Tag Archives: China

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Government welcomes passage of Deposit Protection Scheme (Amendment) Bill 2024

     The Government welcomed the passage of the Deposit Protection Scheme (Amendment) Bill 2024 by the Legislative Council (LegCo) today (July 3) to implement various measures to enhance the Deposit Protection Scheme (DPS), including:

• raising the protection limit from the current $500,000 to $800,000;
• refining the levy system to enable the DPS Fund underpinning the Scheme to reach the target fund size within a reasonable timeframe under the increased protection limit;
• providing enhanced coverage to affected depositors upon a bank merger or acquisition; 
• requiring the display of the DPS membership sign on the electronic banking platforms of DPS members; and
• streamlining the negative disclosure requirement on non-protected deposit transactions for private banking customers.

     The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui, said, “The Deposit Protection Scheme (Amendment) Ordinance 2024 (the Amendment Ordinance) can help further strengthen the function of the DPS in the financial safety net, enhance depositors’ confidence and raise the resilience of the banking sector and the overall stability of the financial system, thereby reinforcing Hong Kong’s position as an international financial centre.”

     The Chairman of the Hong Kong Deposit Protection Board, Ms Connie Lau, said, “We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the LegCo for the passage of the Amendment Ordinance, which marks a key milestone in the development of the DPS. The enhancements will not only ensure the DPS is in line with international standards, but will also provide better protection for depositors and further contribute to the stability of the banking system in Hong Kong. We look forward to working closely with the banking industry to implement the enhancement measures as scheduled, and will launch a series of promotional campaigns to raise the public awareness of the enhanced DPS.”

     The Amendment Ordinance will be gazetted on July 12 and will be implemented in two phases. The first phase, which comes into effect on October 1, 2024, will cover measures requiring a shorter period of preparatory work, such as the enhancement of protection limit to $800,000. The second phase, which covers other measures, will be implemented on January 1, 2025. read more

InvestHK encourages Heilongjiang enterprises to tap new overseas business opportunities via Hong Kong (with photos)

     â€‹Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK), the Heilongjiang Provincial Government and Harbin Municipal People’s Government cohosted a seminar in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, today (July 3), encouraging local enterprises to make use of Hong Kong’s business advantages and opportunities amid the Belt and Road Initiative and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area development to expand overseas.

     Entitled Hong Kong-Heilongjiang Co-operation: Leveraging Hong Kong for Overseas Business Opportunities, the seminar was co-organised by InvestHK, the Commercial Office of the Economic Affairs Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government (LOCPG) in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), the Department of Commerce of Heilongjiang Province, and the Harbin Municipal People’s Government.

     The seminar began with welcoming remarks by the Associate Director-General of Investment Promotion, Dr Jimmy Chiang, followed by Second-level Inspector from the Commercial Office of the Economic Affairs Department of the LOCPG in the HKSAR Mr Yan Yongqing; Deputy Director of the Department of Commerce of Heilongjiang Province Mr Tan Yinghui and Deputy Secretary-General of Harbin Municipal People’s Government Mr Yin Chengyun.

     Dr Chiang said, “Heilongjiang and Hong Kong have a long-standing relationship. Hong Kong has been Heilongjiang’s largest source of foreign investment. Under the ‘one country, two systems’ principle, Hong Kong has reinforced its traditional strengths including its financial centre status, and has been moving full steam ahead to develop into an international innovation and technology (I&T) centre to better integrate into the overall development of the country. The Policy Address delivered by the Chief Executive emphasises the importance of I&T, and provides more support to I&T industries including artificial intelligence, biomedical technology, new energy, new materials, and advanced manufacturing. The Hong Kong Government earlier promulgated the Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Development Blueprint to promote the synergistic development of scientific research, encourage the transformation of outcomes, promote the new industrialisation, and accelerate the development of new quality productive forces.” He said he hoped that InvestHK’s services and promotions can offer Mainland enterprises a better understanding of Hong Kong’s unique advantages and opportunities, so that they can leverage the city’s role as a bridge between the Mainland and the world.

     Delivering his remarks, Mr Yan said, “In recent years, Heilongjiang Province has demonstrated its confidence, determination and uniqueness in opening up to the outside world through high-quality development. This year, Harbin has been added into the Individual Visit Scheme, and the direct flights between Harbin to Hong Kong have just been opened. I believe all these favourable policies and measures will deepen the economic, trade, tourism, and cultural exchanges between Heilongjiang Province and Hong Kong, resulting in closer co-operation between the two places. I hope that Heilongjiang enterprises will make full use of Hong Kong’s sophisticated financial market, advanced professional services and positive business environment to accelerate the pace of ‘going global’. As the representative of the Ministry of Commerce in Hong Kong responsible for the economic and trade co-operation between the two places, the Commercial Office of the Economic Affairs Department of the LOCPG in the HKSAR is willing to provide support and services for all Mainland enterprises, including Heilongjiang enterprises, to invest in Hong Kong and expand to overseas markets via the city.”

