Tag Archives: China

     â€‹Following the first Inter-departmental meeting held on March 26 to co-ordinate the preparation work for the arrival of visitors to Hong Kong during the Labour Day Golden Week of the Mainland, the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau convened another meeting today (April 16) to follow up on the preparation work carried out by various departments, including crowd control management, a Government spokesman said. The meeting was chaired by the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr Kevin Yeung, with representatives from government departments including the Hong Kong Customs (Customs), the Hong Kong Police Force (Police), the Immigration Department (ImmD), the Transport Department, various District Offices, etc.  Representatives from various tourism-related organisations including the Travel Industry Authority (TIA), the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong, the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority, major tourist attractions, hotel industry, etc. also attended. Relevant parties will continue to maintain close communication on the crowd control during the Labour Day Golden Week of the Mainland and co-ordinate different aspects for receiving visitor arrivals to Hong Kong.
      
     Mr Yeung said, “The Government will closely monitor the situation of visitor arrivals during the Labour Day Golden Week of the Mainland. Various government departments, relevant organisations and the trade will strengthen co-ordination and communication as well as enhance crowd management work with a view to creating a good travel experience for visitors and demonstrating the city’s unique tourism appeals.”
      
     During the Labour Day Golden Week of the Mainland, relevant government departments will strengthen the manpower as well as co-ordination of transport and cross-boundary services at various control points, including strengthening crowd management, increasing transport frequency, etc. If necessary, the Police will make appropriate traffic arrangements according to the actual circumstances, including arranging public transport to use the designated dedicated lane at San Sham Road to travel to Lok Ma Chau/Huanggang Port. In addition, the Inter-departmental Joint Command Centre set up by Customs, the Police, the ImmD and other departments will be activated during the Labour Day Golden Week of the Mainland to monitor the situation at each land control point, as well as to maintain close liaison with Mainland counterparts and take contingency actions where necessary. The Emergency Transport Co-ordination Centre of the Transport Department will operate 24 hours to monitor the traffic conditions of different districts, including various boundary control points and major stations, disseminate the latest traffic information through various channels and implement response measures where appropriate.
      
     Various District Offices will closely monitor the flow of visitors within their corresponding districts during the Labour Day Golden Week of the Mainland and strengthen management of the relevant spots having regard to the actual circumstances. Major tourist attractions will also put in place crowd control measures.
      
     TIA has been reminding travel agents receiving relevant Mainland inbound tour groups to stagger arrival times as far as possible and urge travel agents, shops, restaurants, etc., receiving Mainland inbound tour groups to implement appropriate measures for managing the order of visitors and coaches. TIA will also deploy additional manpower during the Labour Day Golden Week of the Mainland to conduct inspection in districts where relatively more registered shops for inbound tour groups are located, and offer assistance to visitors and tourist guides to protect the rights of inbound tour group visitors. In addition, Customs will step up inspection of shops serving visitors so as to combat unfair trade practices.
      
     The Tourism Commission has been maintaining liaison with Mainland tourism authorities and communicating with them on the arrival of Mainland visitors.  It has provided the hotlines of the relevant local organisations to Mainland inbound group visitors via the Mainland tourism authorities.
      
     At present, the ImmD will upload the daily arrival figures of each control point to its website (www.immd.gov.hk). In addition, visitors may check the estimated waiting time at each land boundary control point via the Immigration Mobile Application.
      
     During the Labour Day Golden Week of the Mainland, in case of emergency, Mainland inbound tour group visitors, tour escorts accompanying the tour groups and local tourist guides may seek assistance from TIA by calling its service hotline 3698 5900 (operating from 9am to 6pm from May 1 to 5). For enquiries or complaints, visitors may call the HKTB’s hotline 2508 1234 (operating from 9am to 8pm from May 1 to 5) or the Consumer Council’s hotline 2929 2222 (operating from 9am to 5.30pm from May 2 to 3).

    

     Data has emerged as a new engine propelling economic growth, and its significance continues to rise. To promote the strategic role of data in the development of the digital economy and societal transformation, and to contribute to t… read more

     Following are the opening remarks (English translation) by the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Miss Alice Mak, at the special meeting of the Legislative Council Finance Committee today (April 16):
 
Chairman,
 
     I would like to brief Members on the key areas of work of the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau (HYAB) and its departments in 2024-25.
 
