The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) today (December 14) released the latest grading of water quality for four gazetted beaches which are open all year round for swimming.  
   
     Four beaches were rated as Good (Grade 1).
 
Grade 1 beaches are:

Clear Water Bay Second Beach
Golden Beach
Repulse Bay Beach
Silverstrand Beach
     
     Compared with the grading released last week, there was no change in the grading for these beaches.
      
     Under the present grading system, beaches are classified into four grades according to the level of E. coli in the water. Grades are calculated on the basis of the geometric mean of the E. coli counts on the five most recent sampling occasions.
      
     While the ratings represent the general water quality at the beaches, an EPD spokesman reminded members of the public that water quality could be temporarily affected during and after periods of heavy rain. Bathers should avoid swimming at beaches for up to three days after a storm or heavy rainfall.
      
     A summary of beach grades is published weekly before the weekend. The latest beach grades based on the most current data may be obtained from the department's website on Beach Water Quality (www.epd.gov.hk/epd/beach) or the beach hotline, 2511 6666.

The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:

     The Legislative Council (LegCo) Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will hold a public hearing on "Centre for Food Safety: Management of food safety" (Chapter 1) of the Director of Audit's Report No.71 at 9.30am tomorrow (December 15) in Conference Room 1 of the LegCo Complex.

     Six witnesses have been invited to appear before the above hearing to respond to points raised in the Report and answer questions asked by PAC members.

     The programme for the public hearing is as follows:

Date: December 15 (Saturday)
Time: 9.30am
Venue: Conference Room 1
 
Subject: Centre for Food Safety: Management of food safety (Chapter 1 of the Director of Audit's Report No.71)

Witnesses:

Secretary for Food and Health
Professor Sophia Chan

Deputy Secretary for Food and Health (Food)2
Mr Eugene Fung

Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene
Miss Vivian Lau

Controller, Centre for Food Safety, Food and Environmental Hygiene Department
Dr Ho Yuk-yin

Consultant (Community Medicine)(Risk Assessment and Communication), Food and Environmental Hygiene Department
Dr Samuel Yeung

Assistant Director (Risk Management), Food and Environmental Hygiene Department
Dr Christine Wong

     PAC is chaired by Mr Abraham Shek, and its Deputy Chairman is Mr Kenneth Leung. Other members include Mr Paul Tse, Mr Steven Ho, Mr Lam Cheuk-ting, Mr Shiu Ka-fai and Ms Tanya Chan.

     A spokesperson for the Leisure and Cultural Services Department today (December 14) announced that the URBTIX outlets at the HKICC Lee Shau Kee School of Creativity and Tom Lee Music branches will have special opening hours on Winter Solstice Day (December 22) and during the Christmas and New Year holidays.
 
     The URBTIX outlet at the HKICC Lee Shau Kee School of Creativity will open from 10am to 3pm on December 22 and 24 but will be closed on December 25, 26 and 31 and January 1. 
 
     The URBTIX outlets at all Tom Lee Music branches will open from 10am to 5.30pm on December 22, 24 and 31 and from noon to 7.30pm on December 25 and January 1.
 
     The opening hours of all other URBTIX outlets will remain normal. Tickets can also be purchased via the website www.urbtix.hk and the mobile ticketing app (Android and iPhone versions) throughout the day, and through the credit card telephone booking hotline 2111 5999 from 10am to 8pm daily. The ticketing enquiries hotline 3761 6661 will operate as usual from 10am to 8pm daily.

     The Mainland and Hong Kong Economic and Trade Co-operation Committee convened its first meeting in Hong Kong today (December 14). The meeting was co-chaired by the Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, and the China International Trade Representative and Vice Minister of Commerce, Mr Fu Ziying.

     The Committee was established by the Mainland and Hong Kong to enhance economic and trade co-operation. At today's meeting, discussions were held on five work priorities, namely the enhancement and implementation of the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), supporting Hong Kong's participation in the Belt and Road Initiative, jointly promoting the economic and trade co-operation of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, supporting Hong Kong's participation in regional economic co-operation and promoting exchanges between both sides on other economic and trade matters.

