Tag Archives: China

     â€‹A spokesman for the Security Bureau said today (December 4) that the Government will publish the Protection of Critical Infrastructures (Computer Systems) Bill in the Gazette on Friday (December 6) and introduce it into the Legislative Council for First Reading and Second Reading on December 11.
      
     The spokesman said, “Critical infrastructures are infrastructures that are necessary for the maintenance of normal functioning of society and the normal life of the people. The Bill seeks to impose statutory requirements on designated operators of critical infrastructures to ensure they take appropriate measures to protect their computer systems and minimise the chance of essential services being disrupted or compromised due to cyberattacks, thereby maintaining the normal functioning of Hong Kong society and the normal life of the people. This is conducive to enhancing overall computer-system security in Hong Kong.
      
     “The statutory obligations under the Bill are grouped into three categories, namely, organisational obligations, preventive obligations, and incident reporting and response obligations. Operators of critical infrastructures are required to set up dedicated management units to oversee their computer-system security, and take preventive measures to enhance their resilience against cyberattacks. When a computer-system security incident occurs, the operator shall report it to the Commissioner’s Office responsible for enforcing the Ordinance, and at the same time take its own response measures to restore the systems in accordance with the emergency response plan it submitted. The Commissioner’s Office may provide timely assistance and take remedial measures to contain the problem and minimise the chance of affecting other critical infrastructures, so as to maintain the normal operations in Hong Kong society and the normal life of the people.”
      
     The spokesman emphasised, “In drafting the Bill, reference has been made to relevant legislation of other jurisdictions to establish a regulatory model suitable for Hong Kong. The operators of critical infrastructures to be regulated will be those necessary for the continuous provision of essential services or maintaining critical societal and economic activities in Hong Kong, most of which are large organisations. Small and medium enterprises and the general public will not be regulated. The purpose of these statutory obligations to be imposed is to safeguard the security of the computer systems that are critical to the core functions of the critical infrastructure, and in no way target personal data and trade secrets.”
      
     The spokesman added, “The Security Bureau has started consulting various stakeholders since 2023 and has organised more than 30 consultation sessions so far. The Bureau also consulted the Panel on Security of the Legislative Council in July this year and launched a one-month consultation exercise. The Bureau reported the outcome of the consultation to the Panel on Security of the Legislative Council in October this year and incorporated the views received into the Bill as appropriate. On the whole, the stakeholders and society have responded positively to the legislation.” read more

     Following is a question by the Hon Chau Siu-chung and a written reply by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui, in the Legislative Council today (December 4):
 
Question:
 
     It is learnt that the eMPF Platform (the Platform) formally came into operation on June 26 this year. Regarding the operation of the Platform, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) whether it knows the following information about the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) trustees who have joined the Platform: the respective numbers of (a) members of the MPF schemes under their management (including (i) employees and (ii) self-employed persons) and (b) participating employers (including (i) large enterprises or organisations and (ii) small and medium enterprises), and (c) MPF accounts;

(2) whether it knows the number of transactions and administrative instructions processed under the Platform since the commencement of the Platform, together with a breakdown by nature (including but not limited to (a) contributions, (b) changes in investment portfolios, and (c) withdrawal of MPF benefits);

(3) whether it knows the following information about the eMPF Customer Service Hotline and eMPF Contribution Inquiry Hotline respectively: the number of service hotlines/inquiry hotlines, the number of staff dedicated to answering the service hotlines/inquiry hotlines, the average number of inquiries handled per day and the average waiting time for incoming calls;

(4) as it has been reported that some users of the Platform have relayed the situations such as the failure to display the MPF contribution records in their accounts, whether the authorities know the respective numbers of (a) inquiries and (b) complaints received by the company responsible for operating the Platform in respect of the Platform’s operation, and set out in the table below a breakdown by (i) type of inquirers or complainants (i.e. (A) MPF scheme members and (B) participating employers) and (ii) nature of cases (such as failure to display contribution records); among such complaints received, of the number of cases which had been handled and its percentage, as well as the average time taken for handling each of the cases;
 

