of deception.
 
     In combatting such fraudulent activities, the Police have taken measures in law enforcement, cross-border collaboration, and public education. Since most fraud cases in Hong Kong currently use stooge accounts to receive payments, cracking down on stooge accounts is an effective method to combat the fraud industry chain. In 2024, the Police arrested a total of 10 496 individuals involved in various types of fraud and money laundering offences; in the first four months of 2025, a total of 2 532 individuals were arrested, approximately 70 per cent of which were holders of stooge accounts. Since the end of 2023, the Police have also applied to the court to invoke Section 27 of the Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance to impose heavier penalties in cases involving stooge accounts, thereby enhancing deterrence.
 
     In terms of cross-border collaboration, the Hong Kong Police Force recently joined hands with the Police forces of the Macao Special Administrative Region, Malaysia, Maldives, Singapore, Korea, and Thailand, conducted the first joint operation of the Cross-border Anti-Scam Collaboration Platform “FRONTIER+”, working together to combat cross-border fraud crimes. They successfully identified and dismantled multiple cross-border fraud networks, arresting a total of 1 858 individuals involved in 9 268 fraud cases, including investment fraud.
 
     In terms of publicity, given the increase in the two aforementioned types of fraud at the beginning of 2025, the Police have held press conferences on multiple occasions over the past few months and utilised various channels, namely the CyberDefender website and Facebook, to enhance publicity efforts and remind the public to remain vigilant (including explaining the latest deception tactics employed by fraudsters and outlining how the public can protect themselves), such as making use of WhatsApp’s privacy settings to allow only contacts from one’s address book to add the user to groups, thereby preventing being added to fraudulent groups by strangers.
 
(2)  Scammers often use various methods to steal social media accounts, including fake customer service and fake websites. A common tactic is to send phishing messages claiming that the account has encountered security risks, luring users to click on links, enter account login information on fake websites or scan QR codes, thereby hijacking the account and sending messages to the user’s friends and family to request loans or the purchase of game point cards.
 
     Such scams are categorised as “online account hijacking” cases, with 2 989 cases reported in 2024, involving approximately $91 million. The Police do not maintain any breakdown of arrested person by types of deception.
 
     The Police have strengthened efforts to combat such scams from multiple angles, including requesting telecommunication service providers (TSPs) to block websites containing false WhatsApp advertisements by the end of 2023, and submitting requests to relevant search engines and overseas authorities to remove the fake websites. They also continue to promote anti-deception information through various channels to enhance public awareness of fraud prevention, and promoting the use of the Scameter and Scameter+. Among these measures, the Police urge the public to enable two-factor authentication; regularly review the devices linked to their accounts and log out of any unknown connected devices; not to blindly trust search engine results, and instead bookmark frequently used websites; and avoid connecting to public Wi-Fi or logging into online accounts on public computers.
 
     Following the Police’s series of educational campaigns, the number of “online account hijacking” cases last year decreased by 13 per cent compared to 2023, and in the first four months of 2025, the figure further dropped by 63 per cent compared to the same period last year. The Police will continue to closely monitor deception trends, regularly review measures and strategies to combat fraud and strengthen protection for the public.
 
(3)  Depending on the method used, fraud cases involving identity theft can be classified as phishing scams, online investment frauds, or even online romance scams. The Police do not maintain breakdown of fraud cases involving identity theft.
 
     In response to scammers sending text messages by impersonating as government departments, official institutions, and banks, the Office of the Communications Authority (OFCA) launched the SMS Sender Registration Scheme (the Scheme) on December 28, 2023, and fully opened it to all industries to join in February 2024. As at end May 2025, over 540 public and private organisations (including the Immigration Department, the Department of Health, the Police, the Consumer Council, major banks and TSPs) have participated in the Scheme. Under the Scheme, only those companies or organisations qualified as Registered Senders are able to send SMS messages using their Registered SMS Sender IDs with the prefix “#”. TSPs will block fraudulent SMS messages sent by non-Registered Senders via the Internet.
 
