Tag Archives: China

     The Government welcomes the passage of the Inland Revenue (Amendment) (Taxation on Foreign-sourced Disposal Gains) Bill 2023 by the Legislative Council today (November 29). The Bill refines Hong Kong’s foreign-sourced income exemption (FSIE) regime by expanding the scope of assets in relation to foreign-sourced disposal gains to cover assets other than shares or equity interests.

     The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui, said, “With the passage of the Bill, Hong Kong’s FSIE regime will be brought in line with the latest requirement of the Guidance on Foreign Source Income Exemption Regimes updated by the European Union (EU) in December 2022. Hong Kong’s tax regime is further strengthened to counter cross-border tax avoidance and prevent double non-taxation.

     “Under the refined FSIE regime, foreign-sourced non-intellectual property (IP) disposal gains will continue to be exempt from tax if the multinational enterprise (MNE) entity has adequate economic substance in Hong Kong. For foreign-sourced IP disposal gains, the extent of the tax exemption will be determined by the nexus approach promulgated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. While the scope of assets in relation to foreign-sourced disposal gains is expanded, exemption and relief have been put in place to minimise the compliance burden of the affected MNE entities. This will maintain the tax competitiveness of Hong Kong.”

     To provide the necessary continuity and tax certainty for taxpayers, other parts of the existing compliance framework of Hong Kong’s FSIE regime will continue to apply to the refined FSIE regime. This covers the availability of double taxation relief and treatment of disposal loss as well as business facilitating measures to reduce compliance burden, enhance tax certainty and ensure tax transparency. For more details, please visit the webpage of the Inland Revenue Department on Foreign-sourced Income Exemption (www.ird.gov.hk/eng/tax/bus_fsie.htm).

     The refined FSIE regime will be implemented with effect from January 1, 2024. The Government will request the EU to swiftly remove Hong Kong from the EU watchlist on tax co-operation. read more

     The Civil Service College (CSC) today (November 29) held a talk of the series on the country’s foreign affairs jointly with the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (OCMFA) in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). The talk, on the topic of “The high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative and policy recommendations for Hong Kong’s participation in the Initiative”, was delivered by the Director-General of the Department of International Economic Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), Mr Li Kexin. 

     Addressing the talk, the Secretary for the Civil Service, Mrs Ingrid Yeung, said that Hong Kong, with its distinctive advantages of enjoying strong support of the motherland and being closely connected to the world under the “one country, two systems” principle, has been playing the role of both a participant and an enabler of the Belt and Road Initiative. Hong Kong has been actively promoting exchanges and co-operation among participating countries and regions, aiming to achieve mutual benefits and win-win results. As an international financial centre, Hong Kong leverages its well established, comprehensive professional services and the unique advantage of the common law system, actively expanding co-operation with Belt and Road partners in such areas as economy and trade, innovation and technology, infrastructure development, among others. This talk will undoubtedly help civil servants acquire an accurate understanding of Hong Kong’s significant role in the international platform of the Belt and Road Initiative, enabling them to better support the HKSAR Government in proactively integrating into the overall development of the country and furthering the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative.

     About 100 senior officials and civil servants in the directorate and senior ranks attended the talk at the CSC today.

     The CSC and the OCMFA have been jointly organising this series of talks on the country’s foreign affairs since late 2021. This year’s series includes the thematic briefing session on “International Landscape and China’s Foreign Relations in 2023” and a number of talks on topics such as “China’s Relations with Southeast Asian Countries” and the latest development of China-United States relations, etc. The talks are delivered by relevant officials of the MFA.

        

     â€‹The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, and the Secretary for the Civil Service, Mrs Ingrid Yeung, together with representatives from the four civil service central consultative councils and the four major service-wide staff unions, jointly visited a number of floors of the Queensway Government Offices (QGO) today (November 29) to promote the District Council (DC) election to colleagues and appealed to them to cast their votes with their families and friends on December 10.
      
     Also taking part in the departmental visits today were the Permanent Secretary for the Civil Service, Mr Clement Leung, colleagues from the Civil Service Bureau, as well as representatives from various government departments.
      
     Mr Chan said, “With the new DC election approaching, civil servants have concerted their efforts and are determined to organise a decent election. They also encourage colleagues to vote together with their friends and relatives, so as to discharge their civic responsibility and support and accomodate the Government’s governance. Today, together with representatives from the four civil service central consultative councils and the four major service-wide staff unions, I have visited and talked to colleagues from various government departments in the hope of continuing to widely disseminate the important message of supporting the DC election and voting together among civil servants.”
      
