Tag Archives: China

     Following is a question by the Hon Chung Kwok-pan and a written reply by the Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Caspar Tsui, in the Legislative Council today (March 17):
 
Question:
 
     The Government launched in 2017 the Member Self-recommendation Scheme for Youth (MSSY) to provide opportunities for young people for policy discussion and enable them to understand government operation. Under MSSY, persons aged between 18 and 35 may self-nominate to become members of 10 specified advisory and statutory bodies. The Government has implemented three phases of MSSY so far, and will raise the number of participating bodies to 15 starting from Phase IV. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) regarding each phase of MSSY, (i) the number of applicants, (ii) the percentage of applicants appointed, (iii) the profile of the appointees, such as their age distribution and qualifications, and (iv) the details relating to the appointees’ participation in the work of the relevant bodies (including the number of meetings attended, and the number of cases in which their views were adopted and implemented);

(2) as the findings of a survey conducted in the middle of last year showed that 73 per cent of the 524 young respondents aged between 18 and 35 had indicated that they would not consider making applications under MSSY, and the reasons cited included: they perceived themselves to be lacking the qualifications, had no interest in the specified bodies, and did not believe that such bodies could exert influence, what measures the Government has put in place to incentivise young people to apply for participating in MSSY;

(3) whether the Government will include more advisory and statutory bodies of different policy areas in MSSY and elevate the role and positioning of the young people appointed under MSSY in the relevant bodies, so as to enable them to serve their full functions and recruit more young people of different backgrounds to participate in MSSY; and

(4) whether the Government will introduce other policy initiatives to attract young people to participate in public affairs and policy discussions, thereby contributing to society; if so, of the details?

Reply:

President,

     The Government’s reply to the Hon Chung Kwok-pan’s question is as follows:

(1) In October 2017, the Government launched the Pilot Member Self-recommendation Scheme for Youth (Pilot Scheme) whereby five government advisory committees were identified for recruiting self-recommended young members aged between 18 and 35 to fill 11 seats. Having regard to the positive feedback, we have regularised the Scheme. The first three phases of the regularised Member Self-recommendation Scheme for Youth (MSSY) covered 30 committees with 60 seats offered in total. Over 5 300 applications have been received since the launch of the Pilot Scheme. The numbers of applications received in various phases are tabulated below:
 

	Pilot Scheme	MSSY Phase I	MSSY Phase II	MSSY Phase III
No. of committees	5	10	10	10
No. of seats offered	11	20	20	20
No. of eligible applications (No. of ineligible applications*)	1 121 (58)	1 511 (19)	1 409 (19)	1 266 (16)

*Examples are applicants falling outside the specified age range (i.e. 18 to 35), applications without contact information, and duplicated applications (only one of the duplicated applications will be processed).

     Young people appointed directly through MSSY are aged between 18 and 35, with an average of around 28. Most of them are bachelor’s degree holders from various sectors, including social welfare, education, medical care, legal, finance, engineering, aviation and information technology while some are university undergraduates and master’s or doctor’s degree holders.

     In addition to the seats open for recruitment under MSSY, the Government has invited applicants attending interviews to authorise the Home Affairs Bureau to include their personal particulars in the Central Personality Index database so that relevant bureaux/departments may retrieve the information for reference during selection of candidates for appointment as members to other advisory and statutory bodies under their purview. So far, around 400 posts are currently held by young people who have been appointed to advisory and statutory bodies directly or indirectly through MSSY.

     We do not keep statistics on meeting attendance of youth members who have joined government advisory committees through MSSY. However, according to the relevant committee secretariats, young members have been actively participating in their committees’ work and activities since appointment. From our observation, many applicants were indeed very well prepared for the interviews and could suggest innovative and practical ideas on policy areas of their interest.

(2) and (3) To attract more young people who are passionate about serving the community to apply for MSSY, we have been offering seats of committees on policy areas of greater interests and concerns to them in each phase for self-recommended participation. A list of participating committees under the Pilot Scheme and previous phases of MSSY is at Annex.

