Tag Archives: China

     The Transport Department (TD) today (October 25) announced that auction of personalised vehicle registration marks (PVRMs) will be held on November 12 (Sunday) at Meeting Room N201, L2, New Wing, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Wan Chai.
      
     “A total of 240 approved PVRMs will be put up for public auction. A list of the marks has been uploaded to the department’s website, www.td.gov.hk/en/public_services/vehicle_registration_mark/index.html,” a department spokesman said.
      
     The reserve price of each of these marks is $5,000. Applicants who have paid a deposit of $5,000 should also participate in the bidding (including the first bid at the reserve price). Otherwise, the PVRM concerned may be sold to another bidder at the reserve price.
      
     People who wish to participate in the bidding at the auction should take note of the following points:
      
(1) Bidders are required to produce the following documents for completion of registration and payment procedures immediately after successful bidding:
      
(i) the identity document of the successful bidder;
(ii) the identity document of the purchaser (if the purchaser and the successful bidder are different persons);
(iii) a copy of the Certificate of Incorporation (if the purchaser is a body corporate); and
(iv) a crossed cheque made payable to “The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region” or “The Government of the HKSAR”. For an auctioned mark paid for by cheque, the first three working days after the date of auction will be required for cheque clearance confirmation before processing of the application for mark assignment can be completed. Successful bidders may also pay through the Easy Pay System (EPS), but are reminded to note the maximum transfer amount in the same day of the payment card. Payment by post-dated cheque, cash, credit card or other methods will not be accepted.
      
(2) Purchasers must make payment of the purchase price through EPS or by crossed cheque and complete the Memorandum of Sale of PVRM immediately after the bidding. Subsequent alteration of the particulars in the Memorandum will not be permitted.
      
(3) A PVRM can only be assigned to a motor vehicle which is registered in the name of the purchaser. The Certificate of Incorporation must be produced immediately by the purchaser if a vehicle registration mark purchased is to be registered under the name of a body corporate.
      
(4) The display of a PVRM on a motor vehicle should be in compliance with the requirements stipulated in Schedule 4 of the Road Traffic (Registration and Licensing of Vehicles) Regulations.
      
(5) Any change to the arrangement of letters, numerals and blank spaces of a PVRM, i.e. single and two rows as auctioned, will not be allowed.
      
(6) The purchaser shall, within 12 months after the date of auction, apply to the Commissioner for Transport for the PVRM to be assigned to a motor vehicle registered in the name of the purchaser. If the purchaser fails to assign the PVRM within 12 months, allocation of the PVRM will be cancelled and arranged for re-allocation in accordance with the statutory provision without prior notice to the purchaser.
      
     “Upon completion of the Memorandum of Sale of PVRM, the purchaser will be issued a receipt and a Certificate of Allocation of Personalised Registration Mark. The Certificate of Allocation will serve to prove the holdership of the PVRM. Potential buyers of vehicles bearing a PVRM should check the Certificate of Allocation with the sellers and pay attention to the details therein. For transfer of vehicle ownership, this certificate together with other required documents should be sent to the TD for processing,” the spokesman added.
      
     For other auction details, please refer to the Guidance Notes – Auction of PVRM, which is available at the department’s licensing offices or can be downloaded from its website, www.td.gov.hk/en/public_services/vehicle_registration_mark/pvrm_auction/index.html. read more

     The flag presentation ceremony for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Delegation to the 1st National Student (Youth) Games (NSYG) was held at Ma On Shan Sports Centre, Sha Tin today (October 25).
      
     The Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Chef de Mission of the Delegation, Mr Kevin Yeung, officiated at the ceremony and presented the HKSAR regional flag to the President of the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China and the Chairman of the Organising Committee of the Delegation, Mr Timothy Fok.
      
     Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Yeung said the Government is committed to promoting the development of sports and vigorously nurturing young athletes by supporting and encouraging them to take part in various major sports events for enhancing their performance level. Hong Kong’s young athletes have attained remarkable achievements at various international competitions in recent years, in particular at the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou, where many medal winners were young athletes and achieved an encouraging result.
      
     Jointly organised by the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, the General Administration of Sport of China and the Communist Youth League of China, the 1st NSYG will be held in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, from November 5 to 15. The NSYG, merged from the National Student Sports Games and the National Youth Games, aims to facilitate interactions and exchanges among young athletes in sports to raise the level of competition and performance of sports, as well as identify potential athletes.
      