     With only 11 days left before the DC election, bureaux and departments will continue to promote the message of supporting the DC election and voting together among colleagues in their workplace. A number of civil service volunteer teams will also reach out to the districts to strengthen the promotional work and appeal to all electors in Hong Kong to fulfil their civic responsibility and vote enthusiastically to elect DC members with capability, ambition and commitment to join hands in building DCs which work pragmatically for the benefit of the public, and to start a new chapter for good governance at the district level.
      
     The DC geographical constituencies, information on candidates, voting arrangements, etc, for the 2023 DC election are available at the thematic website (www.elections.gov.hk). The polling hours of DC geographical constituency ordinary polling stations on polling day will be from 8.30am to 10.30pm.

          

     According to the results of the 2022 Annual Survey of Economic Activities – Building, Construction and Real Estate Sectors released today (November 29) by the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD), the construction secto… read more

     According to the results of the 2022 Annual Survey of Economic Activities – Industrial Sector released today (November 29) by the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD), the manufacturing sector’s total receipts (comprising sales and other receipts) amounted to $217.0 billion in 2022, representing a decrease of 1.7% compared with 2021; on a per establishment basis, total receipts increased by 0.9% compared with 2021 to $33.5 million in 2022.
 
     Operating expenses and compensation of employees of the manufacturing sector altogether amounted to $200.3 billion in 2022, representing a decrease of 2.7% compared with 2021; on a per establishment basis, they decreased by 0.1% compared with 2021 to $31.0 million in 2022.
 
     Gross surplus of the manufacturing sector, which is equal to total receipts less operating expenses and compensation of employees, increased by 12.0% compared with 2021 to $16.7 billion in 2022; on a per establishment basis, gross surplus increased by 14.9% compared with 2021 to $2.6 million in 2022. Gross surplus accounted for 7.7% of total receipts of this sector in 2022, up by 0.9 percentage point compared with 2021.
 
     Industry value added of the manufacturing sector, which is a measure of its contribution to Hong Kong’s Gross Domestic Product, increased by 4.0% compared with 2021 to $35.3 billion in 2022; on a per establishment basis, the industry value added was $5.5 million in 2022, which increased by 6.8% compared with 2021.
 
     According to the survey results, it was estimated that the manufacturing sector comprised some 6 500 establishments and engaged about 77 400 persons, or an average of 12.0 persons per establishment in 2022.
 
     Within the manufacturing sector, the four largest industry groupings in terms of industry value added in 2022 were (1) food, beverages and tobacco, (2) metal products, machinery and equipment, (3) chemicals, rubber, plastics and non-metallic mineral products, and (4) paper products, printing and reproduction of recorded media. They together accounted for 87.2% of the industry value added of the manufacturing sector.
 
     In the food, beverages and tobacco industry, total receipts amounted to $44.2 billion while operating expenses and compensation of employees totalled $37.2 billion in 2022. Gross surplus amounted to $6.9 billion, accounting for 15.7% of total receipts in 2022. Industry value added decreased by 1.7% compared with 2021 to $12.1 billion.
 
     In the metal products, machinery and equipment industry, total receipts amounted to $118.8 billion while operating expenses and compensation of employees totalled $115.2 billion in 2022. Gross surplus amounted to $3.6 billion, accounting for 3.0% of total receipts in 2022. Industry value added increased by 18.0% compared with 2021 to $9.5 billion.
 
     In the chemicals, rubber, plastics and non-metallic mineral products industry, total receipts amounted to $25.8 billion while operating expenses and compensation of employees totalled $22.1 billion in 2022. Gross surplus amounted to $3.8 billion, accounting for 14.6% of total receipts in 2022. Industry value added increased by 4.2% compared with 2021 to $5.9 billion.
 
     In the paper products, printing and reproduction of recorded media industry, total receipts amounted to $10.3 billion while operating expenses and compensation of employees totalled $9.3 billion in 2022. Gross surplus amounted to $1.0 billion, accounting for 9.6% of total receipts in 2022. Industry value added decreased by 1.6% compared with 2021 to $3.3 billion.
 
     In addition to manufacturing establishments, the industrial sector also includes establishments engaged in mining and quarrying; electricity and gas supply; and sewerage, waste management and remediation activities. Selected statistics for the industrial sector (except mining and quarrying) in 2022 are shown in the attached table.
 
     More detailed survey results on the industrial sector will be given in the report “Key Statistics on Business Performance and Operating Characteristics of the Industrial Sector in 2022”. Users can browse and download this report at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/EIndexbySubject.html?pcode=B1080012&scode=310) as from end-December 2023.
 
     For enquiries about the key statistics on business performance and operating characteristics of the industrial sector, please contact the Industrial Production Statistics Section of the C&SD (Tel: 3903 7246; email: manufacturing@censtatd.gov.hk). read more