     In the upcoming MSSY Phase IV, we will increase the number of participating committees from 10 to 15, covering a wider spectrum of policy areas including conservation, innovation and technology, education, environmental protection, business and transportation. Two seats will be offered for appointment in each committee.

     We have also released promotional videos, including videos to introduce the work of former appointed youth members in their committees, so as to enhance understanding of young people on MSSY and government committees. Looking ahead, we will step up publicity of MSSY Phase IV by producing a series of new promotional videos and materials of greater appeal to young people, and widen our publicity channels.

(4) To provide more opportunities for young people to participate in policy discussion and debate, the Government has set a target of increasing the overall ratio of youth members aged between 18 and 35 to 15 per cent within its current term. Apart from reaching out through MSSY to young people who have strong commitment to serve the community, various bureaux and departments are recruiting young people to join advisory and statutory bodies under their purview by other means as well. The overall ratio of youth members in these bodies has increased from 7.8 per cent in 2017 to 13.7 per cent at present, gradually reaching the target of 15 per cent set by the current-term Government. The Government will continue to create an environment conducive to youth participation in public affairs, enabling them to advise the Government on different policy areas with their creativity and innovation. read more

     Following is a question by the Hon Chan Chun-ying and a written reply by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui, in the Legislative Council today (March 17):
 
Question:
 
     It has been reported that the price of bitcoins, one of the virtual currencies, has surged recently, arousing investors’ interest in trading virtual currencies. At present, investors may conduct, in cash and without using any trading platform, over-the-counter (OTC) trading of virtual currencies. Taking advantage of the anonymity inherent in virtual currencies and the absence of regulation of such tradings by the authorities, some lawbreakers, posing as a trading counterparty, deceived and even robbed investors who traded virtual currencies with them. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) whether it has grasped the current situation of OTC trading of virtual currencies in Hong Kong (including the average daily turnover); if so, of the details, and whether it will release the relevant information; if it will not release such information, the reasons for that;
 
(2) whether it has plans to regulate OTC trading of virtual currencies; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
 
(3) whether it will take measures to raise public vigilance about the risks involved in conducting OTC trading of virtual currencies; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     In consultation with the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and the Security Bureau, our reply to the Hon Chan Chun-ying’s questions is as follows:
 
(1) and (2) Virtual currencies are not legal tender and not recognised as a means of payment in Hong Kong. In response to the Financial Action Task Force’s regulatory suggestion on virtual asset services providers’ anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CTF) measures, the Government launched a three-month public consultation in November 2020, proposing the introduction of, under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (Cap. 615), a licensing regime for operators of centralised virtual asset trading platforms and the requirement for licensees to offer services only to professional investors in order to ensure market stability and protect investors.
 
     Currently, virtual asset activities outside virtual asset exchanges are not common in Hong Kong. Over-the-counter trading activities often involve interface with financial institutions (for conversion into fiat currencies), and the relevant money flow can be traced through the financial institutions’ AML/CTF measures. We will closely monitor the development of such trading activities, and consider the appropriate regulation.
 
(3) The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau and the Investor Education Centre (IEC), a subsidiary of the SFC, have launched a public education campaign since 2018 on the risks associated with initial coin offerings and cryptocurrencies. The financial education platform of the IEC, The Chin Family, has also developed a dedicated series of relevant educational articles and infographics at its website (www.ifec.org.hk/web/en/financial-products/fintech/ico-bitcoin/index.page).
 
     The Police also closely monitor the crime trend relating to virtual assets, and have taken corresponding enforcement actions and enhanced crime prevention promotion and education. The Police’s Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau and the Anti-Deception Coordination Centre have put in place a mechanism to help track the relevant funds, make stop-payment requests and intercept payment to fraudsters systematically upon receiving suspected fraud complaints, thus minimising victims’ losses.
 
