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     Following is a question by Dr the Hon Starry Lee and a written reply by the Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, in the Legislative Council today (May 14):

Question:

     The Government announced in the 2016 Policy Address that an overall hospital development plan had been devised with the Hospital Authority to allocate $200 billion to implement the development projects in the subsequent 10 years, and the New Acute Hospital in Kai Tai (New Acute Hospital) was one of the projects under the plan. The New Acute Hospital, which will provide 2 400 beds and 37 operating theatres, is expected to be completed next year and will become the leading hospital in the Kowloon Central Cluster serving residents in the Kowloon City and Wong Tai Sin districts. Most of the clinical services of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), including the accident and emergency (A&E) services, will be relocated to the New Acute Hospital, bringing direct impact to members of the public in Kowloon Central. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) in the light of the completion of the New Acute Hospital, how the authorities assess the level of public awareness of the services provided by the New Acute Hospital, and what specific plans are in place to step up publicity and promotional efforts, so as to ensure thorough public understanding of the New Acute Hospital’s scope of services, relocation arrangements and means of access;

(2) given the gradual replacement of QEH’s A&E services by the New Acute Hospital, what measures the authorities have in place to ensure seamless transition of the services, particularly the provision of appropriate transport options for groups such as the elderly, persons with impaired mobility and those in need of emergency medical services; and

(3) whether it will, before implementing the New Acute Hospital’s service relocation arrangements, conduct public consultation on the New Acute Hospital’s accessibility and establish a regular communication mechanism to collect views from residents and relevant stakeholders to jointly explore improvement proposals, thereby ensuring that aspects such as (i) the transport accessibility to the Hospital in different time periods; (ii) the compatibility of the existing public transport network with the demand for hospital services; and (iii) feeder services for special groups will met the needs of the residents?

Reply:

President,

     In consultation with the Transport and Logistics Bureau (TLB) and the Hospital Authority (HA), the consolidated reply to the question raised by Dr the Hon Starry Lee is as follows:

(1) In 2016, the Government and the HA commenced the implementation of the First Hospital Development Plan with $200 billion set aside for a total of 16 projects, covering the redevelopment and expansion of 11 hospitals, the construction of a new acute hospital, three community health centres and one supporting services centre.

     Upon the completion of the New Acute Hospital (NAH) located in the Kai Tak Development Area, most of the clinical in-patient services of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), including the accident and emergency (A&E) services, will be relocated to the NAH; while the Ambulatory Care Centre (Extension) of the QEH will remain at the King’s Park site. Situated in Central Kowloon, the NAH will form a service network with the Our Lady of Maryknoll Hospital, Hong Kong Buddhist Hospital and Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Wong Tai Sin Hospital in the Kowloon City District; the Kwong Wah Hospital (KWH), Kowloon Hospital and other hospitals in the Kowloon Central Cluster (KCC); and the Ambulatory Care Centre (Extension) of the QEH to provide comprehensive healthcare services to the residents in the Kowloon Central area and neighbouring areas. 

     To tie in with the progressive relocation of services from the QEH to the NAH from early 2026 onwards, the KCC has been keeping the public informed through various channels since 2023 of the construction progress and basic information of the NAH, as well as the arrangements of service relocation from the QEH to the NAH.

     As for community publicity work, the KCC has held 16 community outreach publicity activities in the past six months (from October 2024 to April 2025) in collaboration with community partners such as the Hong Kong Housing Society, District Offices, District Council (DC) members, the District Services and Community Care Teams (Care Teams), and ethnic minorities, whereby community talks, workshops, briefing sessions, publicity booths, etc. were arranged in different housing estates and locations. The aim was to reach out to residents in the Kowloon Central area to explain the services of the NAH and the relocation arrangements for services of the QEH, so as to enhance the public’s awareness of the services of the NAH and plan for further publicity work having regard to their enquiries. The KCC has also been briefing patients and their families about the service arrangements of the NAH through in-hospital publicity activities. Since 2025, mobile publicity booths have been set up regularly at the major entrances of the QEH and specialist out-patient clinics to distribute brochures and newsletters of the NAH to patients, with staff answering their enquiries directly. Thirteen publicity activities have been carried out so far (as of April 2025). The KCC also places promotional banners, roll-up stands and posters at the main entrances of the hospital and the locations frequented by hospital users to ensure that the messages can be effectively conveyed to patients and the public in need.