Inquiries/complaints received	(i)	(ii)	Number of cases
(a)	(A)	Failure to display contribution records
		……
	(B)	Failure to display contribution records
		……
Total
(b)	(A)	Failure to display contribution records
		……
	(B)	Failure to display contribution records
		……
Total

 
(5) whether it knows if the company responsible for operating the Platform and the project contractor of the Platform have, since the commissioning of the Platform, examined and discovered loopholes in the system of the Platform that affect users’ experience in using the platform; if they have, of the details, including the nature of the loopholes and the follow-up work concerned; whether the Government knows if the company responsible for operating the platform has stepped up efforts in publicity and promotion among employees, self-employed persons and employers, so as to enhance the knowledge of more relevant stakeholders about the use of the Platform; if the company has, of the details; and

(6) given that in the reply to my question on March 15 last year, the authorities indicated that the initiative of paying MPF contributions for employees and self-employed persons exempted from making MPF contributions due to low income would be implemented after the full operation of the Platform, and it is learnt that the Platform is expected to come into full operation within next year, of the Government’s measures in place to ensure that the Platform can come into full operation as scheduled for the smooth implementation of the aforesaid initiative of making MPF contributions on behalf of employees and self-employed persons?

Reply:
 
President,
 
     In consultation with the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA) and the Labour and Welfare Bureau (LWB), our reply to the six parts of the question is as follows.
 
(1) As at end-November this year, five “early adopters” and the five Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) schemes under their administration, involving a total of about 7 900 employer accounts and about 262 000 scheme member accounts (including employees and self-employed persons), have onboarded to the eMPF Platform successfully. On average, there were about 33 scheme member accounts under each employer account. These employers, employees and self-employed persons will gradually register for the eMPF Platform and set up accounts to utilise the one-stop electronic MPF management services offered by the Platform.
 
(2) As at end-November this year, the eMPF Platform already processed over 103 000 administrative instructions, with details as follows:
 

Category	Number of administrative         instructions processed       (Rounded to the nearest                            hundred)
Enrollment in MPF schemes	11 400
Making MPF contributions	50 000
Transfer of MPF accrued benefits	6 200
Change of account information and user particulars	7 300
Change of investment portfolios	19 800
Withdrawal of MPF accrued benefits	800
Termination of MPF accounts	7 600
Offsetting of long service payment (LSP)/ severance payment (SP)	400
Total	103 500

 
(3) The eMPF customer service hotline (183 2622) launched on April 19 this year operates over 260 lines manned by 55 dedicated staff. As at end-November this year, the customer service hotline received a total of over 38 000 enquiries, and handled a daily average of over 400 enquiries with an average waiting time of about 10 seconds. The eMPF contribution enquiry hotline (3197 2834) launched in end-October this year operates 16 lines manned by six dedicated staff for enquiries from employers and employees regarding contributions. As at end-November this year, the contribution enquiry hotline received a total of about 400 enquiries, and handled a daily average of about 30 enquiries. The eMPF Platform Company Limited (eMPF Company) will continue to closely monitor the actual utilisation of the two hotlines, and will, on a need basis, request the contractor to ramp up its manpower resources to provide customer services of quality.
 
     Details of the 38 400 enquiries handled by the eMPF Platform as at end-November this year are as follows:
 

Category	Number of enquiries handled (Rounded to the nearest hundred)
eMPF registration	9 200
Enrollment in MPF schemes	1 800
Making MPF contributions	11 600
Transfer of MPF accrued benefits	1 100
Change of account information and user particulars	4 300
Change of investment portfolios	300
Withdrawal of MPF accrued benefits	2 700
Offsetting of LSP/ SP	700
Customer services	2 000
Others	4 800
Total	38 400

     Hotline enquiries were generally handled instantly. For written enquiries, the average processing time was about three to five working days, with longer processing time required for more complicated cases.
 
