Tag Archives: China

     The Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, Professor Sun Dong, yesterday (June 3) began his visit to Changchun, Jilin Province, to tour the China FAW Group Corporation (FAW Group) and learn about the development of the advanced manufacturing industry there.

     Upon arriving in Changchun yesterday afternoon, Professor Sun held an engagement session with the management of the FAW Group. He was briefed on the Group’s developments, especially in enhancing innovation capabilities and research on core technology when promoting the development of its own brands.

     Professor Sun visited the China FAW NBD Headquarters research and development institute, prosperity factory and Cultural Exhibition Hall today (June 4) to study the Group’s technological breakthroughs of its Hongqi brand in the areas of new energy vehicle models, advanced manufacturing technologies and processes, and autonomous driving systems as well as learning about the innovative achievements of the FAW Group as a state-owned mega automobile enterprise and a leading corporation of China’s automobile industry.

     Professor Sun said, “The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has clearly stated in the Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Development Blueprint that the development of advanced manufacturing and new energy is one of the strategic technology industries, and is actively promoting new industrialisation in Hong Kong. Under the ‘one country, two systems’ principle, Hong Kong has the unique advantages of enjoying the strong support of the country and being closely connected to the world. It is a two-way gateway for attracting overseas enterprises to Hong Kong and helping Mainland enterprises go global, as well as an ideal platform for Mainland enterprises to venture overseas markets.” He said he looked forward to Hong Kong’s new contributions to the innovative development of the country’s new energy automobile industry chain.

     Professor Sun also noted that the 2025 International Automotive Supply Chain Expo (Hong Kong) will be held from June 12 to 15 at AsiaWorld-Expo, Hong Kong. The Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau, as the advising organisation, hopes that Hong Kong can serve as an exchange platform for the global automobile industry supply chain via the Expo, and that new industrialisation in Hong Kong can be promoted at the same time, while showcasing cutting-edge technologies and the latest achievements of the new energy automobile industry of the Mainland.

     The Commissioner for Industry (Innovation and Technology), Dr Ge Ming, also joined the visit.

     Professor Sun returned to Hong Kong this afternoon after the visit.

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     â€‹Following is a question by the Hon Louis Loong and a reply by the Secretary for Development, Ms Bernadette Linn, in the Legislative Council today (June 4):
      
Question:
      
     Under the current land administration system, the Lands Department (LandsD) may grant waivers to temporarily relax restrictions under Government Leases to allow the leaseholders to carry out activities which do not comply with the lease conditions in the premises concerned (waiver premises), subject to payment of waiver fees assessed on the basis of the annual difference in full market rental value of the premises before and after the issue of the waiver letter. According to the information on the website of the LandsD, the waiver fee will be reviewed from time to time pursuant to the terms and conditions set out in the waiver letters and/or prevailing departmental policy and practice. It is learnt that due to the continuing sluggish rental market since the COVID-19 pandemic, the rental income from waiver premises, particularly those in retail use, has fallen substantially, with the result that in many cases, the net rental income after payment of the waiver fee is reduced to an unsustainable level and, in some cases, the rental income is less than the waiver fee. Some members of the real estate and construction sector have relayed to me that applications for review (including reassessment) of the waiver fees have not been processed by the LandsD in a timely manner and some have been pending for over a year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
      
(1) whether the LandsD has taken the initiative, in the absence of applications for review of the waiver fees, carried out any periodic reviews of waiver fees in the past five years; if so, of the number of cases reviewed; if not, whether the LandsD will undertake to carry out such reviews, and of the frequency and mechanism for such reviews;
      
(2) in the past five years, of the following information on the applications made for review (including reassessment) of waiver fees:
      
(i) the numbers of applications received and processed, and the average time taken from the date of application received to the date of the completion of the review; and

(ii) the number of outstanding applications, and the average time lapse since the date of application for such applications; and
      
(3) as there are views that three-month period is a reasonable time for processing application for review of waiver fees, whether the LandsD will consider, in respect of applications which have been processed for more than three months and approved with reduced waiver fees, backdating the effective date of the new waiver fee to a date which is three months immediately after the date of application?
      