     The HA also maintains close communication with community stakeholders and visited the four DCs of Yau Tsim Mong, Kowloon City, Wong Tai Sin and Kwun Tong in September 2024 and January 2025 to report in detail on the construction progress and service arrangements of the NAH. Three visits were arranged from March to April 2025 for representatives from District Offices, DC members, representatives from patient groups, relevant government departments and community stakeholders to visit the mock-up site of the NAH to learn about the design and planning of the NAH as well as express their views. In addition, the KCC established a Community Liaison Group chaired by the Cluster Chief Executive of the KCC in 2024. The members include representatives of District Offices, DC members, representatives from patient groups, relevant government departments and community stakeholders. The KCC representatives regularly report at the meetings of the Community Liaison Group the latest information of the NAH. The Community Liaison Group held its first meeting in November last year and arranged for group members to visit the mock-up site of the NAH in March this year.

     In addition, the KCC will enhance information dissemination through various channels, including the website of the NAH, social media and instant messaging groups, to continue to provide to the public the latest information of the hospital, covering information of introduction of clinical services and traffic information, etc.

     To ensure the smooth travel of the public to the NAH, the KCC is exploring launching a Transportation Information Card before the commissioning of the NAH to provide detailed information on public transportation routes with stops at the NAH, including bus routes, locations of green minibus (GMB) stop, MTR connections, as well as walking routes in the vicinity of the hospital and transfer suggestions. The KCC will arrange to widely publicise the relevant information through hospitals, community partners and social media platforms to familiarise the public with the new hospital location.

     As the commissioning of the NAH approaches, the HA will announce in a timely manner the commencement date of relevant services, detailed arrangements of relocation and clinical services, etc. through various channels, and will further enhance various publicity work in future, including increasing the number of community outreach activities in collaboration with the media, DC members, the Care Teams and relevant government departments, and expanding publicity points in the hospitals, with a view to disseminating the latest information via various channels to enable more patients and stakeholders to obtain information on the relocation of services in a timely manner, thereby ensuring the smooth relocation of services.

(2) and (3) The A&E services of the QEH will be relocated to the NAH upon the latter’s completion. The NAH will be a designated trauma centre, with a round-the-clock A&E department equipped with comprehensive facilities to deal with all types of emergency cases and situations as well as serious incidents. After it is put into service, the A&E department of the NAH will operate with synergy with that of the KWH of the KCC in jointly providing comprehensive and high-quality A&E services to the residents of the Kowloon Central area.

     The existing QEH and the future NAH are both major acute general hospitals in the Kowloon Central area. Therefore, the HA attaches great importance to the relocation of the A&E services and has been in close communication with relevant government departments on the future service arrangements of the A&E department, including the zoning of ambulances and patient transfer arrangements. The HA also holds regular meetings with these departments on the subject to ensure the smooth relocation of the A&E services.

     Regarding the accessibility of the NAH, the HA has been paying special attention to the arrangements of transport facilities for the new hospital, especially the needs of the elderly and people with mobility impairment. In this regard, the HA has been maintaining close communication with the Transport Department (TD) on the related traffic matters of the new hospital. Regular meetings have been held to provide relevant data and exchange views, such as projections of pedestrian flow, work schedule of the healthcare personnel, hospital visiting hours, so that relevant departments and various transport operators can review the traffic arrangements, assess the overall public transport services demand in the Kai Tak Hospital area (KTHA), and make appropriate traffic proposals in advance having regard to the needs. These include strengthening services for citizens in Yau Tsim Mong, Kowloon City, Wong Tai Sin districts and the surrounding vicinity to travel to and from the KTHA in a targeted manner, as well as enhancing the connectivity between the KTHA and the MTR network.