(4) As at end-November this year, details of received complaints concerning the eMPF Platform are as follows:
 

Category	Number of complaints received
	Employers	Scheme members
eMPF registration	27	26
Enrollment in MPF schemes	20	8
Making MPF contributions	89	53
Transfer of MPF accrued benefits	3	16
Change of account information and user particulars	2	8
Change of investment portfolios	Not applicable	17
Withdrawal of MPF accrued benefits	Not applicable	24
Offsetting of LSP/SP	3	2
Customer services	14	16
Others	8	8
Total	166	178
	344

 
     Over half of the complaints were already processed, with an average processing time of about 10 working days. Longer processing time was required for more complicated cases. eMPF Company has already instructed that the contractor must continue to refine the complaint handling mechanism. Measures already implemented include arranging dedicated customer service staff to follow up on cases and maintain close communication with complainants, and strengthening the liaison and co-ordination between the staff of the contractor and its sub-contractor, etc, so as to expedite the processing of complaint cases. MPFA and eMPF Company will continue to closely monitor the complaint handling mechanism of the eMPF Platform to ensure that scheme members’ MPF assets are fully protected.
 
(5) Prior to the official launch of the eMPF Platform, eMPF Company has not only requested the contractor to conduct numerous internal testing but also engaged an independent consultant to conduct an external assessment on the Platform to provide additional and objective assurance on system readiness for the commencement of trustee onboarding. Final results from the independent assessment indicated at that time that the Platform’s system attained readiness in terms of software development, testing and operation, and that MPF trustees could commence onboarding to the Platform in an orderly manner from end-June this year.
 
     Since the launch of the eMPF Platform in end-June this year, MPFA and eMPF Company have been continuously reviewing the Platform’s operation to ensure its robustness and reliability. As at end-November this year, the Platform has successfully processed over 103 000 administrative instructions. In response to the feedback from employers and scheme members on the user interface/user experience, the contractor has, at eMPF Company’s request, implemented a series of enhancement measures to improve service quality, including providing clearer guidelines on contributions on the Platform, shortening the default recordings of the customer service hotline, as well as refining the facial recognition software to simplify the eMPF Platform registration process under the premise of ensuring the safety of users’ personal data.
 
     eMPF Company is aware of the situation encountered by users at the initial stage of using the eMPF Platform to handle contributions and other administrative work, including cases where contributions were not timely reflected in scheme members’ account balance after contributions had been made by employers. Employers and scheme members may not be fully familiarised with the Platform’s functions, such as inputting incomplete information or not fully complying with the system requirements when making contributions, resulting in the contributions received not being immediately displayed on the user interface. eMPF Company has actively followed up on these cases and taken additional measures, including assigning dedicated officers to help the employers concerned to familiarise with the Platform’s specific operation as soon as possible.
 
     To prepare for the gradual onboarding of the remaining MPF trustees with larger sizes of assets-under-management (AUM) from early next year, MPFA and eMPF Company will set up standing user group to gauge feedback from employers and scheme members in a systematic manner on the user interface/user experience after their trial use, with a view to continuously improving the Platform’s services. At the same time, MPFA and eMPF Company are also devising online and offline publicity plans of large scale, and will continue to collaborate with different stakeholders, such as local groups, trade associations, labour groups, large enterprises, small and medium enterprises, and public bodies, etc, to publicise and promote the eMPF Platform to employers and scheme members, such that they will be familiarised with specific operation of the various functionalities of the Platform prior to onboarding.
 
