Tag Archives: China

     Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK) today (October 18) unveiled details of Hong Kong FinTech Week 2023 (HKFW). The eighth edition of HKFW, themed “Fintech Redefined.” will take place from October 30 to November 5. This flagship event lies at the core of global fintech innovations and aims to shape the future of fintech across various dimensions of financial services and beyond.

Gathering global leaders at the forefront of innovation, technology, and finance
 
     Organised by the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) and InvestHK, and co-organised by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and the Insurance Authority (IA), HKFW is set to attract more than 30 000 attendees and garner over 5 million online views from more than 90 economies.
 
     Over 300 distinguished speakers and 540 exhibitors are expected to join the main physical conference taking place between November 2 and 3 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.
 
     This year’s conference will bring together global leaders and world-leading fintech innovations to explore the future development of fintech through six key themes – global regulations and focuses such as sustainable and green finance; funding and venture capital as well as family office investments; exploring the realms of artificial intelligence (AI), Web3 and emerging frontiers; unveiling the latest opportunities within the dynamic Greater Bay Area; Hong Kong’s innovation journey; and business showcases.
 
     The Acting Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Joseph Chan, said, “Hong Kong’s fintech industry is entering a new era, where it is no longer solely about technology but also its real-life application. We are excited to witness this transformation and its impact on the financial ecosystem. The upcoming HKFW 2023, with its theme ‘Fintech Redefined.’, will serve as a remarkable platform to showcase pioneering advancements and opportunities in the industry, demonstrating how the real-life applications of fintech can improve financial inclusion, enhance customer experience and drive sustainable growth.”
 
New models, rules and value creation
 
     Various captivating metaverse experiences will also feature at this year’s conference, presenting cutting-edge technologies under immersive and educational engagements. The experiences will also demonstrate the possibilities of the metaverse in connecting business and promoting Hong Kong culture through virtual games and augmented and virtual reality devices.
 
     In addition, the cross-boundary Greater Bay Area Day will be resumed on October 31, presenting ample opportunities and synergies between Hong Kong and Shenzhen. A full day forum will be organised in Shenzhen, followed by a series of concurrent company tours to Mainland tech giants.
 
     There will be dedicated spaces such as the Investor Lounge, Venture Stage, workshops and events specifically designed for investors. Additionally, InvestHK is excited to introduce the Women in Tech Lounge, a unique space with special workshops, panels, and networking events tailored to empower and connect women in the tech industry.
 
     The Acting Director-General of Investment Promotion of InvestHK, Dr Jimmy Chiang, said, “Hong Kong FinTech Week is the ultimate gathering for anyone eager to explore the frontiers of finance and technology, and witness the deepening collaborations within our thriving ecosystem as well as exciting convergence across diverse industries. Continuously pushing the boundaries of excellence, we are thrilled to have HKFW as an anchor event of VIVA HONG KONG, a remarkable lineup of financial, tech, Web3 and cultural events from the end of October to November, bringing together industry leaders, innovators, and startups from around the world to be part of the dynamic momentum reinforcing Hong Kong’s status as Asia’s World City, financial centre and fintech hub.”
 
     InvestHK will also host the much anticipated grand finale of the Global Scaleup Competition. The event will feature 13 finalists carefully selected by a panel of 50 international judges, including investors who collectively manage over US$54 billion in assets. This event is part of the broader Global Fast Track 2023 programme, which aims to foster connections between fintech firms, corporate clients, investors, and industry partners. This year, the program received an overwhelming response, with over 500 applications from 63 economies worldwide, setting a new record.  
 
List of esteemed speakers at the main conference:
 
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and regulators:
 

• The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee;
• The Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan;
• The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui;
• The Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, Professor Sun Dong;
• The Acting Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Dr Bernard Chan;
• The Chief Executive of the HKMA, Mr Eddie Yue;
• The Chief Executive Officer of the SFC, Ms Julia Leung;
• The Chief Executive Officer of the IA, Mr Clement Cheung;
• The Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Joseph Chan;
• The Director-General of Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises, Mr Philip Yung; and
• The Acting Director-General of Investment Promotion of InvestHK, Dr Jimmy Chiang.