     At present, there are four franchised bus routes and six GMB routes serving the KTHA (see Annex 1), connecting the areas such as Kwun Tong, Kowloon City, Mong Kok and Tsim Sha Tsui, as well as nearby MTR stations such as Kai Tak Station, Sung Wong Toi Station, To Kwa Wan Station, Kowloon Bay Station, Ngau Tau Kok Station, Kwun Tong Station, and Wong Tai Sin Station, which could facilitate the general public (including the elderly) to visit the KTHA. To enhance the accessibility of the NAH, the TD plans to introduce or extend three franchised bus routes via the KTHA, including the addition of CTB Route No. 20X and the extension of KMB Routes No. X6C and No. 15A, in order to further enhance the connectivity of public transport network between the KTHA and other districts. Details of the relevant routes are set out in Annex 2.

     Meanwhile, the TLB is implementing the Smart and Green Mass Transit System in Kai Tak in full swing for connecting the Kai Tak former runway area to the Kai Tak MTR Station. TLB’s target is to invite tender in the second half of this year and award the contract in 2026. When the system is put into service, citizens can walk from the station located at the Kai Tak Sky Garden to the NAH via the existing footpath at Kai Tak Bridge Road. In addition, the barrier-free walkway under construction connecting the amenity area under the Kwun Tong Bypass and the NAH will also enhance the connectivity and pedestrian accessibility between the NAH and the Kowloon Bay hinterland. 

     Regarding groups with special needs, a Rehabus feeder service between the Hong Kong Children’s Hospital and the nearby MTR stations (including Lok Fu Station and Kai Tak Station) is already in place in the KTHA. To tie in with the commissioning of the NAH, the TD is exploring with the Rehabus operator to extend the Rehabus feeder service to the NAH. In addition, the KCC is in close communication with the designated government-funded organisations providing Rehabus feeder service on the boarding and alighting arrangements of the rehabuses serving the new hospital, and provides advice to cater for the needs of hospital users with mobility impairment. In addition, the NAH will continue to provide point-to-point non-emergency ambulance transfer services for patients with specified clinical conditions and with mobility impairment, so as to ensure that all patients in need can travel to and from the hospital smoothly for treatment.

     In addition, the KCC is committed to building a barrier-free environment in the NAH to ensure accessibility for patients and visitors in the hospital. The design of all buildings in the NAH has adopted all obligatory barrier free design requirements under the “Design Manual: Barrier-Free Access 2008” issued by the Buildings Department. Relevant design requirements cover accessible parking spaces, passages, corridors, doorways, ramps, toilets, steps and stairs, handrails, lifts, lighting, etc. to ensure that various facilities are accessible to all persons, regardless of their physical conditions or age.

     As mentioned above, the HA has maintained communication with community stakeholders on the service arrangements of the NAH, including reporting in detail to the DCs on the construction progress and service arrangements of the NAH. The HA will continue to maintain close liaison with different stakeholders on the accessibility of the NAH, and proactively listen to the views of the relevant non-profit organisations and patient groups, including reporting information on the new hospital and collecting views through regular meetings of the Community Liaison Group. The HA will also refer relevant views to the relevant government departments for consideration as appropriate. In addition, the TD will continue to closely monitor the progress of the NAH project and the overall development of the area. Subject to the demand, the TD will explore to make timely adjustments or enhancement of the public transport services in the area, or introduce new franchised bus or GMB routes to facilitate the public to travel to and from the KTHA and meet their transportation needs. read more

     The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Wednesday, May 14, 2025 is 104.8 (same as yesterday’s index). read more

     In response to the Japanese Government’s plan to discharge nuclear-contaminated water at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Station, the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene issued a Food Safety Order which prohibits all aquatic products, sea salt and seaweeds originating from the 10 metropolis/prefectures, namely Tokyo, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Miyagi, Chiba, Gunma, Tochigi, Niigata, Nagano and Saitama, from being imported into and supplied in Hong Kong.
 
