Tag Archives: China

     Following is the speech by the Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, at the 2025 International Chinese New Year Night Parade tonight (January 29):

(Cantonese)
 
��嘉賓���市民：
 
　　今日是乙巳蛇年大年�一，我首先和大家拜年，���新一年身體�康��事���
 
　　我很高興今晚跟��市民和來自海內外的旅客，一起歡�在璀璨奪目的維多利亞港地標，�與一年一度由香港旅�發展局舉辦的「新春國際匯演之夜�。
 
　　今年匯演的主題是「如�新春　喜樂連連�，由�架�入了節慶和香港地�元素的特色花車，連�來自香港�內地和世界�地的表演隊�，一共55個表演團體組�。「新春國際匯演之夜�是香港在�年新春期間的首項盛事，展�香港作為盛事之都的澎湃活力，將新年的喜悅和��帶給�場�一�朋�，並��電視和網上直播傳�給全�觀眾。
 
　　去年，訪港旅客數字接近4 500�，按年大�超�三�，香港市�更添熱鬧。新一年，香港會繼續好事連連�喜樂連連���連連，譜寫更多香港好故事�

　　�蛇�瑞�滿城。蛇象徵堅韌機智�蛻變�新，寓�新一年香港�象更新，�活識變。我�願香港在蛇年�榮昌盛，百業興旺，大家幸��康，生活美滿� 我�在用普通話歡迎內地的朋�。
 
(Putonghua)
 
　　��朋�，大家新年好�我代表香港特別行政�政府，歡迎��在香港共慶春節，��大家蛇年�祥�身體�康�
 
　　今年是國家申報的「春節——中國人慶ç¥�傳統新年的社會實è¸�ã€�，列入è�¯å�ˆåœ‹æ•™ç§‘文組織「é�žé�ºä»£è¡¨ä½œå��錄ã€�的第一個春節，為節慶活動更添姿彩。
 
　　香港是全�慶�春節氣氛最濃厚的地方之一，今晚的匯演更是香港在蛇年的第一項盛事。今晚的主題是「如�新春　喜樂連連�，特色花車與來自香港�內地和世界�地的隊�，將為大家呈��麗繽紛的匯演，�全世界展�香港這個盛事之都的無�活力�
 
　　香港全年「盛事連連�，新春慶�活動精彩紛呈。今晚演出後，花車和匯演將轉到大埔林�許願廣場，讓大家�許願樹祈願的�時，更�以跟花車「打��。明天大年�二晚上，維港兩岸將上演煙花匯演，加上大年�三的新年賽馬日�大年�四的足�賀歲盃，以�全港����特色的節慶活動，��玩樂，應有盡有�我邀請大家新春�期在香港多留幾天，體驗春節在這個國際都會的「正確打開方��，享�香港的�特魅力和特色景點，「沉浸��感�連連的喜樂和��。�在我用英語歡迎從外國來的朋�。
 
　　Let me now say a few words in English to welcome our friends from different parts of the world. Hello, Hong Kong! Hello, friends from different parts of the world!
　　 
　　Welcome to the annual Hong Kong International Chinese New Year Night Parade, on this, the first fabulous day of the Chinese New Year – the Year of the Snake.
　　 
　　There’s no better way, anywhere on earth, to welcome in the New Year than by following – and revelling in – Hong Kong’s magnificent Chinese New Year Night Parade.
　　 
　　This year’s celebration is led by 55 performing groups and floats from 14 countries and regions. Here in the world city of Hong Kong, to dance, sing and perform, skip, juggle, cheerlead and otherwise amaze and delight you, on this most auspicious of days.
　　 
　　And the Night Parade is just the start of our New Year’s festivities. Tomorrow night, a 23-minute fireworks display will light up our world-renowned Victoria Harbour. Our sky will be filled with auspicious symbols, as well as adorable pandas – showcasing Hong Kong’s giant panda family, now counting six and readying for their first full public appearance at the same time in mid-February.
　　 
　　And, alongside the horses at Chinese New Year Raceday, in Sha Tin on January 31, you’ll want to catch the lions – and lion dancers – on show, part of a fun-filled day at the track.
　　 
　　The Night Parade floats you see tonight, together with some of our performers, will find their way to Lam Tsuen, from tomorrow night, for the Hong Kong Well-wishing Festival. This year, the floats are on display there until February 13.
　　 
　　Only in Hong Kong, the world’s East-meets-West centre for cultural exchange – and day-and-night entertainment. All around town, you’ll be greeted by the magnificent spectacle of our festivities, and the warm hospitality of the people of Hong Kong, as we share the joy of the New Year with all of you.
　　 
　　I wish you all a happy, healthy and eventful Year of the Snake. Kung Hei Fat Choi! Thank you and enjoy the evening.
　　 
(Cantonese/Putonghua)
 
　　�次歡迎大家，共�分享今晚的歡樂時刻。

      

     The 2025 Lunar New Year (LNY) fairs concluded successfully at 7am today (January 29). The fairs were held at 15 locations for seven days from January 23, attracting about 2.3 million visitors. Yesterday (January 28) was the peak, with more than 215 000 visitors in the LNY Fair at Victoria Park on a single day.

     A spokesman for the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) said that, thanks to the stall licensees’ co-operation with the management measures, the fair sites have been kept clean, safe and orderly. The department is pleased to see members of the public actively support and enjoy the fairs which operation has been smooth in general with normal power supply.

     This year, the FEHD has applied innovative technological measures to monitor the venues for implementation of crowd control as necessary. The footfall of individual LNY fairs was displayed on the FEHD website with a view to enabling the public to know about the crowd conditions at the fairs early. The FEHD has also offered assistance to stall licensees in various aspects such as security, illumination and refuse collection to ensure the smooth operation of the LNY fairs.