     The HYAB released the Youth Development Blueprint in December 2022. Since then, we have been actively co-ordinating with various policy bureaux to implement at full steam over 160 measures under their relevant policy areas as set out in the Blueprint. Around 50 of the measures have already been completed, and most of the remaining ones are progressing well towards the set targets. In light of the latest situation of society and our youth, policy bureaux have also updated measures in the Blueprint to ensure that the Blueprint can continuously respond to the needs of young people.
      
     In respect of youth exchange and internship, with the resumption of normal travel, the HYAB has fully resumed various schemes/programmes. We have implemented enhancement measures under a number of schemes/programmes to encourage participation of more young people from different backgrounds, so that they may broaden their horizons, acquire a better understanding of our country and the world, and develop a proper and holistic outlook.
      
     Moreover, we plan to increase the total commitment for the Youth Development Fund (YDF) by $300 million from its current amount of $600 million. The YDF will, inter alia, support the launch of a new round of the Funding Scheme for Youth Entrepreneurship in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) and the Funding Scheme for Experiential Programmes at Innovation and Entrepreneurial Bases, as well as strengthening support to youth entrepreneurs through the newly established Alliance of Hong Kong Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurial Bases in the GBA.
      
     Under the tripartite collaboration among the Government, the business sector and the community, the 2023 Youth Festival has organised some 200 activities with an overall attendance of about 200 000. In August 2024, the HYAB will organise the Youth Development Summit as the opening and highlight of the 2024 Youth Festival. We will invite guest speakers and youth groups from the Mainland and overseas to attend the Summit, where they can exchange views and engage in mutual learning with local youth on issues of concern to young people. It is anticipated that no less than 1 000 persons will participate in the Summit.
      
     The HYAB will continue to provide subvention to youth uniformed groups for organising activities relating to national education, including events in support of National Security Education Day, with a view to raising young people’s awareness of national security, enhancing their understanding of the Constitution, Basic Law and national security, as well as strengthening their sense of national pride and national identity through these events.
 
     We will also continue to work closely with the Committee on the Promotion of Civic Education to promote civic and national education (including national security education) outside schools and in the community, with the aim of enhancing the sense of patriotism, civic responsibilities and awareness of the rule of law among members of the public through various channels and diverse means, such as school talks and roving exhibitions.
 
     On April 1 this year, a dedicated Women Affairs Team was set up under the HYAB, and the post of Commissioner for Women Affairs was designated to focus on work related to women development, as well as enhancement to family building, family education and family values. Key initiatives this year include launching a one-stop family and women information portal, organising the first Family and Women Development Summit, and rolling out a new Funding Scheme on the Promotion of Family Education. We will also continue to encourage women’s groups and non-governmental organisations to make good use of the Women Empowerment Fund.
 
     Since the seventh-term District Councils took office on January 1 this year, it has set a new scene for district governance. All the District Council members work proactively to ensure effective communication between the Government and the people. They not only reflect public views and offer suggestions to the Government, but also assist the Government in promoting and explaining various policies. I look forward to continuing to work closely with the District Councils in carrying out district governance work and building a better community together.

     The 452 District Services and Community Care Teams in the 18 districts have been fully activated to support the district work and strengthen community network. So far, they have visited more than 30 000 households in need, and provided them with over 7 000 times of simple support services. Care Teams pool community resources together to help in emergencies, and actively assist in policy promotion. The Government will continue to provide Care Teams with some of the resources required. The estimated provision for 2024-25 is $180.8 million.

     To further enhance the support for ethnic minorities to integrate into the community, the Home Affairs Department will establish two new support service centres for ethnic minorities (EM centres) and set up an Ethnic Minority Care Team in each of the 10 EM centres. We will also regularise the enhanced services provided by the EM centres for new arrivals and youth of ethnic minorities, and continue to implement the District-based Programmes for Racial Harmony.
      
     My colleagues and I are happy to answer questions from Members. Thank you. read more

     The Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun, called on the Director-General of the Human Resources and Social Security Department of Guangdong Province, Mr Du Minqi, on his visit to Guangzhou this afternoon (April 16). &nb… read more

     Following is the English translation of the opening remarks by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui, on public finance at the special meeting of the Legislative Council (LegCo) Finance Committee today (April 16):

Chairman and Honourable Members,

     This session of the special meetings of the Finance Committee will examine the expenditure estimates of the Treasury Branch and related departments. I would like to brief Members on the following few points.