 
Mainland Government and regulators:
 

• The Director of the Guangzhou Municipal Local Financial Supervision and Administration, Mr Qiu Yitong;
• The Director of the Shenzhen Municipal Financial Regulatory Bureau, Mr He Jie;
• The senior representative of the Shanghai Stock Exchange; and
• The senior representative of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

 
Industry leaders:
 

• The Chief Executive Officer of Citi Hong Kong & Macau, Ms Aveline San;
• The Group Chief Executive of Standard Chartered PLC, Mr Bill Winters;
• The Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Coinbase, Mr Brian Armstrong;
• The Chairman of Longling Capital, Mr Cai Wensheng;
• The Chief Executive Officer of Yuga Labs, Mr Daniel Alegre;
• The Global Head of Christie’s Ventures, Mr Devang Thakkar;
• The Chairman of Wanxiang Blockchain and HashKey Group, Dr Xiao Feng;
• Corporate Vice President of Tencent, Head of Tencent Financial Technology, Mr Forest Lin;
• The Chief Economist of Circle International Financial, Mr Gordon Liao;
• The Chief Executive Officer of J P Morgan Hong Kong and Head of Strategy Asia Pacific, Ms Harshika Patel;
• The Vice President and Chief Information Officer of WeBank, Mr Henry Ma;
• The Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Crypto.com, Mr Kris Marszalek;
• The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sinovation Ventures and the President of Sinovation Ventures Artificial Intelligence Institute, Dr Lee Kai-fu;
• The Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of General Catalyst, Mr Hemant Taneja;
• Partner of Qiming Venture Partners, Mr Kuantai Yeh;
• The Chairman of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd, Mrs Laura Cha;
• Founding Partner of Hillhouse Capital, Mr Luke Li;
• The Managing Member of The Department of XYZ and the Board Director of Gemini, Mr Matthew Homer;
• The Global Partner of Fosun, the Co-Chairman of the board and the Chief Executive Officer of Fosun Capital, Mr Mike Xu;
• The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ledger, Mr Pascal Gauthier;   
• The Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of The Sandbox, Mr Sebastien Borget;
• The Co-founder and Executive Chairman of Animoca Brands, Mr Siu Yat;
• The Chief Executive of Bank of China (Hong Kong), Mr Sun Yu;
• The Global Head of Product of Wise, Mr Surendra Chaplot;
• The Group Executive of the HSBC Group and Co-Chief Executive of HSBC Asia-Pacific, Mr Surendra Rosha;
• The Co-founder of Chainlink, Mr Sergey Nazarov;
• The Chief Executive Officer of Onyx by J P Morgan and the Global Head of Financial Institution Payments, Mr Umar Farooq; and
• The Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Digital Asset, Mr Yuval Rooz.

 
     HKFW will also include a series of fantastic events under VIVA HONG KONG featuring a diverse range of financial, tech, Web3 and cultural events throughout the city such as ApeFest Hong Kong, the Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit and the StartmeupHK Festival. More information of VIVA HONG KONG can be found at www.fintechweek.hk/viva-hk.
 
     Selected keynote sessions will be live-streamed via the official HKFW app and YouTube channel, as well as several metaverses including in Mainland China.
 
     Further information can be found at www.fintechweek.hk, or follow via official social media accounts:
LinkedIn: Hong Kong Fintech Week
YouTube: www.youtube.com/c/HongKongFinTechWeek

About Hong Kong FinTech Week
     Hong Kong FinTech Week 2023, organised by the FSTB and InvestHK, and co-organised by the HKMA, the SFC and the IA, is Asia’s global financial technology event for scaling new heights. It is expected to host over 300 speakers, 540 sponsors and exhibitors, welcoming over 30,000 attendees and attracting over 5 million views from over 90 economies to the event. The week-long event will feature multitrack conferences with prominent speakers, exhibitions, a deal floor, workshops, networking and satellite events, demo sessions and metaverse experiences.

About InvestHK
     InvestHK is the department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government responsible for attracting foreign direct investment. It has set up a dedicated fintech team in Hong Kong to attract the world’s top innovative fintech enterprises, start-up entrepreneurs, investors, and other stakeholders to set up and scale their business via Hong Kong into Mainland China, Asia, and beyond. For more information, please visit www.hongkong-fintech.hk. read more

     Following is a question by the Hon Frankie Yick and a reply by the Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Mr Lam Sai-hung, in the Legislative Council today (October 18):   Question:       … read more

     The Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene has ordered a general restaurant in Tokwawan to suspend business for 14 days, as the operator repeatedly breached the Food Business Regulation (FBR) by changing the type of fuel used for its heating equipment without permission.
      
     The restaurant, located on the ground floor of 86C and 86D Lok Shan Road, was ordered to suspend business from today (October 18) to October 31.
      
     “Two convictions for the above-mentioned breach were recorded against the shop last December and this June. A total fine of $4,000 was levied by the court and 15 demerit points were registered against the licensee under the department’s demerit points system. The contraventions resulted in the 14-day licence suspension,” a spokesman for the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) said.
      
     The licensee of the restaurant had a record of two convictions for the same offence in July and November last year. A total fine of $2,600 was levied and 15 demerit points were also registered, leading to a seven-day licence suspension during January and February this year.
      