     The department adopted various waste reduction and recycling measures. In addition to collecting general recyclables such as waste paper, plastics and metals at the fairs, the department also arranged for contractors to collect bamboo sticks, wooden pallets, polyfoam and wilted or unsold flowers, all of which have reusable value. From the opening of the LNY fair sites up to the site clearance operation today, about 107 tonnes of materials with reusable value were collected from the 15 LNY fair sites to enhance resource recycling. Furthermore, food waste recycling was practised in the LNY fairs with fast food stalls.

     Moreover, the FEHD also gathered some 1 600 unsold pots of flowers and plants donated by licensees at the fairs. These were delivered to 242 elderly homes/residential care homes for persons with disabilities and five public hospitals by 21 volunteer teams comprising FEHD staff members.

     With the LNY fairs concluded successfully, the department deployed about 250 staff members and 48 refuse collection vehicles and street washing vehicles to clean the Victoria Park venue. The other 14 LNY fair sites were cleaned up by the department’s cleansing contractors. All site clearance work was completed at about 6pm. After thorough cleaning, the venues were restored to their original state.

     Despite the conclusion of LNY fairs, the Che Kung Festival Fair and the Fong Ma Po New Year Fair at Lam Tsuen in Tai Po will be held until February 12. The spokesman reminded members of the public planning to visit the two fairs that they may browse information, including the opening hours of the fairs, on the FEHD’s webpage in advance.

        

     A 37-year-old male remand person in custody who had been found unconscious in Tung Tau Correctional Institution died in a public hospital today (January 29).

     At 3.01am today, the remand person in custody was found unconscious in the dormitory by a correctional officer. The officer immediately called for reinforcement to provide first-aid treatment to him, and an ambulance was called at once to send him to a public hospital for further rescue. He remained unconscious after being sent to the public hospital. His condition deteriorated and he was certified dead at 4.34am today.

     The case has been reported to the Police. A death inquest will be held by the Coroner’s Court.

     â€‹The person in custody was remanded for the offence of trafficking in a dangerous drug in December 2023. read more

     The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, today (January 29), on the Chinese New Year’s Day, wishes the country to thrive vigorously, for Hong Kong to have harmony and prosperity, and every success to the community. He paid a visit to the Lo Wu Control Point this morning to learn about the various arrangements and operations of relevant departments to cope with the increase in inbound and outbound passenger traffic during the Chinese New Year period. During the visit, he extended his New Year greetings to the staff on duty, and expressed his gratitude to them for performing their duties with dedication during the holidays. Along the way, he took the opportunity to extend his Chinese New Year greetings to the citizens and travellers he met.
      
     Accompanied by the Secretary for Security, Mr Tang Ping-keung; the Director of Immigration, Mr Benson Kwok; and the Commissioner of Customs and Excise, Mr Chan Tsz-tat, Mr Chan inspected the Lo Wu Control Point and met the frontline staff of the Immigration Department (ImmD), the Customs and Excise Department (C&ED) and the Hong Kong Police Force on duty. He learned about the arrangements and operation conditions for customs clearance, diverting passenger movements, public order maintenance, etc at the control point during the Chinese New Year period. 
      
     Mr Chan was pleased to note that the relevant government departments have been in close co-ordination and liaison with stakeholders of transport, tourism and other sectors for making good preparation for receiving visitors during the Chinese New Year Golden Week of the Mainland, and ensuring the orderly operation of boundary control points. Relevant departments have minimised leave for frontline officers during the Chinese New Year period, to enable flexible deployment of manpower, and operation of additional counters and channels with a view to diverting passenger and vehicular flow. The Inter-departmental Joint Command Centre set up by the Police, the ImmD, the C&ED, and other relevant departments; and the Emergency Transport Co-ordination Centre of the Transport Department will both operate 24 hours a dayduring the Golden Week, to closely monitor the situation of various control points and traffic conditions, and take prompt measures to ensure the smooth operation of various aspects in receiving visitors. Mr Chan expressed his heartfelt gratitude to colleagues of the Government and practitioners of various industries for their hard work during the Chinese New Year period.
      
     Mr Chan also appealed to visitors arriving in Hong Kong during the Chinese New Year holidays to plan ahead for their itineraries. He encouraged them to stay overnight after participating in various local celebratory activities for the Chinese New Year and to make reference to the ultimate guide to Chinese New Year in Hong Kong launched by the Hong Kong Tourism Board to fully enjoy the rich and diverse celebratory activities to be held across various districts in the city and experience Hong Kong’s unique city charm. At the same time, he instructed relevant departments to collaborate with various stakeholders, including public transport operators, to strengthen information dissemination including the situation at various boundary control points, details of celebration events and transport arrangements to enable residents and visitors to plan their itineraries according to the latest situation.
      
     On January 27, Mr Chan participated in year-end caring visits in 18 districts co-ordinated by the Home Affairs Department. He visited elderly singleton and elderly doubleton grassroots families living in Po Lam Estate, Tseung Kwan O, and distributed blessing bags to them to express the Government’s heartfelt wishes. He engaged in warm exchanges with the residents to let them feel the care and support of the community. He also attended the Yau Tsim Mong Presents – The Year of The Snake: Countdown Celebration at the Yau Ma Tei Community Centre Rest Garden yesterday (January 28) to share with the public the joys and blessings of the festive season and welcome the Year of the Snake. 

            

Attention duty announcers, radio and TV stations:      Please broadcast the following special announcement immediately, and repeat it at frequent intervals when the Cold Weather Warning is in force:    &nbs… read more