The Town Planning Board (the Board) announced today (June 9) that the Chief Executive in Council has referred three outline zoning plans to the Board for amendment to reflect the latest land use proposals, namely the approved Ping Shan Outline Zoning Plan (OZP), the approved Lam Tei and Yick Yuen OZP, and the approved Sha Tin OZP.

     Each OZP incorporating the respective amendment(s) will be exhibited for public inspection under the provisions of the Town Planning Ordinance.

     The Ping Shan OZP was last approved by the Chief Executive in Council in September 2022, while the Lam Tei and Yick Yuen OZP and the Sha Tin OZP were last approved by the Chief Executive in Council in November 2022.

     The Chief Executive in Council has approved the draft Pok Fu Lam Outline Zoning Plan (OZP).

     "The approved OZP provides a statutory land use planning framework to guide the development and redevelopment in the Pok Fu Lam area," a spokesperson for the Town Planning Board said today (June 9).

     The planning scheme area, covering about 413 hectares, is bounded by Mount Davis Road to the north and Pok Fu Lam Country Park to the east. The area extends to the waterfront to its south and west.
      
     The approved OZP has incorporated amendments shown on the draft Pok Fu Lam OZP No. S/H10/20, which mainly involve rezoning a site to the east of 3 Sassoon Road from "Green Belt" to "Government, Institution or Community (1)" for campus expansion of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong, and rezoning a site at 131 Pok Fu Lam Road from "Government, Institution or Community" to "Residential (Group C)7" for residential development.

     Opportunity is also taken to amend the Notes and Explanatory Statement of the OZP to reflect the above amendments and to update the general information of various land use zonings and the planning circumstances, where appropriate.

     The approved Pok Fu Lam OZP No. S/H10/21 is available for public inspection during office hours at (i) the Secretariat of the Town Planning Board, (ii) the Planning Enquiry Counters, (iii) the Hong Kong District Planning Office and (iv) the Southern Home Affairs Enquiry Centre.

     Copies of the approved OZP are available for sale at the Map Publications Centres in North Point and Yau Ma Tei. The electronic version of the OZP can be viewed at the Town Planning Board's website (www.info.gov.hk/tpb).

     The Chief Executive in Council has approved the draft Mong Kok Outline Zoning Plan (OZP).

     "The approved OZP provides a statutory land use planning framework to guide the development and redevelopment within the Mong Kok area," a spokesperson for the Town Planning Board said today (June 9).

     The planning scheme area, covering about 147 hectares, is located in West Kowloon. It is bounded by Boundary Street to the north, the MTR East Rail Line to the east, Dundas Street to the south, and Sham Mong Road and Ferry Street to the west.
      
     The approved OZP has incorporated amendments shown on the draft Mong Kok OZP No. S/K3/35, which mainly involved (i) removing the maximum plot ratio restriction for the "Commercial" ("C") zone; (ii) revising the maximum domestic plot ratio restriction for the "Residential (Group A)" ("R(A)"), "Residential (Group A)3" ("R(A)3") and "Residential (Group E)" ("R(E)") zones; (iii) rezoning various sites along character streets, including Flower Market Road (also called Flower Market), Tung Choi Street (also called Goldfish Street in the northern section and Ladies Market in the southern section) and Fa Yuen Street (also called Sneakers Street) from "R(A)" to "Other Specified Uses" annotated "Mixed Use"; and (iv) relaxing the building height restrictions for the "C", "R(A)", "R(A)3" and "R(E)" zones. The above amendments are intended to take forward some of the recommendations of the Urban Renewal Authority's District Study for Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok. Other amendments to reflect the current uses and as-built conditions have also been incorporated.

     Opportunity is also taken to amend the Notes and Explanatory Statement of the OZP to reflect the above amendments and to update the general information of various land use zonings and the planning circumstances, where appropriate.

     The approved Mong Kok OZP No. S/K3/36 is available for public inspection during office hours at (i) the Secretariat of the Town Planning Board, (ii) the Planning Enquiry Counters, (iii) the Tsuen Wan and West Kowloon District Planning Office and (iv) the Yau Tsim Mong District Office.

     Copies of the approved OZP are available for sale at the Map Publications Centres in North Point and Yau Ma Tei. The electronic version of the OZP can be viewed at the Town Planning Board's website (www.info.gov.hk/tpb).

     The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) today (June 9) released the latest grading of water quality for 39 gazetted beaches (see Note 1) and one non-gazetted beach (see Note 2).

     Twenty-one beaches were rated as Good (Grade 1), 18 as Fair (Grade 2) and one as Poor (Grade 3).

