The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority: The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) wishes to alert members of the public to a press release issued by Alipay Financial Services (HK) Limi… read more
The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) released today (July 21) the results of the Quarterly Business Tendency Survey for the third quarter (Q3) of 2023.
Business situation
For all surveyed sectors taken together, the proportion of respondents expecting their business situation to be better (16%) in Q3 2023 over the preceding quarter is higher than that expecting it to be worse (10%).
When compared with the results of the Q2 2023 survey round, the proportion of respondents expecting a better business situation in Q3 2023 is 16%, lower than the corresponding proportion of 25% in Q2 2023. On the other hand, the proportion of respondents expecting a worse business situation remained unchanged in Q3 2023 at 10%.
Analysed by sector, respondents in all of the surveyed sectors expect their business situation to increase on balance or remain broadly unchanged in Q3 2023 as compared with Q2 2023. In particular, significantly more respondents in the accommodation and food services sector expect their business situation to be better in Q3 2023 as compared with Q2 2023.
The results of the survey should be interpreted with care. In this type of survey on expectations, the views collected in the survey are affected by the events in the community occurring around the time of enumeration, and it is difficult to establish precisely the extent to which respondents’ perception of the future accords with the underlying trends. The enumeration period for this survey round was from June 2, 2023 to July 6, 2023.
Volume of business/output
Respondents in all of the surveyed sectors expect their volume of business/output to increase on balance or remain broadly unchanged in Q3 2023 as compared with Q2 2023. In particular, significantly more respondents in the accommodation and food services sector expect their volume of business to increase in Q3 2023 over Q2 2023.
Employment
Respondents in all of the surveyed sectors expect their employment to increase on balance or remain broadly unchanged in Q3 2023 as compared with Q2 2023. In particular, significantly more respondents in the accommodation and food services and manufacturing sectors expect their employment to increase in Q3 2023 over Q2 2023.
Selling price/service charge
Respondents in all of the surveyed sectors expect their selling prices / service charges to increase on balance or remain broadly unchanged in Q3 2023 as compared with Q2 2023. In particular, significantly more respondents in the transportation, storage and courier services sector expect their charges for services rendered to go up in Q3 2023 over Q2 2023.
Commentary
A Government spokesman said that business sentiment among large enterprises softened somewhat as compared to three months ago, but remained generally optimistic. Large enterprises’ appetite for hiring also stayed positive.
Looking forward, the spokesman said that tightening financial conditions and the weak external environment will continue to affect business sentiment, but the local economic recovery, together with the various measures introduced by the Government to boost the recovery momentum should provide support. The Government will monitor the situation closely.
Further information
The survey gathers views on short-term business performance from the senior management of about 560 prominent establishments in various sectors in Hong Kong with a view to providing a quick reference, with minimum time lag, for predicting the short-term future economic performance of the local economy.
The survey covers 10 major sectors in Hong Kong, namely manufacturing; construction; import/export trade and wholesale; retail; accommodation and food services (mainly covering services rendered by hotels and restaurants); transportation, storage and courier services; information and communications; financing and insurance; real estate; and professional and business services sectors.
Views collected in the survey refer only to those of respondents on their own establishments rather than those on the respective sectors they are engaged in, and are limited to the expected direction of quarter-to-quarter change (e.g. “up”, “same” or “down”) but not the magnitude of change. In collecting views on the quarter-to-quarter changes, if the variable in question is subject to seasonal variations, respondents are asked to provide the expected changes after excluding the normal seasonal variations.
Survey results are generally presented as “net balance”, i.e. the difference between the percentage of respondents choosing “up” and that choosing “down”. The percentage distribution of respondents among various response categories (e.g. “up”, “same” and “down”) reflects how varied their business expectations are. The “net balance”, with its appropriate sign, indicates the direction of expected change in the variable concerned. A positive sign indicates a likely upward trend while a negative sign indicates a likely downward trend. However, the magnitude of the “net balance” reflects only the prevalence of optimism or pessimism, but not the magnitude of expected change, since information relating to such magnitude is not collected in the survey.
Furthermore, owing to sample size constraint, care should be taken in interpreting survey results involving a small percentage (e.g. less than 10%) of respondents in individual sectors.