     In February 2023, the Police launched the mobile application “Scameter+” to help members of the public distinguish suspicious online platform accounts, payment accounts, phone numbers, email addresses, websites, etc, and to provide the public with anti-fraud tips. “Scameter+” has now been upgraded and is equipped with automatic detection functions. The Call Alert function and the Website Detection function will automatically identify scam calls and fraudulent websites. If potential fraud or cyber security risk is detected, “Scameter+” will issue a real-time notification, reminding users not to answer the call or browse the website.
 
     Moreover, under the co-ordination of the OFCA, the Police and major TSPs have established a mechanism where TSPs will, based on the fraud records provided by the Police, block the telephone numbers suspected to be involved in deception cases and intercept suspicious website links as soon as possible. The OFCA does not maintain any record of the average time required for relevant actions by TSPs.
 
(4)  The Government understands that members of the public are concerned about marketing calls. However, the nature of marketing calls is fundamentally different from scam calls. Marketing calls do not necessarily involve fraud or illegal activities, and hence, the two should not be conflated. Some businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, still rely on voice marketing calls for promotional activities and service follow-ups. Therefore, it is essential to strike a balance between regulating marketing calls and maintaining normal business activities. In fact, other regions around the world also face similar challenges in managing marketing calls. Practical difficulties remain in operation and enforcement (for example, distinction between marketing calls from nuisance calls or scam calls, evidence collection, cross-border enforcement, etc). As such, the Government believes that regulation by legislation may not be the most effective approach for managing marketing calls.
 
     To mitigate the possible nuisance caused by marketing calls to the public, the OFCA has enhanced the Industry Regulatory Scheme for Marketing Calls in 2024 to introduce industry-specific regulation to limit the number of calls made by telemarketers to the same telephone number within a specific time frame, as well as requiring telemarketers to provide their names and contact numbers upon recipients’ requests, and to honour any unsubscribe requests from the called party. At present, 12 trade associations from seven industries (including finance, insurance, telecommunications, call centres, beauty, estate agencies and money lenders) have joined the scheme.
 
     In addition, the OFCA has requested TSPs to provide their users with call-filtering services, and actively encourage the use of call-filtering apps by the public, while also promoting relevant information on their websites. The number of enquiries and complaints related to marketing calls received by the Government has drastically reduced from 2 060 cases in 2011 to 93 cases in the first five months of 2025, reflecting the effectiveness of the above measures.
 
     On combating fraudulent calls, the OFCA will continue to collaborate with the telecommunications industry and the Police to mitigate the risk of phone deception on various fronts, including requiring TSPs to block/suspend suspected fraudulent phone numbers and websites, intercept suspicious calls starting with “+852”, send voice alerts or text messages to all mobile users for overseas calls prefixed with “+852”, and play voice alerts for newly activated prepaid SIM cards, so as to assist the public in guarding against suspicious calls and messages. read more

     Following is a question by the Hon Luk Chung-hung and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Ms Mable Chan, in the Legislative Council today (June 11):

Question:
 
     There are views that, before the Government’s takeover of Tai Lam Tunnel (TLT), the tolls for public single-decked buses and public double-decked buses using TLT were as high as $180 and $213 respectively, resulting in the fares of franchised bus routes running through TLT being significantly higher than those of other bus routes which do not run through TLT but have similar route lengths, ultimately adding to the financial burden of commuting on residents of Yuen Long District. With the takeover of TLT by the Government on 31st of last month, the toll for franchised buses has been substantially reduced to $43, and there should be room for downward adjustment of the fares of bus routes running through TLT. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) whether it knows the following information about the various franchised bus routes running through TLT: (i) the current adult full fares, (ii) the full mileage of the routes, (iii) the number of trips running through TLT last year, (iv) last year’s patronage, (v) last year’s operating costs, (vi) the total amount of tolls paid last year, (vii) the proportion of tolls to the fares and (viii) last year’s operating surplus or deficit (set out in a table);

(2) whether it knows the total amount of tolls paid by various franchised bus operators to the operator of TLT from January to 30th of last month this year, as well as the respective estimated amounts of tolls to be kept in the Franchised Bus Toll Exemption Fund each month since 31st of last month; and

(3) whether it has estimated the respective annual savings in tunnel tolls to be achieved by various franchised bus operators since the Government took over TLT on 31st of last month; whether the authorities will require franchised bus operators to directly distribute the full amount of toll savings to passengers; if so, of the anticipated rate of reduction in the fares of each trip of the franchised bus routes running through TLT; if not, the reasons for that, and how the authorities will motivate such operators to introduce other fare concessions and stabilise the fares of such routes, so as to alleviate the burden on passengers?