     The spokesman reminded the licensees of food premises to comply with the FBR and other relevant regulations, or their licences could be suspended or cancelled.
      
     Licensed food premises are required to exhibit a sign, at a conspicuous place near the main entrance, indicating that the premises have been licensed. A list of licensed food premises is available on the FEHD’s website (www.fehd.gov.hk/english/licensing/index.html). read more

     Following is a question by Dr the Hon Wendy Hong and a written reply by the Secretary for Housing, Ms Winnie Ho, in the Legislative Council today (October 18):
      
Question:

     According to the 2021 Population Census, over 100 000 households lived in subdivided units (SDUs) in Hong Kong, and the Report of the Task Force for the Study on Tenancy Control of SDUs published by the Transport and Housing Bureau in March 2021 revealed that nearly 50 per cent of SDU households had not applied for public rental housing (PRH). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) whether it has compiled statistics on the current number and percentage of sandwich class households with household income exceeding the income limit for PRH among the SDU households who have not applied for PRH;

(2) whether it has compiled statistics on the current number and percentage of households having household members who are non‍-‍Hong Kong residents (including Mainland residents holding Exit-entry Permits for Travelling to and from Hong Kong and Macao as well as non-refoulement claimants) among the SDU households who have not applied for PRH;

(3) whether it has compiled statistics on (i) the number of sandwich class households with household income exceeding the income limit for PRH, and (ii) the number of households having household members who were non-Hong Kong residents mentioned in (2), among the households living in SDUs between 2016 and 2021, as well as their respective percentages in the SDU households who had not applied for PRH; and

(4) whether it has studied if, apart from the aforesaid reasons, there are other reasons why SDU households have not applied for PRH, together with the numbers and percentages of such households by reason?
      
Reply:
      
President,
      
     The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government has all along been paying attention to the housing needs of those who are inadequately housed. We are taking forward a series of measures, including the provision of about 20 000 transitional housing units and construction of about 30 000 Light Public Housing units, so as to provide more housing options for people who are currently inadequately housed, including those living in subdivided units (SDUs), to improve their living environment.
      
     Having consulted the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD), the reply to various parts of the question raised by Dr the Hon Wendy Hong is as follows:
      
(1) to (3) According to thematic reports on persons living in SDUs in C&SD’s 2021 Population Census and 2016 Population Bi-census, there were about 108 000 and 93 000 SDUs in Hong Kong in 2021 and 2016 respectively, accommodating about 216 000 and 210 000 persons. The relevant information reflecting the situation in 2021 is as follows:
      
(i) The median monthly household income of households living in SDUs was $15,310, which was 13.4 per cent higher than $13,500 in 2016. Among households living in SDUs, the monthly household income of 22.0 per cent (about 24 000 households) was below $10,000, similar to that in 2016 (23.7 per cent; about 22 000 households); that of 24.5 per cent (about 26 000 households) was $10,000 – $14,999, significantly fewer than that in 2016 (35.6 per cent; about 33 000 households); that of 19.4 per cent (about 21 000 households) was $15,000 – $19,999, also fewer than that in 2016 (26.1 per cent; about 24 000 households); and that of 34.2 per cent (about 37 000 households) was $20,000 and above, significantly more than that in 2016 (14.6 per cent; about 13 000 households);
      
(ii) Among persons living in SDUs, the majority was Chinese (87.6 per cent; about 188 000 persons), followed by South Asians (6.3 per cent; about 13 000 persons) and Filipinos (2.0 per cent; about 4 200 persons), largely similar to the situation in 2016; and
      
(iii) About one-fifth (21.2 per cent; about 23 000 households) of households living in SDUs had at least one household member from the Mainland having resided in Hong Kong for less than seven years, fewer than that in 2016 (25.6 per cent; about 24 000 households).
      
     It is the objective of the Hong Kong Housing Authority to provide housing to low-income families who cannot afford to rent private accommodation. Households with income and assets below the prescribed limits are deemed to be low-income families who are unable to afford renting private accommodation, and hence are eligible to apply for public rental housing (PRH). The limits are assessed annually to keep them in line with the prevailing socio-economic circumstances. The income and asset limits for PRH application vary in accordance with the family size. The relevant details are at Annex. As the Government does not keep income information of SDU households by household size, the number of SDU households with household income exceeding the income limit of PRH application is not available. Furthermore, the Government does not keep information on the income of SDU households which have not applied for PRH and whether the relevant persons are Hong Kong residents.
      