     The Delegation will send a total of 720 athletes to take part in the finals of 34 sports of the Games, including the School Category of athletics, swimming, table tennis, badminton, cheerleading, wushu and shuttlecock; and the Open Category of cycling, fencing, triathlon, equestrian, sailing, rowing, judo, handball, taekwondo, athletics, swimming (swimming, diving, artistic swimming, water polo), gymnastics (artistic gymnastics and rhythmic gymnastics), golf, football, basketball (basketball and 3-on-3 basketball), volleyball (volleyball and beach volleyball), table tennis, badminton, tennis, sport climbing, breaking, baseball/softball, wushu (taolu), finswimming, modern pentathlon, acrobatic gymnastics and roller sports.

     Also attending the ceremony today were the Permanent Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism and Honorary Adviser of the Delegation, Mr Joe Wong; the Permanent Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs and Honorary Adviser of the Delegation, Ms Shirley Lam; the Director of Leisure and Cultural Services and Deputy De Mission of the Delegation, Mr Vincent Liu; the Commissioner for Sports and member of the Organising Committee of the Delegation, Mr Sam Wong; and the Chairman of Elite Sports Committee, Mr Cheng King-leung.
      
     For the latest information of Hong Kong athletes participating in the Games and the NSYG, please visit the LCSD’s dedicated webpage (www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/nsyg/2023/index.html).

    

     Hong Kong Customs yesterday (October 24) detected two drug trafficking case involving internal concealment and baggage concealment respectively at Hong Kong International Airport. About 826 grams of suspected cocaine and about 7 kilograms of suspected heroin were seized with a total estimated market value of about $7 million.
      
     The first case involved a 50-year-old male passenger who arrived in Hong Kong from Sao Paulo, Brazil, via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, yesterday. During customs clearance, Customs officers found him to be suspicious and suspected that he had dangerous drugs concealed inside his body cavity. He was then escorted to the hospital for examination.

     Upon examination, the man was confirmed by a doctor to have foreign objects concealed inside his body cavity. He was arrested immediately. As at 3pm today (October 25), the arrested man has excreted 59 pellets of suspected cocaine weighing about 826g in total.
      
     The second case involved three local men, aged between 24 and 28. The first arrested man arrived in Hong Kong from Bangkok, Thailand, yesterday. During customs clearance, about 7kg of suspected heroin were found concealed inside his check-in baggage. The man was subsequently arrested. 
      
     After a follow-up investigation, two local men suspected to be connected with the case were arrested at the airport last night.
      
     Investigations of both cases are ongoing.
      
     Following the resumption of normal travel and exchanges with the Mainland and other parts of the world, the number of visitors to Hong Kong has also been increasing steadily. Customs will continue to apply a risk assessment approach and focus on selecting passengers from high-risk regions for clearance to combat transnational drug trafficking activities.
      
     Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, trafficking in a dangerous drug is a serious offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $5 million and life imprisonment.
      
     Members of the public may report any suspected drug trafficking 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/).

    

     As announced in the 2023 Policy Address, the Government would adjust the demand-side management measures (DSMMs) for residential properties with effect from October 25, 2023 (i.e. the 2023 Policy Address date):
 
(i) shorten the applicable period of the Special Stamp Duty (SSD) from three years to two years. In other words, if a property owner disposes of his/her property two years after acquisition, he/she will no longer need to pay the SSD, which amounts to 10 per cent of the property price; 

(ii) reduce the respective rates of the Buyer’s Stamp Duty (BSD) and the New Residential Stamp Duty (NRSD) by half, from 15 per cent to 7.5 per cent; and 

(iii) introduce a stamp duty suspension arrangement for incoming talents acquisition of residential properties, which is an enhancement of the stamp duty refund arrangement introduced last year for incoming talents. Under the suspension mechanism, an eligible incoming talent who purchases a residential property in Hong Kong on or after October 25, 2023, may apply for suspension of stamp duty payment in respect of the BSD and the NRSD. The talent still has to pay the ad valorem stamp duty at Scale 2 rates. Upon the Inland Revenue Department (IRD)’s approval of the application for suspension, a statutory charge will be constituted in favour of the Collector of Stamp Revenue (Collector) automatically by law. After the incoming talent becomes a Hong Kong permanent resident (HKPR), he/she can submit an application for waiver to the IRD for waiving the relevant stamp duty payment. Upon the IRD’s approval of the relevant application, the IRD will issue a certificate of discharge which has the effect of discharging the charge in favour of the Collector. 