Reply:

President,

     The fares of franchised bus services are to be charged according to a scale of fares determined by the Chief Executive in Council. The fare level of individual bus routes depends on the route groups to which they belong, and the route groups are mainly distinguished by the nature of service and the length of journey, regardless of whether the routes in the group pass through tolled tunnels or roads. In other words, the fares of franchised bus routes passing through tolled tunnels or roads (such as the Tai Lam Tunnel referred to by the Hon Luk Chung-hung) are not linked to the toll levels of these tunnels or roads.

     Having consulted the Transport Department (TD), our reply to the Hon Luk Chung-hung’s questions is as follows:

(i) At present, the Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited (KMB), Long Win Bus Company Limited and Citybus Limited (Franchise for the Urban and New Territories bus network) operate a total of over 50 franchised bus routes that pass through the Tai Lam Tunnel. The full adult fares of these routes range from $11.5 to $47.2, with the full journey distances ranging from approximately 16.4 kilometres to 61.4 kilometres. In 2024, the actual number of trips of these routes through the Tai Lam Tunnel was about 1.12 million, with a patronage of about 74.4 million.

     The operating accounts of the franchised bus operators (the operators) are calculated on the basis of overall expenditure and revenue. The TD does not maintain a breakdown of the operating costs, profits or losses of individual bus routes. The amount of tolls of the Tai Lam Tunnel paid by the above three operators totalled about $240 million in 2024. 

(ii) Based on the figures in 2024, it is estimated that the operators paid about $100 million for the tolls of the Tai Lam Tunnel from January 1 to May 30, 2025.

     The Government has exempted the operators from paying tolls when using government tunnels and control areas since February 2019. The operators have kept the tolls saved in the dedicated fund accounts they set up, i.e. the Toll Exemption Funds (TEF). When an operator applies for a fare increase and the Chief Executive in Council considers that there is a justifiable need to increase the fare, the operator is required to offset the increase by first using the balance in TEF. The magnitude of the fare increase shouldered by passengers will be lowered, and the passengers will be benefitted directly. 

     After the Tai Lam Tunnel became a Government tunnel on May 31 this year, the tolls of single-decker buses and double-decker buses were reduced to $43. Tolls payable by the operators will be deposited into the TEF. Based on the figures in 2024, it is projected that the operators will need to deposit about $4 million per month and about $48 million per year into the TEF.

(iii) Based on the above projection, the operators will pay approximately $190 million less in the Tai Lam Tunnel tolls annually. That said, as mentioned above, the fares of franchised bus routes are dependent on the overall operating situation of the franchised buses rather than the toll levels of the tunnels or roads that they pass through. In fact, the toll expenses account for less than seven per cent of the overall operating costs of franchised buses. The reduction in tolls of individual tunnels (including the Tai Lam Tunnel) has a minimal impact on the overall operating costs. 

     The Government has all along been closely monitoring the fare levels of franchised buses. When processing the fare increase applications last year, the Government has specifically considered the slight reduction in overall costs for operators after the decrease in the Tai Lam Tunnel tolls. At the same time, the Government sought to mitigate the fare increase through the TEF as far as possible. In the case of KMB, the overall rate of fare increase was reduced from 5.2 per cent to 4.3 per cent after a 0.9 percentage points mitigation effect by the TEF. read more

     Following is a question by the Hon Yang Wing-kit and a written reply by the Secretary for Development, Ms Bernadette Linn, in the Legislative Council today (June 11):
      
Question:
      