(4) Persons living in SDUs may decide not to apply, or have not applied, for PRH with their own considerations or due to different reasons (including transportation and geographical location). Besides, PRH applicants must not own or co-own any domestic property in Hong Kong; while persons who are not granted the right to land in Hong Kong (e.g. Mainland residents holding Exit-entry Permits for Travelling to and from Hong Kong and Macao as well as non-refoulement claimants) cannot be included in PRH applications either. Hence, when handling the SDU issue, the HKSAR Government has to carefully consider the impacts brought by relevant measures and formulate follow-up arrangement, so as to avoid displacing some SDU households who are not eligible for PRH to accommodation with higher rents, or even rendering them homeless. read more

     Following is the speech (translated from Chinese) by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, in presenting the Government Minute in response to Report No. 80 of the Public Accounts Committee in the Legislative Council today (October 18):
 
President,
 
      Laid on the table today is the Government Minute (GM) responding to Report No. 80 of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) presented to the Legislative Council on  July 12, 2023.
 
     I welcome the Report of the PAC and am grateful for the time and efforts devoted by the Chairman of the PAC, the Hon Shiu Ka-fai, and members of the PAC. The Government accepts the PAC’s various recommendations and sets out in detail in the GM the specific responses of the relevant bureaux and departments. The PAC has conducted public hearings on the chapter on “Maintenance and improvement of school premises for aided schools” in the Director of Audit’s Report No. 80. I would like to highlight the key measures taken and progress made by the Government and relevant organisations in response to the recommendations.
 
     As noted by the PAC, the Audit Commission examined the works carried out from 2020 to 2022, during which the daily operation of schools, including the maintenance and repair works in school premises, was greatly affected by the epidemic. The related works quality monitoring work was also delayed in certain months. As schools were closed intermittently, government staff and contractors could not enter the school premises to work. In addition, various anti-epidemic measures resulted in serious shortage of works personnel. This notwithstanding, the Education Bureau (EDB) endeavoured to maintain all necessary Emergency Repairs (ER) works and implemented improvement programmes in response to the anti-epidemic needs. Upon the easing of the epidemic, the EDB immediately caught up with the progress and, in some cases, went beyond the target. We are grateful for the recommendations of the Audit Commission and the PAC, which enable the EDB to further improve the mechanism so as to better assist schools in improving the learning and teaching environment.
 
     As regards contract management, the EDB has completed a series of computer system enhancements to carry out the relevant work more effectively, including selection of Works Orders (WOs) for various types of audits, reminding Term Consultants (TCs) to submit replies to audit cases, reminding the TCs to certify completion of the WOs, and recording detailed justifications for approval of repair applications. In addition, the EDB has strengthened existing guidelines or issued new guidance notes to assist the TCs in handling repair applications from schools and improving the quality of various repair reports.
 
     Currently, all schools comply with the requirements of the National Flag and National Emblem Ordinance, as well as the requirements related to the display of the national flag and conduct of national flag raising ceremonies as set out in the EDB circular. The EDB pays great attention to the status of flagpoles on school premises. If a flagpole is so damaged that it cannot operate, the EDB will handle it without delay. The EDB updated the guidelines in May and July 2023, clearly requiring the TCs and schools to handle the repair works of flagpoles that are not in normal operation through the ER. The EDB will continue to examine the technical feasibility for schools that intend to install additional flagpoles and carry out the works for them wherever feasible.
 
     The Government attaches great importance to the fact that there are still asbestos-containing materials (ACMs) in the building components in a small number of school buildings. The EDB launched a time-limited Asbestos Management Plan for School Premises in 2006 to engage professionals to remove the building components containing asbestos for schools in Hong Kong in accordance with the methods approved by the Environmental Protection Department (EPD). Such removal works were completed for more than 570 schools in Hong Kong. However, some schools indicated that as the remaining ACMs were concealed under the floor, the removal works would affect school operation. Professional assessment also confirmed that such ACMs would not pose danger to school users. The schools thus chose to remove the ACMs together with other works items during Major Repairs (MR) works. The EDB liaised closely with these schools and appointed professionals for the schools to closely monitor the building components with the ACMs in accordance with the EPD guidelines. The latest regular inspection completed in February this year confirmed that all building components with the ACMs were in good condition and would not pose safety hazard. With the co-ordination of the EDB, the remaining 11 schools have submitted applications for removing the building components with the ACMs through the 2024-2025 MR or ER mechanism. The EDB will continue to maintain close liaison with these schools to ensure that the required works will be completed in good time.
 
     As for the thresholds for the minimum repair cost for applications by aided schools, the EDB has commenced the review and aims to complete it within the 2023/24 school year.
 
     President, I would like to thank the PAC again for its efforts and suggestions. The bureaux and departments concerned will strictly adhere to their responses and implement the improvement measures set out in the GM.
 
     Thank you, President. read more