     For other Japanese aquatic products, sea salt and seaweeds that are not prohibited from being imported into Hong Kong, the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department is conducting comprehensive radiological tests to verify that the radiation levels of these products do not exceed the guideline levels before they are allowed to be supplied in the market.
 
     As the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water is unprecedented and will continue for 30 years or more, the Government will closely monitor the situation and continue to implement the enhanced testing arrangements. Should anomalies be detected, the Government does not preclude further tightening the scope of the import ban.
 
     From noon on May 13 to noon today (May 14), the CFS conducted tests on the radiological levels of 208 food samples imported from Japan, which were of the “aquatic and related products, seaweeds and sea salt” category. No sample was found to have exceeded the safety limit. Details can be found on the CFS’s thematic website titled “Control Measures on Foods Imported from Japan” (www.cfs.gov.hk/english/programme/programme_rafs/programme_rafs_fc_01_30_Nuclear_Event_and_Food_Safety.html).

     In parallel, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) has also tested 50 samples of local catch for radiological levels. All the samples passed the tests. Details can be found on the AFCD’s website (www.afcd.gov.hk/english/fisheries/Radiological_testing/Radiological_Test.html).
 
     The Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) has also enhanced the environmental monitoring of the local waters. No anomaly has been detected so far. For details, please refer to the HKO’s website
(www.hko.gov.hk/en/radiation/monitoring/seawater.html).
 
     From August 24, 2023, to noon today, the CFS and the AFCD have conducted tests on the radiological levels of 135 882 samples of food imported from Japan (including 89 495 samples of aquatic and related products, seaweeds and sea salt) and 31 286 samples of local catch respectively. All the samples passed the tests. read more

     Following is a question by the Hon Shang Hailong and a reply by the Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Ms Mable Chan, in the Legislative Council today (May 14):

Question:

     The Government has implemented schemes for trials of autonomous vehicles (AVs) at locations such as the West Kowloon Cultural District since 2017, and a new regulatory regime for AVs also came into operation last year to allow wider and more flexible trials of AVs on the roads. However, there are views pointing out that the development of unmanned driving technology and the relevant laws and regulations in Hong Kong have not kept pace with the times, and that the application of commercial unmanned driving has not been subject to clear regulation. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) whether it has assessed the effectiveness of the staged trials of various projects related to AVs and Vehicle-to-Everything technology subsidised by the Smart Traffic Fund;

(2) given that as at the end of last month, a total of two AV pilot licences have been issued by the Government to enable applicants to conduct trials on 12 AVs respectively, of the progress of such trials, and the expected time when such vehicles will be formally deployed in Hong Kong; and

(3) given that the Government will enact legislation to develop a framework for the regulation of online car hailing platforms, whether the Government will conduct a forward-looking study on the incorporation of the technical standards and safety requirements for unmanned vehicles, so as to develop a framework for the regulation of online hailing of AVs?

Reply:

President,

     The Government has been promoting the development of autonomous vehicles in Hong Kong in an active and orderly manner through a multi-pronged approach by providing policy support, regulatory backing and financial subsidy. The new regulatory regime for AVs came into operation in March last year, which allows the Transport Department (TD) to provide flexibility for AV trials while ensuring road safety, so as to foster the testing and application of more advanced AV technologies in Hong Kong. In addition to a forward-looking regulatory system, Hong Kong boasts a well-developed road network and highly standardised transport infrastructure, creating an ideal environment for the research and application of AVs. Moreover, our vibrant financial market and fertile ground for innovation have also successfully attracted numerous AV technology companies to establish research and development centres, experiment with AVs and related technologies, and raise funds through listing in Hong Kong. This not only injects vitality into the local economy, but also accelerates the realisation of the smart mobility vision.