     The Urban Renewal Authority published in 2022 the District Study for Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok – Information Booklet, which proposed a new planning tool called “transfer of plot ratio” (i.e. allowing the transfer of gross floor area from small sites with limited redevelopment potentials (“sending sites”) to sizable redevelopment sites at strategic locations (“receiving sites”)). Subsequently, the Town Planning Board launched a pilot scheme on transfer of plot ratio (the Pilot Scheme) with Mong Kok and Yau Ma Tei as pilot areas, and the Sai Yee Street/Flower Market Road Development Scheme in Mong Kok is the first project. On the other hand, in the reply to a question raised by a Member of this Council on March 19 this year, the Government indicated that it would study the feasibility of cross-district transfer of plot ratios (i.e. transferring the residual plot ratios of redevelopment projects in old districts for use in new development areas (NDAs)), so as to incentivise market participation in redevelopment. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
      
(1) whether it will draw on the experience of projects under the Pilot Scheme to allow developers to transfer the residual plot ratios of small redevelopment sites in old districts other than Mong Kok and Yau Ma Tei for use in sizeable redevelopment sites in the same district or in other districts; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
      
(2) given that there are views pointing out that the value of land in old districts is generally higher than that in NDAs, whether the Government will study adjusting the plot ratio to be transferred based on the price per square foot of the “sending and receiving sites” (e.g. ‍allowing a higher plot ratio for sites in NDAs with lower prices per square foot when receiving gross floor area from sites in old districts with higher prices per square foot), so as to attract developer participation in redevelopment; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
      
(3) whether it will consider requiring that a portion of land from the “sending sites” be allocated for Green Belt, Open Space, and Government, Institution or Community uses; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
      
Reply:
      
President,
      
     The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) completed the District Study for Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok in 2021, which put forward a number of recommendations and new planning tools, including a pilot scheme for transfer of plot ratio (TPR) within the same district. To follow up on this recommendation, the Town Planning Board promulgated guidelines for the pilot scheme on TPR for Yau Mong Districts in July 2023, allowing the transfer of unutilised plot ratio from sending site(s) (SS) to receiving site(s) (RS) within the same Outline Zoning Plan to enhance redevelopment incentives. As mentioned in the question, the URA’s Sai Yee Street/Flower Market Road Development Scheme in Mong Kok is the first pilot redevelopment project to adopt TPR, which consolidated and transferred the unutilised plot ratio of several small and scattered sites without redevelopment potential to a larger site for mixed development, so as to enhance planning gains and the commercial viability of the project.
      
     To encourage and expedite urban renewal, the Development Bureau is conducting a policy study to examine the use of newly developed land to drive large-scale urban redevelopment projects, including cross-district TPR. Unlike the above-mentioned pilot scheme on TPR within the same district, we will consider allowing cross-district transfer of unutilised plot ratio from the SS to new development areas, and reducing the density of old districts. We will complete the policy study and put forward preliminary recommendations within this year.
      
     My reply to various parts of the question raised by the Hon Yang Wing-kit is as follows:
      
(1)  Our preliminary view is to extend TPR to old districts other than Yau Mong Districts, so that more redevelopment projects can benefit. We are conducting an analysis on expanding the coverage of districts. Details will be provided when announcing preliminary recommendations within this year.
      
(2) As mentioned by the Member, the land value in old districts is different from that in new development areas, with the former typically higher than the latter. Therefore, one of the key design challenges is to address the land value difference across districts. The effectiveness will depend on whether the value transferred to the RS can reasonably reflect the value of the unutilised plot ratio at the SS. Meanwhile, the mechanism should be simple and easy to implement, providing market certainty and avoiding unnecessary administrative burden. We will finalise the recommendations along such directions.
      
(3) Our goal is to encourage the URA and landowners holding old buildings in the market to take forward redevelopment in order to address the potential risks associated with ageing structures and improve the conditions of old districts. Premised on a balance between this policy objective and the project financial viability, we will also consider in the above policy study whether requirements to provide public open spaces and/or government, community, and institutional facilities should be imposed on the SS. read more