Chart 1 shows the views on expected changes in business situation for the period Q3 2022 to Q3 2023.
Table 1 shows the net balances of views on expectations in respect of different variables for Q3 2023.
The survey results are published in greater detail in the “Report on Quarterly Business Tendency Survey, Q3 2023”. Users can browse and download the publication at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/EIndexbySubject.html?pcode=B1110008&scode=300).
Users who have enquiries about the survey results may contact the Business Expectation Statistics Section of the C&SD (Tel: 3903 7263; email: business-prospects@censtatd.gov.hk). read more
The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) today (July 21) released the latest grading of water quality for 39 gazetted beaches (see Note 1) and one non-gazetted beach (see Note 2).
Eighteen beaches were rated as Good (Grade 1), 20 as Fair (Grade 2) and two as Poor (Grade 3).
Grade 1 beaches are:
| Cafeteria Old Beach | Pui O Beach* |
| Cheung Chau Tung Wan Beach* | Repulse Bay Beach* |
| Chung Hom Kok Beach | Silverstrand Beach* |
| Discovery Bay | South Bay Beach* |
| Hap Mun Bay Beach* | St Stephen’s Beach |
| Hung Shing Yeh Beach* | Stanley Main Beach* |
| Kiu Tsui Beach | Tong Fuk Beach |
| Kwun Yam Beach | Trio Beach |
| Lo So Shing Beach | Upper Cheung Sha Beach |
| Anglers’ Beach* | Golden Beach* |
| Approach Beach | Hoi Mei Wan Beach |
| Big Wave Bay Beach* | Kadoorie Beach* |
| Butterfly Beach* | Lido Beach* |
| Cafeteria New Beach | Lower Cheung Sha Beach |
| Casam Beach* | Middle Bay Beach |
| Castle Peak Beach | Shek O Beach* |
| Clear Water Bay First Beach | Silver Mine Bay Beach* |
| Clear Water Bay Second Beach* | Tai Po Lung Mei Beach* |
| Deep Water Bay Beach* | Turtle Cove Beach |
| Ma Wan Tung Wan Beach* | Ting Kau Beach* |
The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Friday, July 21, 2023 is 103.7 (down 0.1 against yesterday’s index). read more
​As the Heat Stress at Work Warning is now in effect, the Labour Department (LD) reminds employers and employees to take appropriate measures during the effective period of the warning to prevent heat stroke when working in hot weather or hot environments.
Employees who work outdoors or in non-air-conditioned indoor environments face high levels of heat stress and are at a relatively higher risk of heat stroke. Employers should assess the risk factors of heat stress for employees at work and, based on the identified risk factors, take necessary preventive and control measures, including rescheduling work periods, setting up shading covers, providing ventilation and heat dissipation equipment, and reminding employees to replenish water and rest in a timely manner.
The Heat Stress at Work Warning is formulated by the LD based on the Hong Kong Heat Index. There are three levels of the warning: Amber, Red and Black, which help employers and employees better understand the level of heat stress while working outdoors or indoors without air-conditioning systems.
A spokesman for the LD said that when the department issues the Heat Stress at Work Warning, employers must refer to the criteria and recommendations provided in the “Guidance Notes on Prevention of Heat Stroke at Work” to conduct risk assessments, according to the workloads and other relevant heat stress risk factors, for employees who work outdoors or in non-air-conditioned indoor workplaces. Appropriate rest breaks should be arranged every hour, as far as reasonably practicable, based on various levels of the Heat Stress at Work Warning, to reduce employees’ risk of heat stroke.
Employees must also follow instructions to rest on time. Whenever there are any symptoms of heat-related illnesses, such as headache, dizziness, thirst, and nausea, they should rest in a cool and shady place, drink water, and inform employers/supervisors to take appropriate action immediately.
The LD issued the “Guidance Notes on Prevention of Heat Stroke at Work”, detailing the various risk factors that should be considered when conducting heat stress risk assessments and recommending corresponding control measures for identified risk factors for employers’ and employees’ reference. For the Heat Stress at Work Warning and related guidelines, please refer to the department’s thematic webpage: www.labour.gov.hk/eng/news/prevention_of_heat_stroke_at_work.htm. read more