Reply:
      
President,
      
     In general, the leases granted by the Government would specify requirements and restrictions on the use of the land and whether structures may be erected thereon. If an owner wishes to use the land within a certain time period for a purpose which is not in line with the lease condition or to erect temporary structures, they must first apply to the Lands Department (LandsD) for a waiver to temporarily relax the relevant restrictions, subject to payment of waiver fee and administrative fee. The waiver fee is assessed based on the difference in the market rental value of the relevant land or property before and after the waiver is granted, and waiverees are required to pay the waiver fees on a quarterly basis. Generally speaking, some waivers permitting the erection of structures on agricultural land are charged at standard rates.
      
     In response to the various parts of the question raised by the Hon Loong, my reply is as follows:
      
(1) Under the current practice, waiver fees are generally reviewed every three years in accordance with the relevant terms of the waiver. The standard rates applicable to some waivers are also typically reviewed every three years. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the social environment, the Government implemented a series of relief measures between October 2019 and December 2023, including waiver fee concession of up to 75 per cent for waivers for commercial and community uses, as well as the suspension of the triennial fee review. As society returns to normalcy, such relief measures concluded at the end of 2023. The LandsD has resumed the collection of full waiver fees starting from January 2024.
      
     For orderly resumption of regular reviews of waiver fees, the LandsD, having reviewed the circumstances and consulted the Development Bureau, has started from April this year to resume the fee reviews in batches. In particular, among some 3 900 waivers:
      
(i) the LandsD is prioritising the processing of around 2 630 waivers with original regular review cycles between April and June this year, with a view to completing the review within three months from the review cycles of the relevant waivers, and gradually notifying the waiverees of the review results. So far, the LandsD has completed the fee review for around 2 500 cases charged at standard rates, with the adjusted fees (an average reduction of about two per cent) reflected in the demand notes to be issued in June. For the remaining cases of around 130 waivers requiring individual assessment, the LandsD will complete the review within three months (i.e. gradually from July to September this year), and will gradually notify the waiverees of the review results.  
      
(ii) As for the around 730 waivers originally scheduled for regular review in July 2025 or later, the LandsD will endeavour to complete the valuation within three months before the review cycle and notify the waiverees of the results in time before the review cycle in line with their usual practice.  
      
(iii) As for the remaining around 540 waivers, their previous regular review cycle originally fell between January 2024 and March 2025 (based on the position after the relief measures were lifted in end-2023). However, in view of the LandsD’s resumption of review by batches since April this year, the first review cycle for this batch of cases after the end of 2023 has elapsed while the next cycle is expected to fall between 2027 and 2028. If the LandsD by then conducts the fee review for this batch of waivers, the relevant fee will in the coming two to three years still be based on the level determined in the previous review cycle (i.e. between 2018 and 2019) and hence fails to reflect the changes in the economic environment over the years. To allow flexibility for relevant waiverees, the LandsD will put in a place a special arrangement for this type of cases to allow the relevant waiverees to initiate a fee review application with the LandsD at this stage and provide supporting market evidence. The LandsD will then conduct the fee review and endeavour to, within three months upon receipt of the application, complete the review and notify the waiverees of the results. If the waiverees do not initiate an application, the LandsD will not conduct any fee review until the next review cycle (i.e. 2027 to 2028). The LandsD will issue notification letters in June this year to the relevant waiverees on the abovementioned arrangement.
      
(2) As mentioned above, the LandsD suspended fee reviews for more than four years. Since the fee concession relief measures ended at the end of 2023, the LandsD has received 11 applications for waiver fee review. Among these, six cases were originally scheduled for fee review cycle between January 2024 and June 2025. The LandsD notified two of these waiverees of the results of the reviewed quarterly fees in May, and the valuation of the remaining four cases will be completed as soon as possible under the aforementioned arrangements, with results expected to be notified by August 2025. For the other five applications, as their review cycles are in July 2025 or later, the LandsD will conduct the fee reviews according to the original review cycle under the timetable as mentioned in part (1) (ii) of the reply above, targeting to complete them within three months before the review cycle.
      
