In order to step up co-ordination to enhance the transport connectivity of the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal (KTCT), the Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Cheuk Wing-hing, chaired an inter-departmental meeting today … read more
The Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, today (August 8) inspected Queen Mary Hospital’s work on the establishment of the Integrated Cardiovascular Diseases Centre. The Centre is expected to enhance the integrated tr… read more
The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:
The delegation of the Legislative Council Panel on Environmental Affairs and the delegation of the Environment and Ecology Bureau continued the duty visit in Foshan and Shenzhen today (August 8) to gain a deeper understanding on the development and application of new energy transport, clean energy and renewable energy in these two cities.
In the morning, the delegations visited the Nanhai Hydrogen Center in Foshan. Foshan was one of the cities in the country that developed hydrogen energy industry relatively early, and Nanhai District has so far attracted more than 130 hydrogen energy enterprises from home and abroad to set up operations there. Through the visit, Members further understood the overall thinking and strategic positioning of hydrogen energy development in Nanhai District, the development of new energy technology and hydrogen energy of the country, as well as the application of hydrogen energy in different transportation, for example buses and heavy vehicles, in Foshan.
The delegations later went to Foshan’s Gaoming District and first visited a hydrogen refueling station for Gaoming’s tramway, before experiencing firsthand the hydrogen fuel cell tram. With the operation commenced at the end of 2019, the tram line in Gaoming District was the world’s first commercial hydrogen-powered tram line. Each tram has 60 seats and can carry up to 270 passengers.
In the afternoon, the delegations travelled to Shenzhen and visited the exhibition hall of Huawei Digital Power AntoHill Headquarters. Members learnt that the buildings in the headquarters are equipped with a system featuring photovoltaic power generation, energy storage, direct current and flexibility, which can help reduce annual power consumption by half and cut annual carbon emissions by more than 60 percent at the headquarters. Members also received a briefing by representative of Huawei Digital Power Technologies Co., Ltd. on Huawei’s digital power products and solutions in areas such as energy conservation and emission reduction, smart photovoltaics, and data centre.
The delegations will continue its duty visit in Shenzhen tomorrow (August 9), and visit Daya Bay Nuclear Power Station and Nanshan Energy Eco-Park.
The Panel on Environmental Affairs’ delegation is led by the Chairman of the Panel, Ms Elizabeth Quat. Other participating Members include Panel members Mr Frankie Yick, Dr Lo Wai-kwok, and Mr Chan Pui-leung; as well as non-Panel member Mr Andrew Lam. The Environment and Ecology Bureau’s delegation is led by the Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Mr Tse Chin-wan.
Hong Kong Customs today (August 8) detected a suspected money laundering case with an arrest of a local woman. She was suspected of using her solely owned company bank accounts at various banks in Hong Kong to launder a total of about $900 million from unknown sources between May 2021 and January this year.
Acting upon intelligence, Customs officers earlier targeted a 39-year-old local woman whose background and financial status were highly incommensurate with the large amount of suspicious transactions recorded in her company bank accounts. She was suspected of remitting suspicious funds out via local banks and participating in money laundering activities.
Following in-depth investigations, Customs officers this morning raided a residential premises in Tsuen wan and seized a mobile phone and a batch of bank documents therein. The woman, who claimed to be a salesperson, was arrested for “dealing with property known or reasonably believed to represent proceeds of an indictable offence” (commonly known as money laundering) under the Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance (OSCO).
​An investigation is ongoing. The arrested woman has been released on bail pending further investigation. The likelihood of further arrests is not ruled out.
Customs reminds members of the public that they may risk committing the crime of money laundering if they use bank accounts to deal with money from unknown sources, regardless of whether monetary reward is involved.
Under the OSCO, a person commits an offence if he or she deals with any property knowing or having reasonable grounds to believe that such property in whole or in part directly or indirectly represents any person’s proceeds of an indictable offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $5 million and imprisonment for 14 years while the crime proceeds are also subject to confiscation.
Members of the public may report any suspected money laundering activities to Customs’ 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) or online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002/). read more
The Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Mr Tse Chin-wan, together with the Legislative Council Panel on Environmental Affairs, continued their duty visit to three cities in the Greater Bay Area today (August 8).
The delegation visited Foshan, which is the pioneer demonstration area for the development of the hydrogen energy industry in Guangdong Province, in the morning. They first visited the Nanhai Hydrogen Center in Foshan and received a briefing from the representatives on the planning and achievements of hydrogen energy development in Foshan to learn more about the development and application of hydrogen energy in the Mainland. The delegation then visited Gaoming district in Foshan to experience the world’s first commercially operated hydrogen-fuelled light rail vehicle and exchange views with the staff on the applications of hydrogen vehicles.
Mr Tse said that the country has set four basic principles for the medium- and long-term plan for the development of the hydrogen energy industry: i.e. (i) innovation leads, self-reliance and self-improvement; (ii) safety first, clean and low-carbon; (iii) market-led and government-led; and (iv) prudent application and demonstration first. Last year, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region set up the Inter-departmental Working Group on Using Hydrogen as Fuel to co-ordinate preparation works of bureaux/departments for using hydrogen as fuel locally and to promote the use of hydrogen energy in Hong Kong progressively in accordance with the four basic principles of the country in alignment with the national policy.
In the afternoon, the delegation visited the exhibition hall of Huawei Digital Power AntoHill Headquarters in Shenzhen. They received a briefing from a representative on Huawei’s latest developments in the areas of green buildings, photovoltaic power generation and energy storage, zero-carbon community, etc.
Mr Tse and the delegation will continue their visit to the Greater Bay Area tomorrow (August 9), including visits to the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant and Nanshan Energy Eco-Park in Shenzhen.
