Author Archives: hksar gov

     The Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Patrick Nip, will visit Shanghai from March 17 to 18.

     During the visit, Mr Nip will meet with the officials of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government to exchange views on issues relating to Hong Kong-Shanghai co-operation, and to discuss arrangements for the Legislative Council joint-Panel duty visit to the major cities in the Yangtze River Delta Region (joint-Panel visit) in April. Mr Nip will view one of the sites of the joint-Panel visit.

     Mr Nip will also attend a high table dinner organised by the HKU Shanghai Alumni Network and deliver a keynote speech.

     Mr Nip will return to Hong Kong in the evening of March 18. During his absence, the Under Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Andy Chan, will be the Acting Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs. read more

The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:      The Legislative Council (LegCo) and its Committees will hold 20 open meetings and three closed meetings during the week from March 18 to 22 … read more

     Five red tides have been sighted, an inter-departmental red tide working group reported today (March 15).
 
     One red tide was spotted by staff of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) at Hoi Ha Wan on March 10.
 
     In addition, staff of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department spotted two red tides at Kwun Yam Beach in Cheung Chau and Approach Beach in Tsuen Wan on March 11. The red flag was hoisted at Kwun Yam Beach in Cheung Chau immediately.
 
     Staff of the Marine Department also spotted two red tides at waters off Tung Chung and Rambler Channel near Hoi Hing Road on March 11 and 12 respectively.
 
     All five red tides have dissipated and no associated death of fish has been reported so far.
 
     A spokesman for the working group said, “Five red tides were formed by Noctiluca scintillans, which is commonly found in Hong Kong waters and non-toxic.”
 
     The AFCD urged mariculturists at Tap Mun, Kau Lau Wan, Sham Wan, Yim Tin Tsai, Yim Tin Tsai (East), Yung Shue Au, Lo Fu Wat, Cheung Sha Wan and Ma Wan fish culture zones to monitor the situation closely and increase aeration where necessary.
 
     Red tide is a natural phenomenon. The AFCD’s proactive phytoplankton monitoring programme will continue monitoring red tide occurrences to minimise the impact on the mariculture industry and the public. read more

     The Transport Department (TD) today (March 15) reminded the public that to facilitate tram track renewal works at Des Voeux Road Central, parts of the traffic lanes of Pedder Street will be temporarily closed from about 10am tomorrow (March 16) to 6am on Monday (March 18).

     Appropriate traffic signs will be erected on-site to guide motorists.

     The TD anticipates that the traffic in the vicinity of the above road sections will be relatively busy. Motorists should exercise tolerance and patience in case of traffic congestion. Members of the public are advised to stay alert to the latest traffic news through the media or the department’s website (www.td.gov.hk). read more

     The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) published today (March 15) the March 2019 issue of the “Hong Kong Monthly Digest of Statistics” (HKMDS).

     Apart from providing up-to-date statistics, this issue also contains two feature articles entitled “Analysis of Hong Kong’s External Merchandise Trade by Mode of Transport” and “Consumer Price Index and Its Movements during 2009 to 2018”.

“Analysis of Hong Kong’s External Merchandise Trade by Mode of Transport”

     External merchandise trade is one of the important economic activities in Hong Kong. Goods are brought into or out of Hong Kong by various means of transport. In 2018, the value of Hong Kong’s external merchandise trade by air accounted for 41.8% of Hong Kong’s total value of trade in goods. Another 40.0% was transported by land, 15.1% by ocean and 2.1% by river. The remaining 1.0% was mainly postal parcels and accompanied goods of passengers travelling on various means of transport.

     This feature article analyses the performance and characteristics of Hong Kong’s external merchandise trade by mode of transport during the period from 2008 to 2018.

     For enquiries about this feature article, please contact the Trade Analysis Section, C&SD (Tel: 2582 5026; email: trade@censtatd.gov.hk).

“Consumer Price Index and Its Movements during 2009 to 2018”

     The year-on-year rate of change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is frequently quoted as the indicator of inflation. This feature article analyses the movements of consumer prices in the period 2009 to 2018.

     In 2011, the CPI rose significantly amidst the upsurge in food and energy prices in the international markets and the continued increases in private housing rents. The annual rates of increase maintained at around 4% to 5% during 2012 to 2014, then started to moderate since 2015. The annual rate of increase in the CPI picked up slightly in 2018.

     Apart from presenting the movements of the overall indices in the past decade, this feature article also analyses price changes at various commodity/service section levels.

     For enquiries about this feature article, please contact the Consumer Price Index Section, C&SD (Tel: 3903 7370; email: cpi@censtatd.gov.hk).

     Published in bilingual form, the HKMDS is a compact volume of official statistics containing about 140 tables. It collects up-to-date statistical series on various aspects of the social and economic situation of Hong Kong. Topics include population; labour; external trade; National Income and Balance of Payments; prices; business performance; energy; housing and property; government accounts, finance and insurance; and transport, communications and tourism. For selected key statistical items, over 20 charts depicting the annual trend in the past decade and quarterly or monthly trend in the recent two years are also available. Users can download the Digest free of charge at the website of C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/hkstat/sub/sp460.jsp?productCode=B1010002).

     Enquiries about the contents of the Digest can be directed to the Statistical Information Services Section of C&SD (Tel: 2582 4738; email: gen-enquiry@censtatd.gov.hk). read more