(3) Under the usual practice, the LandsD will complete the review and notify the waiverees the reviewed fee level before the review cycle falls due. Whether the fees are adjusted upward or downward, the adjusted fees will take effect in the review cycle upon expiry of the notice period (depending on the waiver terms, usually it is three months). Given the special background of this resumption of fee reviews, if the reviewed fees are lower than the current levels upon the resumption of reviews by the LandsD, the effective date will be backdated to the first applicable review cycle after the lifting of the relief measures in end-December 2023 so as to allow the industry to benefit from the reduced fees earlier. As an illustration, for a case with a review cycle on May 1, 2025, if the LandsD completes the review in August this year, the reduced waiver fee will take effect on May 1, 2025 while the increased waiver fee will take effect upon expiry of the notice period around November 2025. The new fees will be set out in the next demand notes, with any extra amount of fees paid after the effective date to be deducted in the next demand notes. read more

     Owing to the thunderstorm warning, the flag-lowering ceremony to be conducted at Golden Bauhinia Square, Wan Chai at 6pm today (June 4) will be cancelled.            &nbs… read more

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) wishes to alert members of the public to the press releases issued by the banks listed below relating to fraudulent websites, internet banking login screens, phishing emails or other scams, which have been reported to the HKMA. Hyperlinks to the press releases are available on the HKMA website.
 

Bank	Type of Scam
Bank of Singapore Limited	Fraudulent website
Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited	Fraudulent website and phishing instant messages

     The HKMA wishes to remind the public that banks will not send SMS or emails with embedded hyperlinks which direct them to the banks’ websites to carry out transactions. They will not ask customers for sensitive information, such as login passwords or one-time password, by phone, email or SMS (including via embedded hyperlinks).

     Anyone who has provided his or her personal information, or who has conducted any financial transactions, through or in response to the scams concerned, should contact the relevant bank with the information provided in the corresponding press release, and report the matter to the Crime Wing Information Centre of the Hong Kong Police Force at 2860 5012. read more

     Following is a question by the Hon Benson Luk and a reply by the Secretary for Development, Ms Bernadette Linn, in the Legislative Council today (June 4):

Question:

     In May last year, the Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council proposed that Hong Kong should establish the concept of “Tourism is everywhere in Hong Kong”, and in November of the same year, he advised that Hong Kong’s shoreline tourism resources should be put to good use. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) whether, according to the Government’s estimation, the “Round-the-Island Trail” developed on Hong Kong Island can be completed in 2031 as scheduled; how the Government will study with the MTR Corporation Limited the enhancement of the design of the ventilation building of the Airport Railway Extended Overrun Tunnel project, so as to minimise the impact on the waterfront promenade on Hong Kong Island and the Central Harbourfront Event Space, as well as the relevant design proposal and construction schedule;

(2) given that a number of sections of the waterfront promenade in Kowloon are not connected (including the Yau Ma Tei Public Cargo Working Area, the Green Island Cement Pier, the Fishtail Rock in Hoi Sham Park and the waterfront gas facility off Grand Waterfront, etc), whether the authorities have plans to connect the entire shoreline of Kowloon in different modes; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

(3) whether it has formulated mega event programmes for the proposed waterfront promenades and those under construction, and of the measures in place to facilitate the industry to set up long-term catering premises at such promenades?

Reply:

President,

     Hong Kong possesses abundant coastal resources, and Victoria Harbour and the harbourfront are world-famous. In consultation with the Transport and Logistics Bureau and the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau, the reply to various parts of the question is as follows:

(1) Regarding the construction of a 60-kilometre-long “Round-the-Island Trail” on the Hong Kong Island, 85 per cent has been connected thus far. It is estimated that 90 per cent would be connected by end-2027. The remaining 10 per cent, with a length of about six km and mainly including sections such as Shau Kei Wan to Heng Fa Chuen and Brick Hill to Mills & Chung Path, involves works that require relatively more technical considerations and are more complicated (such as slope improvement), which we will strive to substantially complete by end-2031.