(6) The eMPF Platform is a critical public financial infrastructure closely tied to the retirement protection of all Hong Kong people. The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) has been keeping a close eye on the Project progress and system quality, and has been monitoring the contractor’s performance and tendering advice on an ongoing basis through actively participating in the Board meetings of MPFA and eMPF Company. The two Boards comprise representatives from the FSTB and the LWB, members of the Legislative Council, employers’ and employees’ representatives, as well as professionals in different areas, including legal, accounting, finance and technology, etc. The FSTB will continue to work closely with MPFA and eMPF Company to oversee the contractor’s performance and Platform operation to ensure that scheme members’ MPF assets are fully protected. The FSTB will also continue to closely monitor the regular testing conducted by MPFA and eMPF Company on the eMPF Platform, and will continue to arrange the remaining trustees to onboard to the eMPF Platform in an orderly manner (in ascending order of their AUM size) having regard to the actual circumstances. The target remains to achieve full implementation of the Platform within 2025.
 
     The initiative of paying MPF contributions for low-income persons could only be implemented upon the full implementation of the eMPF Platform. Since this initiative will involve a gigantic number of eligible persons and MPF accounts, the LWB plans to engage a third-party consultant to conduct a detailed study, which will cover technical and actuarial assessments. The technical assessment aims to ensure that the implementation details of the relevant proposal are technically feasible and will not affect the long-term operation of the eMPF Platform, whereas the actuarial assessment will analyse and assess the sustainability of the initiative as well as the financial implications on the Government. The LWB will carefully consider the way forward upon completion of the consultancy study. read more

     The Education Bureau (EDB) today (December 4) announced that parents of Primary Six (P6) students participating in the current (2025) cycle of the Secondary School Places Allocation (SSPA) who wish to apply for Secondary One (S1) Discretionary Places (DP) in government, aided and caput secondary schools as well as Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) secondary schools participating in the SSPA System for their children have to submit the applications to the secondary schools concerned between January 2 and 16, 2025.

Digitalisation of SSPA
—————————-

     Parents who have registered as SSPA e-platform (eSSPA) (esspa.edb.gov.hk) users and bound their account to “iAM Smart+” may browse choice-making information starting from tomorrow (December 5), and submit DP applications and view application results via the eSSPA at a later stage. The EDB encourages parents to register with “iAM Smart+” (www.iamsmart.gov.hk/en/reg.html) as early as possible and activate their eSSPA account using “iAM Smart+” for more convenient and faster electronic services.

     To cater for the needs of different parents, paper application forms will continue to be accepted, and primary schools participating in the SSPA System have been informed to collect copies of the Application Forms for Secondary One Discretionary Places (application forms) and the Handbook for Application for Secondary One Discretionary Places (Handbook) tomorrow. Parents of P6 students will each receive two paper application forms from their children’s primary school. For students not studying in primary schools participating in the SSPA System (including newly arrived children and dependants under various talent admission schemes who are eligible for participating in the SSPA), their parents can obtain the application forms at the School Places Allocation (SPA) Section of the EDB.

Submission of S1 DP applications
——————————————-

     An EDB spokesman said, “Parents are encouraged to submit the application forms and other required documents to secondary schools via the eSSPA. If parents prefer submitting paper application forms and other necessary documents in person, they should note the school office hours.”

     The two electronic or paper application forms that parents will receive will show Order of School Preference 1 and School Preference 2 respectively. Order of School Preference 1 stands for the student’s first-choice school and Order of School Preference 2 stands for the student’s second-choice school. In all circumstances, primary and secondary schools should not request students or parents to disclose their order of preference. Likewise, applicants and their parents should not disclose their order of preference to schools.

     The spokesman reminded parents to read carefully the Notes for Parents on Application for Secondary One Discretionary Places. Parents should not submit applications to more than two secondary schools participating in the SSPA no matter whether the applications are submitted via the eSSPA or in paper application form. Otherwise, the DP applications of their children will be rendered void. In addition, parents should not submit duplicate applications via the eSSPA and in paper application form for the same child. 

