With the imminent arrival of the FIFA World Cup, Hong Kong Customs stepped up enforcement to combat counterfeit products and seized about 74 000 suspected counterfeit sportswear with an estimated market value of about $3.8 millions in the past three weeks.

     Through risk assessment, Customs officers inspected seven consignments arriving in Hong Kong at Man Kam To Control Point, Kwai Chung Customhouse Cargo Examination Compound, Customs Cargo Examination Compound, River Trade Terminal, Tuen Mun, as well as downtown express centres and destined for countries in Asia, North America and Central America.

     â€‹Upon inspection, Customs officers found about 74 000 counterfeit sportswear in total from the seven consignments.

     Investigations are ongoing.

     Customs will continue to step up enforcement to combat suspected counterfeit products.

     Under the Trade Descriptions Ordinance, any person who imports or exports any goods to which a forged trade mark is applied commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $500,000 and imprisonment for five years.
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     Members of the public may report any suspected infringing activities to the Customs 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or dedicated crime-reporting email (crimereport@customs.gov.hk). All information received by Customs will be kept in confidence. 

  

     The Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan, who is accompanying the Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, on a trip to Sichuan, today (May 11) led a delegation to visit the Sichuan-Hong Kong Rehabilitation Centre (the Centre) and the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital of Sichuan Province.
 
     The construction of the Centre was funded by the Trust Fund in Support of Reconstruction in the Sichuan Earthquake Stricken Areas of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government (the Government) with a view to establishing a rehabilitation network, as well as training professionals and developing rehabilitation work in Sichuan.
 
     "The Centre is the flagship project of the Government's post-earthquake medical and health reconstruction work in Sichuan. With the support of the Sichuan Provincial Government and assistance of medical rehabilitation professionals of Hong Kong, the Centre has been developed into the largest rehabilitation hub in the western region. It is also an important platform to support the development of regional hospitals by providing training and guidance to rehabilitation centres in 39 counties which were severely damaged by the massive earthquake," Professor Chan said.
 
     Officially opened in 2013, the Sichuan-Hong Kong Rehabilitation Technology Complex of the Centre provides a wide range of facilities including out-patient clinics, inpatient wards, treatment rooms, a prosthetic and orthotic centre and a recompression treatment centre.
 
     Professor Chan also visited the Teaching Hospital of the Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital of Sichuan Province), including its Preventive Treatment Centre and Electronic Service System, to gain a better understanding of the development of Chinese medicine hospital in the Mainland.
 
     "We are now actively developing the first Chinese medicine hospital in Hong Kong. The valuable experience of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital of Sichuan Province, for example its scope of service, mode of management, human resource training and scientific research, is of high reference value to us," she added.
 
     Professor Chan also agreed that Sichuan and Hong Kong should further strengthen academic exchanges in Chinese medicine, development of Chinese medicine hospital and clinical experience, and jointly promote further exchanges and co-operation on research in Chinese medicine testing and standards between the two places.
 
     Members of delegation joining Professor Chan's visit included representatives from the Hospital Authority and non-governmental organisations of the medical service sector, as well as a number of academics.

    

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

     The Legislative Council (LegCo) and its Committees will hold 18 open meetings, one public hearing and two closed meetings during the week from May 14 to 19 in the LegCo Complex.  Details of the meetings are available in the meeting schedule attached.
 
     The information in the meeting schedule is subject to change.  Please refer to the "LegCo Calendar" on the LegCo Website (www.legco.gov.hk) for the latest details of meetings.
 
     Members of the public are welcome to observe open meetings of LegCo and its Committees.  Interested individuals and groups are advised to make advance booking of seats by calling the LegCo Secretariat at 3919 3399 during office hours.  Members of the public can also listen to or watch all open meetings via the "Webcast" system on the LegCo Website.

     The Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, will set off in the evening of May 14 for a two-day visit to Hangzhou.

     While in Hangzhou, Mr Chan will officiate at the opening ceremony of "SmartHK 2018" organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) and witness the signing of a memorandum of understanding on co-operation between the HKTDC and the Hangzhou Municipal Government.

     He will also meet with senior officials of the Government of Zhejiang Province, visit enterprises from emerging and innovative sectors, and meet with Hong Kong people doing business in Zhejiang.

     Mr Chan will return to Hong Kong in the afternoon of May 16 (Wednesday).

     In his absence, the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr James Lau, will act as the Financial Secretary.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Housing Authority:

     Members of the Hong Kong Housing Authority's (HA) Commercial Properties Committee today (May 11) visited three HA shopping centres to better understand their business conditions.
 
     Members firstly visited the Pok Hong Shopping Centre at Sha Tin. The shopping centre was opened in 1982, with a retail area of about 3 300 square metres. Members were briefed on the improvement works completed last year. The restaurant at Pok Hong Shopping Centre was re-designed and the space released was converted into six shops, providing the residents with more retail services. Moreover, new entrances, a corridor and a barrier-free lift platform were added, which improved the circulation of the shopping centre. The improvement works also included refurbishment of the toilets and renovation of the external walls of the shopping centre, the multi-storey carpark building and advertising panels, giving the shopping centre a new appearance.
 
     Members then visited Kwai Shing West Shopping Centre in Kwai Chung. The three-storey shopping centre was opened in 1975 and has a total lettable area of about 4 500 square metres. Improvement works were also completed last year to enhance the business environment of the shopping centre. The improvement works included construction of a new lift tower connecting the ground floor, first floor and the podium on the second floor; renovation of market stalls, with some of them converted into a Chinese restaurant and storerooms; addition of new shops; floor re-tiling of the shopping centre and the market; renovation of the external walls and signboard of the shopping centre; and installation of glazed covers at podium level.
 
     To conclude the tour, Members visited Ching Long Shopping Centre at the new Kai Tak development area in Kowloon City. The shopping centre was completed in mid-2013 and has a total lettable area of about 9 200 square metres, comprising shops of various trades and a single operator market. It has adopted a "roadside shops" layout with natural ventilation for the corridors, offering the residents of Kai Ching Estate and Tak Long Estate diverse retail services and restaurants.

     Visits to the HA's commercial facilities have been organised from time to time by the Housing Department for members of Commercial Properties Committee to enable them to gain first-hand knowledge of the operation of the HA's commercial facilities.