     Members of the public should pay special attention to the risk when trading or engaging in related investment activities. If they come across any property known or suspected to be crime proceeds, or suspect that they have fallen victim to fraudulent acts, they should contact the Police immediately. The financial regulators and law enforcement agencies will continue to promote and raise public awareness. read more

     Following is a question by the Hon Wilson Or Chong-shing and a written reply by the Secretary for the Civil Service, Mr Patrick Nip, in the Legislative Council today (March 17):
 
Question:
 
     To cope with the Coronavirus Disease 2019 epidemic, the Government implemented, on several occasions since early last year, special work arrangements (special arrangements) under which all government employees, save for those involved in the provision of emergency and essential public services, worked from home. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) whether it has assessed the impacts of the special arrangements on public services (including service efficiency and additional administrative costs incurred); if it has assessed, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
 
(2) as some members of the public have relayed that during the periods when the special arrangements were implemented, they could hardly access those public services urgently needed and had no way to contact the relevant government officers, whether the Government will issue standard guidelines to various government departments on matters such as staff rosters, work approaches and external liaison under the special arrangements, with a view to reducing the impacts of the special arrangements on members of the public; if not, of the reasons for that; and

(3) as I have learnt that during the periods when the special arrangements were implemented, some government employees were not assigned any work while staying at home, whether the Government will formulate plans so that when the special arrangements are implemented again in future due to an epidemic, such idle manpower may be deployed to support the anti-epidemic work of the Department of Health?
 
Reply:
 
President,

     My consolidated reply to the various parts of Hon Wilson Or Chong-shing’s question is as follows:
 
     In order to reduce the risk of the virus spreading in the community and to break the chain of infection, the Government implements rigorous social distancing measures having regard to the epidemic situation, these include special work arrangements for government employees. The measure helps to significantly reduce the flow of people in the community and serves to encourage employers to allow their staff members to work from home to further reduce the social contact. In implementing the arrangement, the Government requests individual bureaux and departments to deploy staff to suit their own modes of operation and make appropriate adjustments having regard to developing needs, such that in fighting the epidemic and safeguarding the safety of staff, the needs for the functioning of society are taken into account and public services are maintained. We reiterate that even under the epidemic, the Government has all along been maintaining emergency services and essential public services.
 
     During the implementation of the special work arrangements for government employees, bureaux and departments kept the demand for public services under review and made flexible adjustments with reference to experience gained under previous rounds of special work arrangements and views from the public. For example, during the fourth wave of the epidemic, the Integrated Family Service Centres and Social Security Field Units of the Social Welfare Department have remained open to the public. The Licensing Offices of the Transport Department and the Hongkong Post have maintained services albeit on a limited scale. Job Centres of the Labour Department and the Working Family and Student Financial Assistance Agency have provided enquiry and employment services by telephone and continued to process applications submitted by post, drop-in boxes or online respectively in view of the severity of the epidemic situation. To strike a better balance between fighting the epidemic and meeting the needs of a functioning society, the departments adjusted service arrangements and resumed counter services from January 21, 2021 onwards. Besides, we have all along been encouraging members of the public to use alternative means, such as the post, drop-in boxes or online channels to receive the services they need. Individual bureaux and departments have also made announcements on the latest arrangements of their services accordingly.
 
     Government employees under the special work arrangements are not on vacation leave. Save for those involved in the provision of emergency services and essential public services, all other government employees must continue to work from home to minimise the risk of infection. Bureaux and departments have widely adopted information technology and provided appropriate facilities to enhance communication between staff. To support government employees to work from home, departments have procured additional computers and other mobile devices and equipment, computer software, and enhanced the capacities of their communications, networks, and databases according to their operational and staffing demands. As of end October 2020, about 7 900 additional members of staff (about 112 per cent) were provided with notebook computers for accessing departmental intranets and servers, and the number of staff authorised for using virtual private networks for working remotely increased by about 9 700 (about 147 per cent).
 
