Tag Archives: China

     The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, met the Secretary of the CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee, Mr Yi Lianhong, at Government House today (June 26) to exchange views on deepening Hong Kong’s co-operation with Zhejiang. The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki; the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Erick Tsang Kwok-wai; the Secretary for Education, Dr Choi Yuk-lin; the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Miss Alice Mak; and the Director of the Chief Executive’s Office, Ms Carol Yip, also attended the meeting.
      
     Mr Lee welcomed Mr Yi’s visit to Hong Kong with his delegation to organise the Hong Kong & Macao – Zhejiang Week 2023 event and witness the signing of a co-operation agreement and a number of memoranda of understanding between the two places. He said he hopes that Hong Kong and Zhejiang will further expand the scope for development and start a new phase in deepened co-operation on all fronts together through strengthened and high-level collaboration and exchanges.
      
     Mr Lee said that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government attaches great importance to deepening co-operation between Hong Kong and Zhejiang, adding that it set up the Zhejiang Liaison Unit in 2017 to actively promote exchanges between the two places in various aspects. He expressed gratitude to the People’s Government of Zhejiang Province for its support and assistance to the work of the liaison unit over the years.
      
     Mr Lee pointed out that Hong Kong has all along been the largest source of foreign direct investment in Zhejiang Province, and is the best platform for enterprises to list outside Zhejiang. Hong Kong is also one of the preferred locations for Zhejiang enterprises to explore foreign markets and “go global”. Noting that Zhejiang is a major powerhouse of the economy and local enterprises, Hong Kong and Zhejiang must be able to achieve complementarity and mutual benefits through close co-operation. He expressed the hope that the two places will continue to have practical co-operation on various aspects including finance, aviation and culture and tourism, and seize opportunities arising from the National 14th Five-Year Plan together to foster synergistic development and a bright future.

  

     The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Monday, June 26, 2023 is 104.6 (up 0.1 against last Saturday’s index).

     The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Saturday, June 24, 2023 was 104.5 (same as last Friday’s index). read more

     â€‹Hong Kong Customs on June 13 detected a suspected case of an ocean-going vessel being used to smuggle goods to the Mainland via Singapore at the Kwai Tsing Container Terminals. A large batch of suspected smuggled goods, including electronic goods, expensive food ingredients, table wines, music records and scheduled endangered species, with a total estimated market value of about $1.5 billion was seized. This is the largest smuggling case detected by Customs on record in terms of the seizure value.

     Through risk assessment, Customs discovered that criminals may use ocean-going vessels to smuggle goods to the Mainland via Southeast Asian countries, and therefore formulated strategic plans. Fifteen containers, declared as carrying wood pulp, prepared to be shipped to the Mainland via Singapore by an ocean-going vessel, were identified at the Kwai Tsing Container Terminals.

     Upon inspection, Customs officers found that the 15 containers were fully packed with wooden boxes. Some of the wooden boxes were used to carry raw paper while most of the wooden boxes were used to conceal suspected smuggled goods. The majority of them were electronic goods, including integrated circuits, printed circuit boards and capacitors, totalling about 1.1 billion pieces. Other goods included about 25 tonnes of expensive food ingredients, about 20 000 bottles of table wines, about 27 000 pieces of classical music CDs and vinyl records, and scheduled endangered species.

     After a follow-up investigation, Customs arrested a 45-year-old man suspected to be connected with the case, and detained 15 containers suspected to be involved.

     An investigation is ongoing. The arrested man has been released on bail pending further investigation and the likelihood of further arrests is not ruled out.

     Customs is the primary agency responsible for the suppression of smuggling activities and has all along been combating various smuggling activities proactively at the forefront. Customs will keep up its enforcement action and continue to fiercely combat sea smuggling activities through proactive risk management and intelligence-based enforcement strategies, along with mounting targeted anti-smuggling operations at suitable times to land a solid blow against relevant activities.

     Smuggling is a serious offence. Under the Import and Export Ordinance, any person found guilty of importing or exporting unmanifested cargo is liable to a maximum fine of $2 million and imprisonment for seven years. Moreover, any person who imports or exports pharmaceutical products and medicines without a valid licence commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $500,000 and imprisonment for two years.

     Under the Protection of Endangered Species of Animals and Plants Ordinance, any person found guilty of importing or exporting an endangered species without a licence is liable to a maximum fine of $10 million and imprisonment for 10 years.

     Members of the public may report any suspected smuggling activities to Customs’ 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk).

                  

     Mobile Libraries 3, 4, 7 and 10 will suspend services during designated periods in July for routine maintenance, a spokesman for the Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced today (June 26).      Mobile L… read more

     The Department of Health (DH) today (June 26) announced that Yau Ma Tei Female Social Hygiene Clinic and Chai Wan Social Hygiene Clinic under the DH’s Social Hygiene Service will resume normal services starting from July 3.

     The social hygiene services of the two clinics concerned were partially or fully suspended earlier due to the COVID-19 situation.

     Yau Ma Tei Female Social Hygiene Clinic’s service hours will be as follows:

Monday: 8.30am to 1pm (registration hours: 8.30am to noon) and 2pm to 5.30pm (registration hours: 2pm to 4.30pm)

Tuesday: 2pm to 5.30pm (registration hours: 2pm to 4.30pm) and 5.30pm to 8.30pm (registration hours: 5.30pm to 7.30pm) (evening service is limited to old cases only)

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday: 8.45am to 1pm (registration hours: 8.45am to noon) and 2pm to 5.30pm (registration hours: 2pm to 4.30pm)

     Chai Wan Social Hygiene Clinic’s service hours will be as follows:

Social Hygiene Service (Female)

Monday and Friday: 2pm to 5.30pm (registration hours: 2pm to 4.30pm)

Wednesday: 8.45am to 1pm (registration hours: 8.45am to noon) and 2pm to 5.30pm (registration hours: 2pm to 4.30pm)

Social Hygiene Service (Male)

Tuesday and Thursday: 8.45am to 1pm (registration hours: 8.45am to noon) and 2pm to 5.30pm (registration hours: 2pm to 4.30pm)

     Please visit the following websites for the information on social hygiene clinics:

     Male: www.dh.gov.hk/english/tele/tele_chc/tele_chc_shcm.html; and
     Female: www.dh.gov.hk/english/tele/tele_chc/tele_chc_shcf.html. read more