     Mr Tan added, “Heilongjiang Province is actively opening up to the north and accelerating its pace of opening up to the world. Hong Kong and Heilongjiang highly complement each other in terms of resources, economic structure and development. I hope that enterprises from the two places can leverage Hong Kong’s advantages to strengthen economic and trade exchanges and co-operation, and explore further development opportunities.”

     Mr Yin said, “We are co-ordinating the construction of various trade and investment distribution means and platforms in Harbin to accelerate the pace of opening up to the world comprehensively, and enhance the co-operation and exchange between Harbin and Hong Kong to better promote the investment co-operation between the two cities.”

     The Head of Business and Talent Attraction/Investment Promotion of InvestHK in Beijing, Mr Andy Wu, introduced Hong Kong’s business environment and the diverse services InvestHK offers to Mainland clients in his keynote speech. The Principal Immigration Officer of the Office of the Government of the HKSAR in Beijing, Mr Jacky Wong, also provided a briefing on Hong Kong’s latest immigration schemes and services for Mainland residents.

     Other speakers included the Chief Representative of the Beijing Representative Office of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, Ms Xu Chunmeng, as well as Partner, Audit and Assurance, Capital Market Services Group, Deloitte China Mr Raymond Ng. They shared the latest developments and opportunities of the Hong Kong capital market at the seminar.
           
     For photos of the seminar, please visit www.flickr.com/photos/investhk/albums/72177720318436155.

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STL promotes HK’s maritime and logistics advantages in Tokyo (with photos)

     The Chairman of the Hong Kong Maritime and Port Board (HKMPB) and the Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Mr Lam Sai-hung, led a delegation comprising the HKMPB, the Marine Department, Invest Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council to visit Tokyo, Japan, to promote Hong Kong’s maritime and port industry, in particular its strength in high value-added maritime services.

     The delegation visited a number of maritime enterprises including major shipping liners and trading houses today (July 3). They also paid a courtesy call on the State Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan, Mr Kokuba Konosuke, to introduce Hong Kong’s latest maritime developments and explore business opportunities for further co-operation with the Japanese maritime community.

     During a business dinner held tonight with the Japanese Shipowners’ Association, Mr Lam gave a brief outline on Hong Kong’s advantages as an international maritime centre. He said, “Hong Kong is positioned as the ‘super connector’ between Mainland China and the global markets. We are home to a vibrant maritime cluster with over 1 100 port and maritime-related companies and provide a great variety of quality maritime services. We also provide a series of tax concession measures for the maritime industry, and have lately introduced a green initiative to provide incentives for Hong Kong-registered ships that attain high ratings under the international standards on decarbonisation formulated by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), making Hong Kong a pioneer flag administration supporting the IMO’s green shipping policy on the Carbon Intensity Indicator.”

     “Both Japan and Hong Kong are the world’s leading maritime centres playing important roles in the sea trade routes in the Asia-Pacific region. I am confident that our two economies can work closer to achieve mutual benefits and prosperity in the years ahead,” he added.

     The delegation started a four-day visit to Tokyo yesterday (July 2) and they will continue to meet other maritime enterprises and organisations during the visit.

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Salesperson of medicine shop imprisoned for engaging in commercial practice involving misleading omission in selling Chinese herbal medicine

     A salesman of a medicine shop today (July 3) was convicted of engaging in a commercial practice involving a misleading omission in the sale of a Chinese herbal medicine, in contravention of the Trade Descriptions Ordinance (TDO), and was sentenced to immediate imprisonment for four weeks at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts.

     Customs earlier received information from a Mainland visitor alleging that a staff member of a medicine shop in Mong Kok misled him in the course of selling cordyceps. After an investigation, it was revealed that the staff member had misled the visitor to believe that by purchasing one tael of cordyceps at the price of $1,680, he would receive other goods worth about $1,400 in total free of charge. After the cordyceps were ground into powder, the staff member revealed that the cordyceps were priced per mace, which was 10 times higher than what was expected. The visitor was forced to accept the transaction in the end. 

     Customs reminds traders to comply with the requirements of the TDO. Consumers should procure products from reputable traders. They are also reminded to check carefully the total price and unit price of the goods before making payment, and to retain the transaction receipts and related records, which can be used as the basis for follow-up action in case a complaint is lodged in the future. 

     Under the TDO, any trader who engages in a commercial practice that omits or hides material information or provides material information in a manner that is unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely, and as a result causes, or is likely to cause, an average consumer to make a transactional decision, commits an offence of misleading omissions. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $500,000 and imprisonment for five years.

     Members of the public may report any suspected violation of the TDO 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