     In consultation with the TD, my consolidated reply to the question raised by the Hon Shang Hailong is as follows:

(1) The Government subsidises enterprises or organisations conducting innovative technology research and application related to vehicles through the Smart Traffic Fund. As of last month, the fund has subsidised five and eight projects related to AVs and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) respectively, with a funding amount of approximately $170 million.

     Among these, AV projects cover multiple road scenarios in Hong Kong, such as different types of junctions, pedestrian-priority zebra crossings and public transport interchanges, steadily enhancing the capability of AVs to handle Hong Kong’s complex road conditions. Regarding V2X technologies and related auxiliary projects, efforts are being made to progressively expand V2X scenario applications and enhance system compatibility. For instance, some projects have significant increased the number of application scenarios to over 20, while others enable communication between at least two AVs brands, allowing multiple AVs to operate simultaneously. These projects further enhance the road safety and operational efficiency of supporting infrastructure for AVs. 

     Through projects under the Smart Traffic Fund, the Government, the industry, and the academia have collectively accumulated experience. Coupled with cross-departmental collaboration, we have attracted multiple technology companies to invest in AVs and related technologies in Hong Kong. Current trials in Hong Kong have achieved highly autonomous driving, which is Level 4 under national and international standards, where AVs can continuously perform all dynamic driving tasks under specific operational conditions and automatically execute minimal risk strategies, a technical level comparable to that of the Mainland and other parts of the world. 

(2) Under the new regulatory regime, the testing and application of AVs in Hong Kong are enhancing speed and efficiency. The TD has issued two pilot licenses to allow 12 AVs to be tested in North Lantau and the West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD) respectively.

     Significant progress has been made in the trial in North Lantau since its commencement from end of last year and various breakthroughs have been achieved: (1) the scale of trial has been expanded from a single vehicle to 10 vehicles operating simultaneously, in order to collect data of multiple vehicles running in parallel; (2) carrying passengers on specified routes after safety assessment; (3) conducting trial on more complex roads; current trial routes at the Airport Island have been expanded, with plans to conduct trial in Tung Chung in the future simultaneously; and (4) allowing the increase of the speed limit to 50 km per hour in accordance with the maximum speed limit of the trial route. With the TD’s efficient approval process, relevant project achieves the aforementioned breakthroughs within five months. The project applicant also plans to expand the trial to Cyberport in Hong Kong South. Another project, located at the WKCD, will trial autonomous light buses equipped with autonomous driving system that follows Hong Kong’s left-handed traffic rule. Upon completion of the entire system development and when the system has been proven safe to operate, trials with passengers will be carried out on public roads in the WKCD. Based on the current progress, we would expect AV application in selected communities within the next one to two years. 

     Looking forward, with safety as its guiding principle, the Government will continue to consolidate the experience gained from various projects, refine technical standards and share research outcome with the industry to promote the development of AVs keenly in a steady manner. In addition to the aforementioned projects, we are also actively advancing other initiatives in different districts, such as autonomous light buses running between the Hong Kong Science Park in Sha Tin and MTR University Station, and an autonomous transportation system connecting the SKYCITY at Hong Kong International Airport and the Hong Kong Port Island of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge.

(3) The Government has all along been committed to enhancing the quality of personalised point-to-point transport services. Regarding the regulation of online car hailing platforms, the TD is actively conducting a study on the overall demand and supply of personalised point-to-point transport services. The Government will formulate legislative proposals on the regulation of online car hailing platforms, including licensing requirements on the platforms, vehicles and drivers, within this year after it has fully considered the report of the relevant Working Group under the Transport Advisory Committee and the views and the quantitative data collected. The legislative proposals will then be presented to the Legislative Council.