Grade 1 beaches are:          

 
Grade 2 beaches are:

Grade 3 beach is: 

     Compared with the grading released last week, Discovery Bay has been upgraded from Grade 2 to Grade 1. Butterfly Beach, Cafeteria New Beach, Deep Water Bay Beach, Golden Beach, Repulse Bay Beach and Stanley Main Beach have been changed from Grade 1 to Grade 2.

     "The changes are generally within the normal range of fluctuation of the bacteriological water quality of the beaches," an EPD spokesman said.

     Under the present grading system, beaches are classified into four grades, namely Good (Grade 1), Fair (Grade 2), Poor (Grade 3) and Very Poor (Grade 4), according to the level of E. coli in the water. Grades are calculated on the basis of the geometric mean of the E. coli counts on the five most recent sampling occasions.

     While the ratings represent the general water quality at the beaches, the EPD spokesman reminded members of the public that water quality could be temporarily affected during and after periods of heavy rain. Bathers should avoid swimming at beaches for up to three days after a storm or heavy rainfall.

     A summary of beach grades is published weekly before the weekend. The latest beach grades based on the most current data may be obtained from the EPD's website on Beach Water Quality (www.epd.gov.hk/epd/beach) or the beach hotline, 2511 6666.

     Note 1: Lifeguard services are provided by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department at 22 gazetted beaches, marked with an asterisk (*) above, from May 1.

     Note 2: The non-gazetted beach is Discovery Bay which has no lifeguard service.

     The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui, attended the 14th Lujiazui Forum in Shanghai today (June 9). During Plenary Session IV: "Global Monetary Policy Adjustment and Financial Risk Mitigation", he talked about global economic conditions and Hong Kong's current financial market, and elaborated on how Hong Kong maintains financial stability through a robust and effective regulatory regime.
 
     Major central banks around the world have tightened monetary policies, which affect economic performance. Mr Hui noted that the continued interest rate hikes in the United States over the past year will not disturb Hong Kong's financial and monetary stability. He pointed out that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government has been co-ordinating various financial regulators to ensure the smooth operation of the financial and monetary markets.
 
     He said, "Financial security is vital to national security and development. As an international financial centre of our country, Hong Kong has been committed to safeguarding the country's financial security."
 
     Solid buffers and resilience are built into Hong Kong's financial market. Hong Kong has vast foreign currency reserves, and there is ample liquidity in the banking system. The capital adequacy ratio is also well above the minimum requirement of international regulatory standards. All of them are sufficient to withstand shocks triggered by external factors in the markets.
 
     Mr Hui added, "The HKSAR Government will work with the financial regulators to continuously monitor if there are signs of systemic risk in the market through our round-the-clock, cross-market and co-ordinated monitoring mechanism, and respond decisively if necessary. The national development has entered a new era. In the course of the country's reform and high-level two-way opening up, Hong Kong plays the roles of a 'testing ground' and a 'firewall' in the reform and opening up of the country's financial market. Therefore, we should adopt bottom-line thinking to stay vigilant and safeguard financial security." 
 
     Mr Hui also shared with other speakers in the plenary session on how Hong Kong, being a global offshore Renminbi business hub, can help promote Renminbi internationalisation in an orderly manner.
 
     Themed "Global Financial Opening-up and Cooperation: New Drivers of Economic Recovery", this year's forum is co-organised by the Shanghai Municipal People's Government, the People's Bank of China, the National Administration of Financial Regulation and the the China Securities Regulatory Commission. Senior leaders from governments and financial regulators worldwide, leaders of premier financial institutions as well as renowned experts and scholars are invited to participate in the forum to exchange views on the prevailing major financial issues. 
 
     On the margins of the forum, Mr Hui met the Director of the Shanghai Municipal Financial Regulatory Bureau, Mr Zhou Xiaoquan, to explore ways to deepen co-operation between regulatory and market institutions in the two places. Mr Hui called on the Executive Director of the Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, Mr Zheng Yang, to brief him on the latest policies to promote the development of Hong Kong's financial industry. The two sides also exchanged views on promoting financial co-operation between Hong Kong and Shanghai, including promotion of Renminbi internationalisation, enhancement on mutual access between the financial markets and financial infrastructure of the two places, as well as the strengthening of co-operation in green finance.
 
     Yesterday (June 8), Mr Hui met Deputy Secretary General of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government Mr Gu Jun; the President of the China Foreign Exchange Trade System, Ms Zhang Yi; and the Vice-President and Chief Administrative Officer of the New Development Bank, Mr Zhou Qiangwu, to exchange views on issues of mutual concern. He also visited the Shanghai Stock Exchange and met its Executive Vice President, Mr Dong Guoqun.
 
     Mr Hui will return to Hong Kong this evening.