     Mr Chan said, "The Mainland and Hong Kong have all along maintained close economic and trade relations. Since the signing of CEPA 15 years ago, we have been actively pursuing trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation, which promoted the economic development of both sides. The establishment of the Committee will elevate the co-operation and exchanges between us to a new level, laying a solid foundation for further economic and trade co-operation."

     At the meeting, the two sides reached consensus on the working targets for the next phase of liberalisation on trade in services under CEPA, including further opening up the Mainland market to Hong Kong in trade in services; revising the schedule of commitments of the Agreement on Trade in Services (Services Agreement) by shortening the existing negative list; promoting the pilot implementation under CEPA of policies and measures on further services liberalisation in sectors such as finance, education, tourism and culture in the Greater Bay Area; and advancing the full liberalisation of trade in services in the Greater Bay Area. In addition, the two sides announced that the following two new liberalisation measures on trade in services have been incorporated into the Services Agreement for implementation from March 1, 2019:

(1) Legal services: expanding the geographical scope of setting up of Mainland and Hong Kong law firms in the form of partnership association from Guangzhou Municipality, Shenzhen Municipality and Zhuhai Municipality to the entire Mainland.

(2) Testing and certification: allowing accredited testing organisations in Hong Kong to undertake testing of products for the China Compulsory Certification (CCC) System on all products processed or manufactured in the Mainland requiring CCC.
     
     To support Hong Kong's full participation in and contribution to the Belt and Road Initiative, the Mainland and Hong Kong Belt and Road Task Group was established under the Committee to co-ordinate related matters in the trade and economic co-operation areas. The Task Group also held its high-level meeting today, which was co-chaired by Mr Fu, and the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Edward Yau.

     "We have established close rapport with the Ministry of Commerce, which has been providing strong support to Hong Kong's participation in the Belt and Road Initiative. A high-level Task Group set up on such solid basis will definitely play an active role in promoting and taking forward commerce and trade co-operation between the two places," Mr Yau said.

     During the meeting, the two sides examined the proposed modus operandi of the Task Group. The Hong Kong side introduced the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government's strategies in promoting participation in the Belt and Road Initiative, and proposed that both sides strengthen co-operation in the following five aspects:
     
(1) Supporting the Mainland and Hong Kong enterprises to join hands in "going global" en bloc, such as organising missions for enterprises to major countries and regions along the Belt and Road to explore investment and business opportunities;  

(2) Supporting Hong Kong enterprises to participate in the development of overseas Economic and Trade Cooperation Zones in countries along the Belt and Road;

(3) Establishing a mechanism for exchanging information on the Belt and Road, including information about overseas Economic and Trade Cooperation Zones and investment co-operation, project interfacing, and policy measures of the Initiative;

(4) Supporting the HKSAR to organise major promotional activities; and 

(5) Strengthening co-operation between the Mainland and Hong Kong enterprises as well as professional service sectors.
     
     The Mainland side also introduced their efforts in promoting the Belt and Road Initiative.

     After the meetings of the Committee and the Task Group, the Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, witnessed the signing of the Agreement of Trade in Goods under the CEPA framework by Mr Chan and Mr Fu, who represented the Governments of the two places. The Agreement consolidates and updates the commitments on liberalisation and facilitation of trade in goods under CEPA, further enhancing the level of liberalisation.

     Details and the latest information about CEPA can be found in the press release and website of the Trade and Industry Department at www.tid.gov.hk/english/cepa/index.html.

            

     Following is the opening remarks by the Secretary for Innovation and Technology, Mr Nicholas W Yang, at the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute Company Limited (ASTRI) 2018 Technovation Summit: A Smart Future Powered by AI today (December 14):

MY (Chairman of ASTRI, Mr Wong Ming-yam), Charles (Legislative Council member Mr Charles Mok), Hugh (Chief Executive Officer of ASTRI, Mr Hugh Chow), distinguished guests, friends, ladies and gentlemen,

     Good morning. It is my honour and pleasure to join you all today at ASTRI Technovation Summit. I would like to thank ASTRI for hosting this annual signature event, with a new name, Technovation Summit, this year. Indeed, I am very glad to see a big gathering of distinguished experts, industry leaders, academics and a group of ASTRI alumni who will share with us their insights on the power of artificial intelligence, or AI, today. 