     The spokesman said, “The schools to which parents apply for DPs are not restricted by districts. Parents are strongly advised to consider the schools in all respects, such as their educational philosophy, tradition, religion, class structure, admission criteria, development and operation, and their children’s characteristics, personalities, abilities and interests to make a suitable school choice. Parents may refer to the relevant information in the Secondary School Profiles (www.chsc.hk/secondary) or school websites for reference.

     “Students who are successful in the DP application stage will not be allocated a school place in central allocation (CA). Parents should, therefore, apply to schools of their preference. The EDB will match students’ preferences against schools’ Successful/Reserve Lists for Discretionary Places. If a student is successful in both schools to which he or she has applied, allocation will be based on the student’s order of preference.”

Notification arrangements for successful DP applicants
——————————————————————–

     The spokesman reminded that under the notification arrangements for successful DP applicants, if students are included by participating secondary schools in their Successful Lists for Discretionary Places, their parents will receive notifications from the schools on March 31, 2025. Parents who have registered as eSSPA users may also view notifications for successful DP applicants via the eSSPA starting from 10am on the same day. Parents do not need to reply to the secondary schools whether they would accept the DP offers. The allocation results of DP and CA will be released at the same time on July 8, 2025.

Enquiries
————

     For the list of secondary schools accepting DP applications and the number of DPs for application, parents may ask for the Handbook from primary schools for reference or obtain the latest version of the Handbook through the EDB website (www.edb.gov.hk) and the fax service of the EDB’s 24-hour Automatic Telephone Enquiry System on 2891 0088.

     If parents have enquiries about DP applications, they are advised to consult their children’s primary schools or the secondary schools to which they apply. For general enquiries, parents may contact the SPA Section (SSPA) of the EDB (Tel: 2832 7740 and 2832 7700; address: Podium Floor, West Block, Education Bureau Kowloon Tong Education Services Centre, 19 Suffolk Road, Kowloon Tong). read more

     The Department of Justice today (December 4) gave notice to the Legislative Council (LegCo) of its intention to move a motion to seek the LegCo’s approval of the Criminal Procedure (Appeal against Ruling of No Case to Answer) Rules at the LegCo meeting on January 8, 2025. The Rules were made by the Criminal Procedure Rules Committee under section 9 of the Criminal Procedure Ordinance (Cap. 221) on November 14, 2024. The Rules set out the relevant procedural matters for the new “no case to answer” appeal mechanism under the Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Ordinance 2023. The new appeal mechanism allows the prosecution to appeal against rulings of no case to answer made by the Court of First Instance (CFI) of the High Court in criminal trials with a jury.

     A spokesman for the Department of Justice said that the new “no case to answer” appeal mechanism addresses the lacuna in the criminal appeal system due to the prosecution’s inability to appeal against erroneous rulings of no case to answer made by judges of the CFI in jury trials. To facilitate its smooth operation, a new set of procedural rules has to be made for such appeals before the relevant provisions of the Amendment Ordinance come into effect.

     Relevant stakeholders including the Law Society of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Bar Association and the Legal Aid Department were consulted, and they welcomed the implementation of the Rules. The Department of Justice has also issued an information paper to the LegCo Panel on Administration of Justice and Legal Services in July this year to brief members of the Panel on the proposed draft rules.

      Subject to the LegCo’s approval of the Rules, the Department of Justice will bring the relevant provisions of the Amendment Ordinance and the Rules into operation as soon as practicable. read more

     Following is a question by the Hon Dominic Lee and a written reply by the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr Kevin Yeung, in the Legislative Council today (December 4):

Question:
 
     There are views that the Government should further enhance the quality as well as the efficiency of use of sports facilities in Hong Kong, so as to support the sports development strategy more effectively, thereby dovetailing with the policy direction of fostering sports development by promoting sports in the community, supporting elite sports and promoting Hong Kong as a centre for major international sports events. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) as it is learnt that at present, lockers in the sports venues under the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) are only available for use by members of the public on a daily basis, and it is observed that the utilization rate of such lockers is on the low side, with quite a number of users opting to place their belongings at the side of the sports venues rather than putting them in the lockers, while on the other hand, professional athletes and coaches often need to bring along a lot of equipment for training, and they must take away such equipment each time as the lockers are not available for overnight use, whether the LCSD will consider setting up an application system for its venues to allocate lockers to eligible persons for overnight use, so as to enhance the efficiency of use of its facilities and facilitate their use by professional athletes;
 
