The Labour Department (LD) today (October 27) announced the imposition of an administrative sanction on Pionier Laundry Limited and Coucou (HK) Catering Management Company Limited. With immediate effect, the LD has termina… read more
Hong Kong Customs yesterday (October 26) detected a case involving a local company that conducted transactions of watches containing precious metals and stones valued at over HK$120,000, without registration under the Dealers in Precious Metals and Stones Regulatory Regime. An investigation is ongoing.
According to the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (Cap. 615), unless exempted, any person who is seeking to carry on a business of dealing in precious metals and stones and engage in any transaction(s) (whether making or receiving a payment) with a total value at or above HK$120,000 in Hong Kong is required to register with Hong Kong Customs. Any dealer, other than a registrant, who claims to be a registrant, claims to be authorised to carry out, or carries out any cash or non-cash transaction(s) with a total value at or above HK$120,000 is liable to a maximum fine of HK$100,000 and imprisonment for six months upon conviction.
Customs reminds dealers in precious metals and stones that they must obtain the relevant registration before they can carry out any cash or non-cash transaction(s) with a total value at or above HK$120,000.
For the forms, procedures and guidelines to submit applications for registration, please visit the website for Dealers in Precious Metals and Stones Registration System (www.drs.customs.gov.hk) or Customs’ webpage (www.customs.gov.hk/en/service-enforcement-information/anti-money-laundering/supervision-of-dealers-in-precious-metals-and-ston/index.html).
Members of the public may report any suspected transactions involving precious metals and stones with a total value at or above HK$120,000 conducted without the required registration to Customs’ 24-hour hotline 182 8080 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) or online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002). read more
Following is the speech by the Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, at the Global University Presidents and Leaders Summit 2026 today (October 27):
Deputy Director Zhang Yong (Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR)), Deputy Commissioner Zhang Changwei (Deputy Commissioner of the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the HKSAR), Vice President Yuan Mindao (Vice President of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries), Professor Priscilla Leung (Founding President and CEO of the Hong Kong Association for External Friendship), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
Good morning. A warm welcome to Hong Kong, and the second Global University Presidents and Leaders Summit.
I am delighted to address you today, a distinguished audience of university presidents and leaders, academic experts and outstanding students from all over the world. You’re here these next two days to share insights and build lasting connections. And you have come to the right place.
Hong Kong, a city of only 1,100 square kilometres in size, counts five universities among the world’s top 100. Three of them are among the most internationalised in the world. We attract students from more than 100 countries, with about 70 per cent of our academic staff from outside Hong Kong. English is the main medium of instruction in our universities.
Hong Kong operates under the common law system, enjoying academic freedom and the free flow of people, capital, ideas and information. These all spring from the “one country, two systems” principle – the unwavering support of our country, China, together with global connectivity.
Last month, the Hong Kong SAR Government launched Hong Kong’s First Five-Year Plan. In the coming five years, the Government is committed to building this city into an international hub for high-calibre talent. This aligns with our country’s strategy of inspiring the nation through science and education.
The Northern Metropolis is also central to the Five-Year Plan and Hong Kong’s future. The main focus of its development will be its three University Towns, which are based on the concept of development comprising campus area, technology area, industry area, and living community area. They will be developed to band together five elements: education, technology, industry, talent, and city development.
At the 2024 Summit, I mentioned that we had set aside more than 80 hectares of land in the Northern Metropolis for a new University Town. Our ambitions have only grown since then.
Those 80 hectares have now become about 300 hectares for campus areas across three university towns – at San Tin, Hung Shui Kiu and Ta Kwu Ling. Together with surrounding technology and industry areas and planned communities, the overall area of the university towns will exceed 1 000 hectares.
Each town has a clear positioning. San Tin University Town will focus on medicine, life and health technology, AI, robotics, microelectronics, and emerging industries. It will be directly connected to the Hong Kong Park of the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Co-operation Zone, as well as San Tin Technopole.
Hung Shui Kiu University Town will rise as a centre for applied university education in smart manufacturing and global talent cultivation. Three campus sites, about 26 hectares in all, are open for application, with results to be announced early next year.
Ta Kwu Ling University Town will include arts and “blue-green” elements, supporting emerging, traditional and new industries alike.
These three university towns are being built to attract the world’s finest scholars and students. We will invite institutions to establish basic research institutes and large-scale shared research platforms, including high-performance computing centres, joint laboratories and interdisciplinary research centres.
The towns are also designed to empower industry. We will encourage university staff to undertake research at companies. We will encourage industry professionals to contribute to university teaching and research. Our goal is to strengthen the links between industry, academia and research, enabling them to complement and reinforce one another.
Ladies and gentlemen, in times like these, co-operation, not isolation, is the road to take. I invite you all to find your partner and join us in Hong Kong, at the Northern Metropolis and its university towns, where the future of education, research, industry and technology is being built.
I am grateful to the Hong Kong Association for External Friendship for hosting this global gathering. My thanks also go to the supporting institutions: the University Grants Committee and our Hong Kong universities.
I wish you all a rewarding Summit and a memorable stay in Hong Kong, the world’s East meets West centre for international cultural exchange. Thank you. read more
Following is the speech by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui, at the Hong Kong Quality Assurance Agency (HKQAA) Green and Sustainable Finance Forum 2026 today (October 27):
P C (Chief Executive Officer of the HKQAA, Mr P C Chan), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
A very good morning. It is a pleasure of mine to join the HKQAA Green and Sustainable Finance Forum. I thank HKQAA for bringing us together to explore how Hong Kong’s green finance and commodity trading ecosystem can support global sustainable development. Today’s discussions connect three important priorities: strengthening markets, building trust and turning investment into meaningful environmental progress.
