Tag Archives: China

     The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) published today (December 16) the December 2024 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 “The Four Key Industries in the Hong Kong Economy” and “Analysis of Hong Kong’s External Merchandise Trade by Industry”.
      
“The Four Key Industries in the Hong Kong Economy”
      
     The Government has been actively pursuing economic development in order to keep up the competitive advantage of Hong Kong. The traditional Four Key Industries in Hong Kong, namely financial services, tourism, trading and logistics, and professional and producer services, have been the driving force of Hong Kong’s economic growth, providing impetus to growth of other sectors and creating employment. 
      
     This feature article analyses the economic contribution and employment situation in respect of the Four Key Industries in 2023. Taken together, the share of the total value added of the Four Key Industries in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was 57.1%, while the percentage share of total employment was 42.4%.
      
     For enquiries about this feature article, please contact the National Income Branch (2) of the C&SD (Tel: 3903 7002; email: gdp-p@censtatd.gov.hk).
      
“Analysis of Hong Kong’s External Merchandise Trade by Industry”
      
     The C&SD has compiled a set of statistics on trade by industry of importers/exporters in order to provide insights into the external merchandise trading activities of individual industries.
      
     In 2023, “transportation, storage, postal and courier services” and “import/export and wholesale trades” were the two major industries, together contributing about 92% of the total trade value. On the export side, the contribution of small and medium sized enterprises in these two industries was 52% and 62% of their respective exports.
      
     This feature article also presents further analyses of imports and exports of major industries by major trading partner and major commodity group.
      
     For enquiries about this feature article, please contact the Trade Analysis Section of the C&SD (Tel: 2582 4914; email: trade@censtatd.gov.hk).
      
     Published in bilingual form, the HKMDS is a compact volume of official statistics containing about 130 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 at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/EIndexbySubject.html?pcode=B1010002&scode=460).
      
     Enquiries about the contents of the Digest can be directed to the Statistical Information Dissemination Section (1) of the C&SD (Tel: 2582 4738; email: gen-enquiry@censtatd.gov.hk). read more

     Police will implement special traffic arrangements in So Kon Po and Causeway Bay to facilitate a football match to be held at the Hong Kong Stadium on December 17 (Tuesday). A.    Traffic arrangements at the c… read more

     The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Monday, December 16, 2024 is 106.9 (same as last Saturday’s index).

     â€‹The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Saturday, December 14, 2024 was 106.9 (same as last Friday’s index). read more

     The EMSD Symposium 2024, organised by the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD), was held today (December 16). It is one of the events celebrating the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Officials from the National Energy Administration and the National Railway Administration and academics from Tsinghua University delivered keynote speeches under the theme “Empowering High-quality Development for a Green Future”. Over 400 representatives of local, Mainland and overseas government departments, public organisations, electrical and mechanical (E&M) and innovation and technology (I&T) sectors, professional institutions and academics attended the symposium and shared innovative solutions and research and development (R&D) achievements related to new energy, smart E&M, green transport and efficient construction.

     Delivering an opening address at the symposium, the Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Mr Tse Chin-wan, encouraged all participants, trade members and other stakeholders to promote the development of renewable energy and new energy, including green hydrogen and low-carbon hydrogen energy, seize opportunities in hydrogen development to establish Hong Kong as the country’s hub for promoting hydrogen industry and technology, address the green transition, and achieve carbon neutrality before 2050.

     In his welcoming speech, the Director of Electrical and Mechanical Services, Mr Raymond Poon, expressed hope that the symposium would inspire innovative thinking and reinforce Hong Kong’s role as a “super-connector” and a “super value-adder” between the Mainland and the rest of the world, contributing to the high-quality green city development of the country. He called on participants to work together to optimise city management and promote in-depth integration and development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. As the Government’s innovation facilitator, the EMSD will continue to support R&D and promote the adoption of I&T and artificial intelligence to foster new quality productive forces.

     At the symposium, the EMSD signed a Memorandum of Co-operation with the Guangzhou Association for Science & Technology aimed at strengthening exchanges and co-operation between the two places and promoting technological innovation. Prize presentation for winners of the GWIN 2024 Smart City E&M IoT Application Challenge and the Hydrogen Fueled Street Washing Vehicle Naming & Drawing Contest was also held during the symposium.

     To enhance the diversity of communication channels with the public and promote co-operation between Hong Kong and the Mainland, the EMSD has set up its WeChat official account and held a launching ceremony for it at the symposium.

    

     In response to the Japanese Government’s plan to discharge nuclear-contaminated water at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Station, the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene issued a Food Safety Order which prohibits all aquatic products, sea salt and seaweeds originating from the 10 metropolis/prefectures, namely Tokyo, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Miyagi, Chiba, Gunma, Tochigi, Niigata, Nagano and Saitama, from being imported into and supplied in Hong Kong.
 
     For other Japanese aquatic products, sea salt and seaweeds that are not prohibited from being imported into Hong Kong, the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department will conduct comprehensive radiological tests to verify that the radiation levels of these products do not exceed the guideline levels before they are allowed to be supplied in the market.
 
     As the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water is unprecedented and will continue for 30 years or more, the Government will closely monitor and step up the testing arrangements. Should anomalies be detected, the Government does not preclude further tightening the scope of the import ban.
 
     From noon on December 13 to noon today (December 16), the CFS conducted tests on the radiological levels of 302 food samples imported from Japan, which were of the “aquatic and related products, seaweeds and sea salt” category, in the past three days (including last Saturday and Sunday). No sample was found to have exceeded the safety limit. Details can be found on the CFS’s thematic website titled “Control Measures on Foods Imported from Japan” (www.cfs.gov.hk/english/programme/programme_rafs/programme_rafs_fc_01_30_Nuclear_Event_and_Food_Safety.html).
 
     In parallel, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) has also tested 150 samples of local catch for radiological levels. All the samples passed the tests. Details can be found on the AFCD’s website (www.afcd.gov.hk/english/fisheries/Radiological_testing/Radiological_Test.html).
 
     The Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) has also enhanced the environmental monitoring of the local waters. No anomaly has been detected so far. For details, please refer to the HKO’s website
(www.hko.gov.hk/en/radiation/monitoring/seawater.html).
 
     From August 24, 2023, to noon today, the CFS and the AFCD have conducted tests on the radiological levels of 105 535 samples of food imported from Japan (including 68 317 samples of aquatic and related products, seaweeds and sea salt) and 23 916 samples of local catch respectively. All the samples passed the tests. read more