(2) given that the LCSD will make available six additional sports centres in the first quarter of next year for booking by members of the public for new sports (e.g. dodgeball, dodgebee and kin-ball), bringing the total number of sports centres under the Trial Scheme on New Sports Activities (Trial Scheme) to 12, whether the authorities will consider further extending the Trial Scheme to other sports centres across the territory, so as to achieve the popularization mode of “single venue, multiple use”; if so, of the specific implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that; and
 
(3) as there are views that the current shortage of four-sided glass-panelled professional squash exhibition venues with spectator stands in Hong Kong has undermined the possibility of hosting international squash tournaments locally, whether the authorities will consider the additional provision of relevant facilities, so as to enhance Hong Kong’s capability of hosting international tournaments and promote squash development in Hong Kong?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     In respect of the question raised by the Hon Dominic Lee, my reply is as follows:
 
(1) At some leisure venues under the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), such as sports centres, sports grounds and swimming pools, lockers are available for users at no cost when they are using the venues, and are to be returned when the users leave the venues. In general, the lockers at leisure venues are very popular among users with high utilisation. As the leisure venues have to be used for sports activities as far as possible, the number of lockers provided thereat are limited. Priority is therefore given to accommodate the needs of venue users.
 
     To facilitate the training of professional athletes, the LCSD has already arranged designated leisure venues for “national sports associations” to meet the training needs of Hong Kong teams. Storage areas are available at such venues for long-term storage of large-scale training equipment and facilities.
 
     The LCSD will continue to closely monitor the usage of lockers.
 
(2) The LCSD is dedicated to promoting the development of diversified sports activities. With the increasing popularity of many new sports in recent years, the LCSD has opened up six sports centres, namely the Stanley Sports Centre, the Cheung Sha Wan Sports Centre, the Lei Yue Mun Sports Centre, the Cheung Fat Sports Centre, the Fu Heng Sports Centre and the Long Ping Sports Centre under the Trial Scheme on Opening up the Arena of Selected Sports Centres for Booking by Individuals for New Sports Activities (Trial Scheme). Members of the public may book the arenas of these sports centres for conducting six new sports that are more popular, including dodgeball, dodgebee, kin-ball, korfball, pickleball and tchoukball. Given the positive feedback from the public since the launch of the Trial Scheme, the LCSD plans to extend the booking arrangements to cover peak hours (i.e. from 6pm onwards on weekdays and all time slots on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays) and open up more suitable arenas of the sports centres. The six new sports centres proposed are located in Eastern District, Wong Tai Sin District, Yau Tsim Mong District, Islands District, Sai Kung District and Sha Tin District respectively. The LCSD is consulting the District Councils on the arrangements concerned and will further announce the implementation details after obtaining support from relevant District Councils. The LCSD will review the implementation of the above arrangements in a timely manner, and consider whether to further extend such arrangements to more venues.
 
(3) The Hong Kong Squash Centre under the LCSD provides 17 standard squash courts as well as a four-sided glass-panelled exhibition court with a seating capacity of 286 for conducting large-scale competitions. In addition, the LCSD provides multi-purpose sports venues with various facilities and markings, allowing flexibility in fitting-out options to cater for the needs of different sports. In the past, some organisations would also hire and set up those venues for international competitions, such as the setting up of four-sided glass-panelled exhibition courts at the Hong Kong Park Sports Centre and the Edinburgh Place for the Hong Kong Squash Open, facilitating the staging of large-scale competitions in Hong Kong. read more