     Over the past 13 months, bureaux and departments have demonstrated unprecedented collegiality and resilience in joining the anti-epidemic effort on different fronts. The various large-scale targeted measures introduced by the Government at different stages of the epidemic called for extensive manpower. These measures include the Universal Community Testing Programme, close contact tracing, enforcement of compulsory testing in specified “restricted areas”, Community Vaccination Programme, etc. The planning and organisation of these measures were completed within a short period of time with the manpower required deployed by various departments. Civil service colleagues are not only required to adopt flexible and innovative ways to respond to the needs of different service targets, but also to shoulder additional responsibilities which are outside the purview of their departments. As of early March 2021, more than 70 000 staff, including civil servants, contract staff and retired civil servants, have been engaged in the implementation of various anti-epidemic programmes and operations. The Government will, depending on the development of the epidemic situation and actual needs, continue to flexibly deploy manpower to support the anti-epidemic effort, and do our best to enable the lives of all people and our economic activities to return to normalcy at the soonest. read more

     Following is a question by Dr the Hon Chiang Lai-wan and a written reply by the Secretary for the Civil Service, Mr Patrick Nip, in the Legislative Council today (March 17):
 
Question:
 
     According to the forecast in the Budget published last month, the Government will record deficits in the coming five financial years. Under the situation that the fiscal reserves will continue to dwindle, quite a number of retired and serving civil servants and judicial officers who are entitled to pensions are worried whether the Government is able to continuously fulfill its obligation to make pension payments. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) of the respective numbers, as at December 31 last year, of (a) civil servants and (b) judicial officers who are (i) retired and receiving pensions and (ii) serving under pensionable appointment terms;
 
(2) of the total amount of pension payments (including lump sum and monthly payments) made by the Government in each of the past 10 years, and its year-on-year rate of change;
 
(3) on the premise that there is no appropriation from the General Revenue Account (GRA), how many months of pension expenditure that the current balance of the Civil Service Pension Reserve Fund represents; and
 
(4) whether it has devised a contingency plan for the situation that appropriations from GRA to the said Fund are inadequate?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     Pension arrangement for civil servants are governed by relevant pension legislation (including Pensions Ordinance (Cap. 89), Pension Benefits Ordinance (Cap. 99) and Pension Benefits (Judicial Officers) Ordinance (Cap. 401). It is stipulated in relevant pension legislation that pensions shall be charged on and paid out of the general revenue; and that for civil servants appointed on pensionable terms, their entitlement to pension benefits shall be a right. The Government established the Civil Service Pension Reserve Fund (the Fund) in 1995 to provide a reserve to meet payment of civil service pensions in the event that the Government cannot meet its obligations for such payment from the General Revenue Account (unlikely though it will be). It is the Government’s intention to maintain the balance of the Fund in any year at a level not less than the estimated pension expenditure for that year. No payment has been (or is expected to be) made by the Government since the Fund was set up in 1995.
 
     The Government will honour its commitment of paying pensions to retired civil servants and judicial officers in accordance with their respective terms of appointment.
 
     My reply to the questions of Dr Hon Chiang is as follows:
 
(1) As at December 31, 2020, there are about 146 000 public and judicial services pensioners; and about 67 000 serving public and judicial service officers appointed on pensionable terms.
 
(2) The recurrent expenditure of pension payments (including lump sum pension gratuity and monthly pension) in each of the past 10 years, and its year-on-year rate of change are as follows:
 

Financial year	Total amount	Variation
	$ million	$ million	Rate of change (%)
2011-12	18,934.7	–	–
2012-13	20,917.5	+ 1,982.8	+ 10.47
2013-14	22,992.6	+ 2,075.1	+ 9.92
2014-15	25,455.0	+ 2,462.4	+ 10.71
2015-16	28,318.1	+ 2,863.1	+ 11.25
2016-17	30,843.4	+ 2,525.3	+ 8.92
2017-18	33,191.0	+ 2,347.6	+ 7.61
2018-19	35,510.0	+ 2,319.0	+ 6.99
2019-20	37,385.7	+ 1,875.7	+ 5.28
2020-21 (Revised Estimate)	41,688.9	+ 4,303.2	+ 11.51