     The advancement of AV technology is rapid. We note that many regions have started to apply AVs to commercial operation of passenger and goods transport, etc, and autonomous taxis are being trialed in several cities in the Mainland, demonstrating the significant potential of the integration of the two. The Government will continue to closely monitor the technological advancement and industrial development of AVs, provide appropriate guidance and support, and consider the development direction and the future relevant regulatory requirements in a forward-looking manner.

     Thank you, President. read more

     â€‹Following is a question by the Hon Yim Kong and a written reply by the Secretary for Development, Ms Bernadette Linn, in the Legislative Council today (May 14):
 
Question:
 
     Water charges in Hong Kong have not been adjusted for nearly 30 years since February 1995. The Waterworks Operating Accounts have recorded persistent deficits since 1999, and such deficits have increased substantially from less than $1 billion in the 2013-2014 financial year to about $2.4 billion in the 2022-2023 financial year. Moreover, it has been reported that the water charges in Hong Kong are among the lowest in advanced cities. While the water charges in other advanced countries or cities (such as Japan and Singapore) account for about 1 per cent to 2 per cent of the local household income, Hong Kong’s average water charges represent only less than 0.2 per cent of its household income. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) whether it has studied the reasons why persistent deficits have been recorded in the operation of waterworks in Hong Kong, apart from the apparently low water charges, and whether the authorities have examined the reasons for persistent deficits from the management and operation perspectives; if it has studied, of the details, and how the authorities will make improvements;
 
(2) given that according to the paper submitted by the Government to the Panel on Development of this Council on December 13, 2023, the main source of water supply for Hong Kong is Dongjiang water purchased from the Guangdong Province under the “package deal deductible sum” approach, and the annual ceiling water prices from 2024 to 2026 will be over $5 billion, whether the authorities have actively enlisted support from the relevant ministries of the Central Government and proactively discussed with the authorities of the Guangdong Province to explore ways to optimise the existing mode of water supply (especially the water prices); and
 
(3) whether it will actively consider privatising the Water Supplies Department; if so, of the specific timetable and roadmap; if not, the reasons for that?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     The Water Supplies Department (WSD) has all along been committing to providing the public with reliable, sufficient and quality fresh water.  Over the years, the WSD has been constructing many waterworks facilities to meet the needs of social development and the public on the one hand, while on the other hand containing fresh water demand growth through various water conservation and water loss management initiatives. The WSD is exploiting new water resources including desalinated seawater, reclaimed water (Note 1) and treated grey water (Note 2) to diversify the water supply portfolio and build resilience in fresh water supply.
 
     Besides, through adopting new technology to enhance operational cost-effectiveness and streamline business processes, the WSD effectively controls the capital cost of water supply.
 
     The Government will review the level of water tariff periodically based on the principles of “user pays” and “service cost recovery”, taking into account the social and economic situations, affordability of the consumers, financial performance of waterworks operations and the views of the stakeholders, etc. Water is a daily necessity for people, and the water tariff adjustment will have significant impact on people’s livelihood and the operation of various trades and industries. The Government needs to consider the factors very carefully in order to balance the public finance position and the impact on the public.
 
     The reply to the various parts of the question raised by the Hon Yim is as follows:
 
(1) The number of water accounts has increased from 2.2 million in 1998 to 3.27 million in 2024 (an increase of about 49 per cent).  To meet the new service demands, the WSD has increased the number of waterworks facilities substantially between 1998 and 2024, including an increase of 43 per cent in the length of water mains from about 5 900 km to about 8 500 km, a rise of 8 per cent in the number of service reservoirs from 215 to 232, and an increase of 8 per cent in the number of pumping stations from 177 to 191, which results in a continuous increase in the associated operational and maintenance expenses. The Composite Consumer Price Index also increased by 40 per cent over the same period. Besides, water tariff has not been adjusted since 1995 (except for the adjustment of water fees for non-local vessels in 1996). Taking all these factors into account, the Waterworks Operating Accounts (WOA) have continuously recorded a deficit since 1998-99, and the cost recovery rate also dropped to about 75 per cent.
 