     A Government spokesman said, “The Government has been adopting a pragmatic approach in continuously evaluating the residential property market situation. The prevailing market conditions as well as the demand-supply balance have changed substantially compared with when the DSMMs were introduced. The Government hence sees room for suitable adjustment of the DSMMs.”
 
     “A relaxation of the SSD may reduce the financial burden on home owners who have need to sell their flats after the holding period of two years. The relaxation may also boost market turnover of residential properties by releasing the ‘locked-up’ housing stock, and increase the housing units available for sale in the secondary market for homebuyers. Adjustment of the BSD and the NRSD will help alleviate the financial burden on HKPRs who already own residential properties in their acquisition of another residential property, as well as reduce the costs of non-HKPRs in their acquisition of residential properties. Meanwhile, the suspension mechanism will help further attract and retain talents from around the world by reducing their upfront cost of property purchase. The Government will continue to closely monitor the property market to ensure its healthy and steady development”, the Government spokesman added.
 
     The aforementioned adjustments of the DSMMs will be implemented through the Stamp Duty (Amendment) (Residential Properties) Bill 2023 (the Bill). The Chief Executive has made the Public Revenue Protection (Stamp Duty) (No. 2) Order 2023 (the Order) by exercising his statutory powers to give full force and effect of law to the Bill so long as the Order remains in force. The Order and the Bill will be published in the Gazette today (October 25) and on October 27 respectively, and introduced into the Legislative Council on November 8. read more

     The Transport Department (TD) today (October 25) announced that the auction of traditional vehicle registration marks will be held on November 11 (Saturday) in Meeting Room N201, L2, New Wing, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Wan Chai.

     “A total of 340 vehicle registration marks will be put up for public auction. Since the auction of traditional vehicle registration marks in the afternoon of October 8 (Sunday) was cancelled due to adverse weather, the traditional vehicle registration marks originally planned to be put up for auction in that session has been rescheduled to be put up for auction in the afternoon of November 11 (Saturday). The list of marks has been uploaded to the department’s website, www.td.gov.hk/en/public_services/vehicle_registration_mark/index.html,” a department spokesman said.

     Applicants who have paid a deposit of $1,000 to reserve a mark for auction should also participate in the bidding (including the first bid at the reserve price of $1,000). Otherwise, the mark concerned may be sold to another bidder at the reserve price.
            
     People who wish to participate in the bidding at the auction should take note of the following important points:

     (1) Successful bidders are required to produce the following documents for completion of registration and payment procedures immediately after the successful bidding:
     (i) the identity document of the successful bidder;
     (ii) the identity document of the purchaser if it is different from the successful bidder;
     (iii) a copy of the Certificate of Incorporation if the purchaser is a body corporate; and
     (iv) a crossed cheque made payable to “The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region” or “The Government of the HKSAR”. (For an auctioned mark paid for by cheque, the first three working days after the date of auction will be required for cheque clearance confirmation before processing of the application for mark assignment can be completed.) Successful bidders can also pay through the Easy Pay System (EPS). Payment by post-dated cheques, cash or other methods will not be accepted.

     (2) Purchasers must make payment of the purchase price through EPS or by crossed cheque and complete the Memorandum of Sale of Registration Mark immediately after the bidding. Subsequent alteration of the particulars in the memorandum will not be permitted.

     (3) A vehicle registration mark can only be assigned to a motor vehicle which is registered in the name of the purchaser. The Certificate of Incorporation must be produced immediately by the purchaser if a vehicle registration mark purchased is to be registered under the name of a body corporate.

     (4) Special registration marks are non-transferable. Where the ownership of a motor vehicle with a special registration mark is transferred, the allocation of the special registration mark shall be cancelled.

     (5) The purchaser shall, within 12 months after the date of auction, apply to the Commissioner for Transport for the registration mark to be assigned to a motor vehicle registered in the name of the purchaser. If the purchaser fails to assign the registration mark within 12 months, allocation of the mark will be cancelled and arranged for re-allocation in accordance with the statutory provision without prior notice to the purchaser.
            
     For other auction details, please refer to the Guidance Notes – Auction of Traditional Vehicle Registration Marks, which can be downloaded from the department’s website, www.td.gov.hk/en/public_services/vehicle_registration_mark/tvrm_auction/index.html. read more