      AI is an important topic for all human beings nowadays. Together with big data, data analytics and robotics, AI has unlocked a whole new world of potential opportunities, driving business transformations and changing our way of life. Manufacturing, healthcare, public services, transport and logistics, banking and finance, retail – you name it – can all benefit from the ever more intelligent machines and systems. More importantly, the adoption of AI and robotics technology releases human capital from difficult, dangerous, dirty and tedious jobs, so that human beings can focus on higher value-added work, thereby driving business growth, increasing productivity, and improving our daily living.

     Hong Kong definitely has an edge in developing AI. With an increasingly vibrant innovation and technology ecosystem, Hong Kong has nurtured and attracted the best research talents in AI. According to Scopus, universities in Hong Kong as a whole ranked number three globally in terms of producing the most highly cited and impactful research on AI. 

     We have also nurtured some of the leading AI technology companies in the world. One of our home-grown unicorn start-ups, SenseTime, has been entrusted by the national Ministry of Science and Technology to establish the National Open Innovation Platform for Next Generation Artificial Intelligence on Intelligent Vision. To further facilitate the pooling together of world-class talent, institutions and enterprises in AI, we are working at full steam to build the research cluster we call AIR@InnoHK, focusing on AI and robotics technologies, right here in the Hong Kong Science Park. We are making good progress, and we expect the first batch of research institutions will start moving into the cluster in the second half of 2019. This would create more opportunities for research institutions like ASTRI and our local universities to collaborate with top-notch institutions from around the world to unleash the potential of AI. If you are interested, please talk to ASTRI and other designated R&D institutions for collaboration opportunities.

     The legislative amendment for effecting the super tax deduction for qualifying R&D activities has already been passed by our Legislative Council in October. The deduction is 300 per cent for the first $2 million of qualifying R&D activities and 200 per cent for the remaining amount. What's more, there is no cap on the amount of this super tax deduction. R&D expenditures incurred by enterprises on April 1 this year and thereafter would benefit from this new policy. Our goal is to incentivise private enterprises to conduct more R&D activities, including those in AI. 

     At the same time, we will continue to render full support under the Innovation and Technology Fund (ITF) to finance applied R&D projects on AI. I am glad that in making full use of the ITF, ASTRI, our flagship R&D centre, is already working closely with many industry partners to adopt AI technologies. For example, ASTRI has collaborated with some local banks to develop a smart investment platform which provides investment options through the use of AI, big data analytics and machine learning. It has also developed an AI system on Chinese character recognition that recognises different handwritten Chinese characters for enhancing the efficiency of document processing. In addition, ASTRI has developed 3D scanning and object recognition technologies for robots to facilitate the migration of manufacturing industry towards Industry 4.0. I look forward to seeing more exciting and collaborative AI projects from ASTRI and other research institutions in the future.

     The Government will also lead by example by adopting AI to improve public services. We will introduce AI and chatbot functions to the GovHK portal in 2019 to facilitate public search and access of e-Government services. A pilot chatbot service at the 1823 call centre to handle public enquiries will also be launched. A new big data analytics platform will be built by 2020 to enable real-time data sharing among government departments, encouraging further development of AI applications and big data analytics. Our purpose here is not to make money but to facilitate our citizens so that we can provide them with better public services.

     Ladies and gentlemen, AI is an important technology area with unprecedented opportunities. I am sure, with the concerted efforts of the industry, academia, R&D centres and the Government, Hong Kong would be playing a crucial role in developing more AI applications to bring better life for our citizens in the future.

     Last but not least, I wish the Summit a great success and all of you a very fruitful and enjoyable day. I also wish all the visitors from abroad a pleasant stay in Hong Kong.

     Thank you.