     The Airport Railway Extended Overrun Tunnel project refers to a proposal to construct a tunnel of around 500 metres long beneath Lung Wo Road to the east of the Hong Kong Station in Central for trains to turn back so as to enhance the train carrying capacities and operation efficiency of the existing railway lines. Facilities under the project will mostly be constructed underground, while the ventilation cum emergency access building will be constructed aboveground, with a site area of about 1 200 square metres. The Government and the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL) are proactively optimising the project, including the overall design of the concerned facilities, with a view to minimising the footprint and height of the ventilation cum emergency access building, and also minimising the works area needed during construction. The target is to ensure that the permanent and temporary facilities of the concerned project would not need to, as far as practicable, occupy the existing Central Harbourfront Event Space (CHES), site area of which is some 36 000 sqm, or to minimise the overlapping area between the concerned project and the CHES. The Government and the MTRCL will report the latest progress and the construction timetable of the project to the stakeholders in the second half of the year.

(2) For the Victoria Harbourfront in Kowloon from Cheung Sha Wan to Lei Yue Mun, the developable waterfront has a length of about 21 km, which excludes the about 6km-long waterfront areas currently occupied by existing facilities. After years of efforts by the Government and various sectors, about 65 per cent of the harbourfront has been connected at present, including sections in Tai Kok Tsui, the West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD), Tsim Sha Tsui, Cha Kwo Ling, etc. By end-2028, with the addition of sections along the harbourfront in Kai Tak as well as at the former freight yard pier site in Hung Hom, nearly 80 per cent will be connected. The remaining 20 per cent of the waterfront, such as Yau Tong Bay Comprehensive Development Area and some other harbourfront sections in Kai Tak, will be developed along with private development projects at the respective locations.

     We will maintain our efforts regarding the aforementioned 6-km waterfront areas in the south of the Kowloon peninsula currently occupied by existing facilities. Subject to technical feasibility, we will improve harbourfront connectivity through other means. For example, we are constructing a pedestrian walkway along the inland boundary of the New Yau Ma Tei Public Cargo Working Area to link up the WKCD and the Tai Kok Tsui harbourfront. Upon completion next year, the pedestrian walkway will be opened to the public. As for the harbourfront connectivity of other locations, we will commence the Study on East Kowloon Harbourfront Trail in the near future, riding on the opportunities brought about by the newly amended Protection of the Harbour Ordinance (Cap. 531), and exploring to further connect harbourfront sections in Hung Hom and To Kwa Wan that are not yet accessible, including those locations mentioned in the question raised by the Member. Besides, the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) has initiated the To Kwa Wan Harbourfront Study, which is a holistic planning covering the hinterland of To Kwa Wan, waterfront spaces and the adjacent water body, in order to explore improving the connectivity between the hinterland and the harbourfront, in addition to utilising harbourfront resources. We will co-ordinate and join forces with the URA on these fronts.

(3) Many venues within the Victoria Harbourfront are suitable for hosting mega events and activities of various types. For instance, the CHES has been a venue frequently used for hosting a considerable number of signature events over the years; the WKCD has more than 20 indoor and outdoor venues, attracting different types of large-scale events; the Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade and the Avenue of Stars are also venues where leisure and entertainment activities are frequently held, such as music, film and arts and cultural events. The 15th National Games will be held in November this year, of which a number of competition events will take place in Hong Kong. Amongst them, the Triathlon event will be staged at the Central harbourfront and Victoria Harbour, which would allow spectators to watch the event while experiencing the natural beauty and vibrancy of Victoria Harbour.

     Regarding food and beverages facilities at the harbourfront, we set up smart specialty vending facilities with distinctive exterior designs for photo-taking at the harbourfront in Wan Chai, Kwun Tong and Cha Kwo Ling last year, offering light snacks, drinks and gadgets. We are partnering with WestK Enterprise Limited in recent months to invite interested operators, through expression of interest, to set up refreshment stalls at four harbourfront locations with relatively more frequent flow of visitors in Central, Wan Chai, North Point and Tsim Sha Tsui within this year. Furthermore, we will revitalise the former freight yard pier site in Hung Hom into a special event space and open it for public use in the first quarter of next year. In the longer term, we have already released the preliminary land use proposal on the long-term development of the former pier site in Hung Hom and the sites around Hung Hom Station earlier; and we are also carrying out a study on the use of the topside development of the Exhibition Centre Station in Wan Chai North. Both projects will involve introducing food and beverages, retail and entertainment facilities of sizeable scale at the harbourfront, and continue to make good use of harbourfront resources to create new highlights for Hong Kong.

     Thank you, President. read more