 
(3) and (4) The opening balance of the Fund for 2021-22 is $42.77 billion and investment income for the year is estimated to be $3.04 billion. It is expected that the Government will transfer $3.02 billion from the General Revenue Account to the Fund in 2021-22 in order to bring the closing balance of the Fund for 2021-22 to $48.83 billion, at a level not lower than the estimated pension expenditure of $45.79 billion for the year. read more

     Following is a question by the Hon Shiu Ka-fai and a written reply by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Edward Yau, in the Legislative Council today (March 17):
      
Question:
      
     The Government allocated $130 million in 2014 for the implementation of three measures related to the manpower development of the retail industry, including implementing an Earn and Learn Pilot Scheme for Retail Industry, raising the retail industry’s image and setting up a Retail Technologies Adoption Fund for Manpower Demand Management. Regarding the measures to support the sustained development of the retail industry, will the Government inform this Council:
      
(1) whether it has assessed the effects of the aforesaid three measures on the retail industry over the years; if so, of the details;
      
(2) of the latest implementation situation of the three measures, and the balance of the allocation;
      
(3) given that the Coronavirus Disease 2019 epidemic has accelerated the development of online shopping and the operation of the retail industry under an integrated online-to-offline model, thus leading to a surge in the industry’s demand for the relevant talents, and that the Government has decided to cease accepting new applications under the aforesaid measures starting from this year, whether the Government will consider the following proposal of some members of the industry: continuing to use the balance of the allocation for enhancing training on technology application and digital skills for the practitioners of the retail industry, and at the same time for promoting the new image of the retail industry so as to attract new blood, thereby helping the industry meet the talent challenges brought by the digitalisation of the retail industry; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
      
(4) as some members of the industry have indicated that in their work to transform their retail business, quite a number of retailers currently lack support on aspects like funding, mastery of the relevant technologies, and effective online sales channels and promotion platforms, what targeted measures, other than those for talent development, the Government has put in place to help the industry resolve the current difficulties so as to support the sustained development of the industry?
      
Reply:
      
President,
      
     In response to the question raised by the Hon Shiu Ka-fai, my consolidated reply is as follows:
      
     The Government launched three retail manpower development measures in 2014, including the Earn and Learn Pilot Scheme for Retail Industry (the Pilot Scheme), the Retail Technology Adoption Assistance Scheme for Manpower Demand Management (ReTAAS) and the related promotion activities. 
      
     The Pilot Scheme was implemented by the Vocational Training Council (VTC) in partnership with the Hong Kong Retail Management Association. It allows Secondary Six graduates to attend classes on campus while acquiring working experience, and aims at providing training for aspiring youngsters to join the retail workforce. The first cohort of the Diploma of Foundation Studies (DFS) programme under the Pilot Scheme commenced in September 2014, with an intake of 255 student-workers. A total of 615 student-workers have enrolled in the seven cohorts of the DFS and the three cohorts of the Higher Diploma (HD) programmes under the Scheme so far. However, the number of student-workers joining the Pilot Scheme has dropped significantly in recent years. The DFS programme in the 2020/21 academic year had an intake of only four student-workers and no students were enrolled in the HD programme in the last two academic years. 
      
     On the contrary, VTC began offering two full-time Government subsidised retail courses (i.e. Higher Diploma in Retail Innovation and Management and Diploma of Foundation Studies – Retail) in the 2020/21 academic year. These courses are similar in nature to the Pilot Scheme, but full-time courses are more popular with students. In the 2020/21 academic year, about 120 students were enrolled in these courses. Considering that the student demand for the programmes under the Pilot Scheme has dropped significantly, the Government will stop accepting new applications for the Pilot Scheme from the 2021/22 academic year onwards. Student-workers already enrolled under the Pilot Scheme will not be affected and could complete the programmes as originally planned. The two full-time Government subsidised retail courses offered by VTC could continue to support the manpower development of the retail industry.
      