The National 15th Five-Year Plan emphasises accelerating the green transition and advancing low-carbon development. It also supports Hong Kong in building a commodity trading ecosystem. These priorities provide a clear direction for Hong Kong to contribute our financial expertise, international connectivity and professional services to national development and the global green transition.
As a key “super connector” linking the Mainland with international markets, we bring together Mainland industrial capabilities and green technologies with global capital and expertise. Our green finance market clearly demonstrates Hong Kong’s connecting role. Last year, green and sustainable debt issued in Hong Kong exceeded US$76 billion. Green and sustainable bonds arranged here amounted to around US$38 billion, representing approximately 40 per cent of the Asian market. Hong Kong has ranked first in Asia in this business for eight consecutive years.
Our role is not only to connect capital and green projects but to add value by having trusted standards and infrastructure that make those connections meaningful, bankable and investable.
Building on our strengths, we are broadening our green finance market, of which green commodity trading is an important emerging part of this. Hong Kong’s First Five-Year Plan proposes developing a commodity trading ecosystem with gold as an entry point. On gold, we are taking forward the development of clearing system, storage, supply and infrastructure related to gold trading to fully leverage the role of gold as a strategic asset, with a view to benchmarking other major international gold trading centres in the long run while developing hardware and software simultaneously.
Measures are already taking shape. These include expanding gold storage targeting a capacity of over 2 000 tonnes by 2028 and refining capability. We will formally launch Hong Kong’s dedicated gold central clearing and settlement system in the first quarter of next year, while promoting physical delivery, investment derivatives and risk management tools. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is also exploring increasing the Exchange Fund’s gold holdings to reinforce our strategic position.
Physical infrastructure, however, is only part of the equation. A credible green commodity market also needs trusted information about how commodities are produced. HKQAA’s Green Commodities Registration Scheme to be launched today is a crucial building block within this ecosystem. By introducing a trusted, transparent data registry for green production, it will facilitate the expansion of the physical gold market which is of high-integrity and comparable with global ESG (environmental, social, and governance) standards and green finance demands.
I welcome the launch of this Scheme, and commend HKQAA under the Chairman and PC for helping connect commodity-market development with sustainability. Its expertise in standards, assessment and assurance will help build the trust needed to link greener production with financial opportunities.
Building that trust across our green finance market requires clear standards and comparable information. Green commodity aside, we are also strengthening our wider green finance ecosystem. The Hong Kong Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance now incorporates transition elements, while further expansion has been proposed. Our sustainability disclosure roadmap provides a pathway for large publicly accountable entities to adopt the ISSB Standards (International Financial Reporting Standards – Sustainability Disclosure Standards) fully by 2028. In this regard, I also thank HKQAA for launching in July this year the “Advancing a Sustainability Disclosure Ecosystem in the Financial Industry” initiative, which offers financial institutions a structured, credible and scalable framework for collecting and verifying sustainability data from their clients, investees, and business partners by leveraging the HKQAA’s data disclosure and assurance program. Together, these measures support informed investment and greater confidence in sustainability claims.
We are also broadening the range of market tools. Through Core Climate, Hong Kong connects participants with internationally certified carbon credits. Just this month, HKEX (Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited) completed cross-boundary pilots involving Green Electricity Certificates and the settlement of Shenzhen Emission Allowance transactions, building practical experience in regional green-market connectivity.
The electricity certificate pilot, conducted with partners including HKQAA, brought together 15 corporate entities and generated transactions of around 100 000 certificates. It demonstrates how collaboration can translate policy ambitions into practical channels for companies to meet renewable electricity commitments. HKEX is working with the Guangzhou Power Exchange Centre to develop these channels further.
Another important development is HKEX Green Equity, the voluntary designation programme launched on October 20 this year, just when we had the APEC FMM (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Finance Ministers’ Meeting) here in Hong Kong. Through a transparent framework and independent assessment, it helps investors identify companies with significant green business activities. Alongside carbon credits and electricity certificates, this initiative expands the tools available to connect capital with the green economy.
Our ambition extends beyond Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area. Belt and Road economies need financing, technology and expertise to build cleaner infrastructure and strengthen climate resilience. Hong Kong can help connect these needs with investment, while supporting green enterprises in reaching international markets.
The Green Accelerator, launched by the Hong Kong Green Finance Association in September this year, is a practical example. It provides incubation, acceleration and empowerment services for green technology projects in Belt and Road regions. Through project preparation and structuring, it helps address a critical obstacle: turning promising technologies into investment-ready projects that can attract private capital.
I am also very pleased to see that HKQAA and the Belt and Road Initiative International Green Development Coalition, or BRIGC, are exploring closer collaboration on developing Belt and Road standards that support green development across participating countries. This is a timely exploration, because connecting standards with financing can help promising solutions move from individual projects towards wider adoption across markets.
Our task is to connect policy with markets, innovation with investment, and ambition with credible action. I very much look forward to working with HKQAA and all our partners to build trusted commodity markets, deepen green finance and advance a more sustainable Belt and Road. On that, I wish today’s forum every success and also good health to everyone here today.
Thank you. read more
Attention TV/radio announcers: Please broadcast the following as soon as possible: Here is an item of interest to swimmers. The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced today (October 27) that … read more