     To control the cost of water supply and improve waterworks operating conditions, the WSD has been committing to improving water resources management and making good use of technology to streamline business processes, reduce water loss and save energy consumption. Meanwhile, the WSD has reduced its establishment from about 6 100 in 1998 to about 4 700 in 2024.
 
     In addition, the WSD has implemented water loss management initiatives, including the replacement and rehabilitation of about 3 000 km of aged water mains between 2000 and 2015 and the implementation of Risk-based Improvement Programme of Water Mains and Water Intelligent Network in recent years. These efforts have reduced the leakage rate of government water mains from around 25 per cent in 2000 to around 13.4 per cent at present. The WSD has also spared no efforts in promoting water conservation to defer the need for building additional waterworks facilities, thereby lowering the operational, maintenance, and depreciation expenses associated with water supply, alleviating the pressure from the rising costs and achieving better cost-effectiveness.
 
     Other measures that have been implemented to enhance the cost-effectiveness of waterworks facilities include controlling private water main leakage, installing smart water meters, and upgrading the WSD’s energy management system to save the energy cost.
 
     To control the cost of water supply more effectively in the long run, the WSD is formulating an overall digital transformation roadmap to implement a series of digitalisation projects and measures in phases, including the establishment of the WSD’s Central Operation Management Centre, Internet of Things platform, cloud data centre, digital twin and hydraulic model applications, etc, with a view to improving the operational efficiency and stability of water supply, and reducing energy consumption. By implementing the aforementioned measures and making timely and suitable adjustments to water tariff, the performance of the WOA could be improved in the long run.
 
(2) The price for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government to purchase Dongjiang (DJ) water includes the costs incurred by the mainland for supplying DJ water to Hong Kong, such as the costs for infrastructure, system operation and maintenance, etc, as well as the cost of measures to protect the quality of DJ water supplied to Hong Kong. The fees do not include the costs of the Mainland on ecological conservation and other aspects including the opportunity costs of the control of development in the protection zones along the basin, and the prohibition of activities such as quarrying, mining and extensive poultry farming within the protection zones, etc. The price of DJ water will be reviewed every three years upon each renewal of the DJ water supply agreement, and adjusted in a reasonable and appropriate manner based on the established mechanism which takes account of a number of objective factors including changes in the exchange rate between Renminbi and Hong Kong dollar, changes in the relevant price indices of Guangdong (GD) and Hong Kong, as well as increase in operation costs. In fact, the increase of annual ceiling water price for the 2024 to 2026 DJ water supply agreement is lower than the changes in the exchange rate and price indices mentioned above.
 
     Since 2021, DJ water supply agreement has adopted the “package deal deductible sum” approach. Hong Kong can import DJ water based on the city’s need. If there is a high local yield and the amount of DJ water required is below the pre-set annual supply ceiling, a price deduction, according to the actual amount of water supplied, will be made to the annual ceiling water price. This approach provides greater flexibility in the control of water storage level, preventing wastage of DJ water resources and saving energy cost for water delivery. Also, both the GD and Hong Kong sides agreed that the “package deal deductible sum” approach should be maintained at least up to 2029.
 
(3) As mentioned above, water is a daily necessity for people. A highly reliable water supply service is extremely important and has significant impact on people’s livelihood and the operation of various trades and industries. While there are examples where the water supply business is privatised, we are also aware that such operation arrangement may not necessarily bring overall benefits to the society. On the contrary, private investors may charge the public a higher water fee for the sake of profit, or be reluctant to invest resources in maintaining and repairing aging water pipes and other water facilities to control costs. The Government currently does not have plans to privatise the WSD.
 
Note 1: Reclaimed water is a water resource generated by further processing treated effluent from sewage treatment works.
 
Note 2: Water collected from bathrooms, wash basins, kitchen sinks and laundry machines etc. is known as grey water. Along with harvested rainwater, the grey water can be treated and reused for non-potable purposes such as toilet flushing. read more