The Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Miss Alice Mak, will lead a delegation of 18 District Officers (DOs) to Beijing and Zhejiang Province tomorrow (April 17) for a study programme and duty visit on district governance.
 
　　The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government attaches great importance to district governance. Under the improved district governance system, DOs are also the Chairmen of District Councils and shoulder the important responsibility of enhancing district governance. The study programme aims to enable DOs to have an in-depth and continuous understanding of the national policies and developments, and at the same time to learn from the experience in district governance on the Mainland for their reference in future work.
 
    The delegation is led by Miss Mak and the members include the Permanent Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Ms Shirley Lam, the Director of Home Affairs, Mrs Alice Cheung, and the 18 DOs. Upon their arrival in Beijing, the delegation will commence its study programme at the National Academy of Governance. The delegation will proceed to Zhejiang Province for duty visit on April 19 to gain insights into the local experience of district governance there, and return to Hong Kong on April 21. 
 
　　During the absence of Miss Mak, the Under Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Mr Clarence Leung, will act as the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs.

     The Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, will depart for Hangzhou and Suzhou tomorrow morning (April 17). During his visit, he will visit various innovation and technology enterprises engaging in artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, biotech, new energy and new materials, and meet with representatives of local enterprises and Hong Kong people. Also, Mr Chan will meet with the leadership of the two cities respectively to explore the deepening of co-operation with both places, and to jointly foster the development of new quality productive forces and accelerate the promotion of high-quality development. 

     During his visit to Hangzhou, Mr Chan will deliver a keynote speech at a seminar co-organised by Invest Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Shanghai of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government to introduce to owners and senior management staff from Hangzhou and the Yangtze River Delta region how Hong Kong can enable Mainland enterprises to develop their international businesses, particularly by serving as their headquarters of international business and centre for managing their international supply chains.

     Mr Chan will return to Hong Kong on the afternoon of April 19. During his absence, the Deputy Financial Secretary, Mr Michael Wong, will be the Acting Financial Secretary.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

     Exchange Fund Bills tender results:
 

 
*"Pro rata ratio" refers to the average percentage of allotment with respect to each tender participant's tendered amount at the "highest yield accepted" level.

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     Hong Kong Monetary Authority tenders to be held in the week beginning April 22, 2024:
 

     The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Tuesday, April 16, 2024 is 106.3 (up 0.3 against yesterday's index).

     In response to the Japanese Government's plan to discharge nuclear-contaminated water at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Station, the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene issued a Food Safety Order which prohibits all aquatic products, sea salt and seaweeds originating from the 10 metropolis/prefectures, namely Tokyo, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Miyagi, Chiba, Gunma, Tochigi, Niigata, Nagano and Saitama, from being imported into and supplied in Hong Kong.
 
     For other Japanese aquatic products, sea salt and seaweeds that are not prohibited from being imported into Hong Kong, the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department will conduct comprehensive radiological tests to verify that the radiation levels of these products do not exceed the guideline levels before they are allowed to be supplied in the market.
 
     As the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water is unprecedented and will continue for 30 years or more, the Government will closely monitor and step up the testing arrangements. Should anomalies be detected, the Government does not preclude further tightening the scope of the import ban.
 
     From noon on April 15 to noon today (April 16), the CFS conducted tests on the radiological levels of 178 food samples imported from Japan, which were of the "aquatic and related products, seaweeds and sea salt" category. No sample was found to have exceeded the safety limit. Details can be found on the CFS's thematic website titled "Control Measures on Foods Imported from Japan" (www.cfs.gov.hk/english/programme/programme_rafs/programme_rafs_fc_01_30_Nuclear_Event_and_Food_Safety.html).

     In parallel, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) has also tested 50 samples of local catch for radiological levels. All the samples passed the tests. Details can be found on the AFCD's website (www.afcd.gov.hk/english/fisheries/Radiological_testing/Radiological_Test.html).
 
     The Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) has also enhanced the environmental monitoring of the local waters. No anomaly has been detected so far. For details, please refer to the HKO's website
(www.hko.gov.hk/en/radiation/monitoring/seawater.html).
 
     From August 24 to noon today, the CFS and the AFCD have conducted tests on the radiological levels of 42 956 samples of food imported from Japan (including 28 336 samples of aquatic and related products, seaweeds and sea salt) and 11 682 samples of local catch respectively. All the samples passed the tests.