     ReTAAS was launched by the Government in partnership with the Hong Kong Productivity Council, and aims to support the retail industry to adopt technologies for manpower management and enhancing productivity. As of February 2021, 467 applications with a total funding of around $17.2 million were approved. 
      
     However, the number of ReTAAS applications from retail enterprises has dropped significantly in recent years. Eligible applications received have decreased by 69 per cent from about 13 per month in 2016-17 to four in 2019-20. On the other hand, the Innovation and Technology Commission (ITC) launched the Technology Voucher Programme (TVP) in 2016, which aims to support local enterprises/organisations (including retail enterprises) in adopting technology services and solutions to improve productivity, or upgrade or transform their business processes. As of end February 2021, TVP received 2 552 applications from the wholesale and retail industry, of which 973 were approved with a total funding of about $149.4 million. As the number of applications for ReTAAS has dropped significantly and there are Government funding schemes with a similar nature but more popular with the trade, the Government will stop accepting new applications for ReTAAS from April 1, 2021 onwards, but applications submitted or projects approved before the deadline will not be affected. 
      
     Since the launch of the above Pilot Scheme and ReTAAS, the Government also began a related retail promotion campaign to enhance the positive image of the retail industry, which includes television and radio Announcements in the Public Interest, online animation videos, a thematic website, social media pages and advertisements, bus seatback and restaurant table stickers and advertisements in recruitment magazines. As the Pilot Scheme and ReTAAS will stop accepting new applications, the relevant retail promotion campaign will also cease. 
      
     The accumulated expenditure and funding approved for the above retail manpower development measures is about $44.46 million thus far. Although the measures concerned will be discontinued, the Government will continue to support the retail sector in manpower development and adoption of information technology services through VTC’s full-time Government subsidised retail courses and TVP.
      
     In addition, the Government has also supported the retail industry through various channels. For example, under the first round of the Anti-epidemic Fund, the Retail Sector Subsidy Scheme was launched to support retailers seriously affected by the pandemic, with about 69 000 applications and about $5.5 billion approved. Moreover, the Distance Business Programme also approved about 6 800 applications from the retail sector with a total funding of about $393 million (Note 1) to support the sector to continue operation and service by adopting information technology solutions (including online business, online order taking and delivery, digital payment, etc.) during the pandemic.
      
     In terms of technology adoption and training, the Reindustrialisation and Technology Training Programme under the ITC aims to subsidise technology training for staff of local enterprises on a 2 (Government) : 1 (Enterprise) matching basis. Enterprises receiving funding under the programme include retail enterprises.
      
     The SME Export Marketing Fund (EMF) under the Trade and Industry Department (TID) provides funding support to local enterprises (including retail enterprises) to expand their markets outside Hong Kong, e.g. subsidising enterprises to set up or enhance company websites and implement export promotion activities through electronic platforms or media. To assist enterprises (including retail enterprises) in local market promotion under the pandemic, the Government plans to expand the funding scope of the EMF with conditions for two years from April 2021 onwards at the earliest to cover exhibitions and virtual exhibitions targeting the local market. The eligibility criteria will also be relaxed to cover non-SMEs.
      
     The Government also helps local enterprises (including retail enterprises) enhance their competitiveness and develop the Mainland and other Free Trade Agreement (FTA) markets through the Dedicated Fund on Branding, Upgrading and Domestic Sales under the TID. Fundable items include designing and establishing online sales platform, establishing or enhancing company website and mobile applications, recruiting additional manpower for upgrading, and setting up new entities in the Mainland or FTA markets, etc.  
      
Note 1: Excluding approved applications not accepting funding and cases where relevant information was not provided after approval. read more