Estimates of expenditure

     The estimated total expenditure of the Treasury Branch and the departments under its purview for 2024-25 is about $11.057 billion, a decrease of about 76 per cent over the original estimate of $45.77 billion for last year. This is mainly attributed to a decrease of $35.01 billion in the estimated non-recurrent expenditure under Head 147 Treasury Branch over the estimate for last year, which covered the non-recurrent expenditure on the 2023 Consumption Voucher Scheme. Discounting the non-recurrent expenditure, the estimated total recurrent expenditure of the Treasury Branch and the departments under its purview this year is $9.813 billion, an increase of about 3 per cent over the original estimate for last year.

Key areas of work

     I would like to speak briefly on a few key areas of work in the coming year.

(I) On public finances, we will continue to uphold the principle of keeping the expenditure within the limits of revenues as enshrined in Article 107 of the Basic Law, and strive to achieve fiscal balance and avoid deficits, thereby ensuring the resilience and sustainability of our public finances. We are taking steps to implement a comprehensive fiscal consolidation programme, which focuses mainly on expenditure cut while including some revenue measures in a pragmatic manner. The target is to restore fiscal balance in a few years’ time.

(II) As for government expenditure, in order to contain the growth of our operating expenditure, we will continue to maintain zero growth in the civil service establishment. Apart from this, we will implement the Productivity Enhancement Programme as announced earlier, under which recurrent government expenditure will be cut by 1 per cent in both 2024-25 and 2025-26. The resources thus saved will be reallocated internally. To further contain the pace of expenditure growth, recurrent government expenditure will be cut by another 1 per cent in 2026-27, on the premise that such schemes as the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Scheme and the Social Security Allowance Scheme will not be affected. Relevant bureaux and departments (B/Ds) have also reviewed the capital works projects under planning. Works projects which are at a comparatively mature stage of planning will continue to be taken forward as planned. As for some works projects that are currently at the preliminary planning or conceptual stage, the B/Ds concerned will consider the implementation schedule with regard to factors including their priority, urgency and importance.

(III) The Government also plans to use bonds as one of the financing options for capital works projects. To invest in our future, we plan to issue bonds of about $95 billion to $135 billion per annum from 2024-25 to 2028-29 to raise funds for such initiatives as driving the development of the Northern Metropolis and other infrastructure projects. Proceeds from bond issuance will be used for financing infrastructure and capital works projects, but not for meeting government recurrent expenditure. It is expected that the ratio of government debt to Gross Domestic Product will be in the range of about 9 per cent to 13 per cent, which is much lower than most of the other advanced economies.

(IV) We would also increase revenue in appropriate areas to complement our measures to cut expenditure with a view to restoring fiscal balance. When considering measures for increasing revenue, the Government needs to take into account Hong Kong’s actual situation and avoid taking any actions that may affect our economic recovery while at the same time maintaining our simple and low tax regime. Having considered these factors, the 2024-25 Budget has, on the basis of the “affordable users pay” principle, proposed to implement a two-tiered standard rates regime for salaries tax and tax under personal assessment for taxpayers whose net income exceeding $5 million, increase business registration fees, resume the collection of the Hotel Accommodation Tax, implement the progressive rating system for domestic properties announced in the 2022-23 Budget, etc.

     According to the Medium Range Forecast, upon full implementation of the fiscal consolidation programme, the Consolidated Account (after taking account of the net proceeds from the issuance of bonds) will record a surplus starting from 2025-26, while the Operating Account will return to a surplus from 2026-27 onwards. Fiscal reserves will be maintained at a level which is equivalent to approximately 11 to 12 months of government expenditure.

     Lastly, on international tax co-operation, we will continue to take forward the implementation of the global minimum tax under the BEPS 2.0 package promulgated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and introduce the Hong Kong minimum top-up tax. These proposals will be implemented starting from 2025. We are now carefully studying and considering the views of stakeholders gathered during the consultation period. It is expected that the legislative proposal will be introduced into the LegCo in the second half of this year.

     Chairman, my colleagues and I will be happy to answer any questions from Members.

     Thank you. read more