Tag Archives: China

​     In response to the National Security Education Day on April 15, the Security Bureau’s eight disciplined services and auxiliary services will hold open days in their training schools, headquarters or divisional premises on April 13 (Saturday) and April 14 (Sunday) to deepen the public’s understanding of the services as well as their work and achievements in safeguarding national security. Starting from tomorrow (March 15), members of the public can register for free admission tickets via the relevant disciplined services’ websites or mobile applications. Admission ticket is not required for the open days of the auxiliary services.

     The Hong Kong Police College, the Immigration Service Institute of Training and Development, the Hong Kong Correctional Services Academy and the Kai Tak Division of the Government Flying Service will be opened to the public on April 13, while the Hong Kong Customs College, the Fire and Ambulance Services Academy, the Civil Aid Service Headquarters and the Auxiliary Medical Service Headquarters will hold open days on April 14.

     Various events will be held by the services on the open days, including flag raising ceremonies, Chinese-style foot drills, tactics and rescue drills, displays of firearms and equipment, working dogs’ demonstrations, virtual reality experiences and game booths. These activities will help members of the public learn more about the services’ work in preventing and defending against national security risks and raise public awareness of national security and the requirement to abide by the law.

     Members of the public are welcome to visit the websites or mobile applications of the relevant services for more information on the open days, and register to obtain tickets. Successful applicants will receive a notification from the organiser.

     Open day venues on April 13 (Saturday):

	Hong Kong Police College	Immigration Service Institute of Training and Development	Hong Kong Correctional Services Academy	Government Flying Service Kai Tak Division
Ticket registration	March 15 to 18	March 25 to April 1	March 27 to April 1	April 2 and 3
Registration links will be available on the platforms listed on the right upon commencement of registration	Hong Kong Police Force’s website	Immigration Department’s website	Correctional Services Department’s website	Government Flying Service’s website

     Open day venues on April 14 (Sunday):

	Hong Kong Customs College	Fire and Ambulance Services Academy	Civil Aid Service Headquarters	Auxiliary Medical Service Headquarters
Ticket registration	March 26 to 28	March 25 to 27 (tentative registration dates; please stay tuned for the announcements on the Fire Services Department’s website/mobile application)	No tickets required	No tickets required
Registration links will be available on the platforms listed on the right upon commencement of registration	Customs and Excise Department’s website	Fire Services Department’s mobile application

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     Hongkong Post announced today (March 14) that, as advised by the postal administration of Australia, due to the impact of severe weather, mail delivery services to Western Australia for areas with the postcodes listed below are subj… read more

     According to the provisional results of a survey released today (March 14) by the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD), the index of industrial production for manufacturing industries as a whole increased by 4.1% in the fourt… read more

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

     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) today (March 14) announced the launch of Phase 2 of the e-HKD Pilot Programme, with a view to further exploring innovative use cases for an e-HKD in Hong Kong.

     The HKMA completed Phase 1 of the e-HKD Pilot Programme in October 2023 and had studied domestic retail use cases in various areas such as programmable payments, settlement of tokenised assets, and offline payments. Building on the success and experience of Phase 1, the next phase will delve deeper into select pilots from Phase 1 where an e-HKD could add unique value, namely programmability, tokenisation and atomic settlement, as well as explore new use cases that have not been covered in the previous phase. 

     An enhanced e-HKD sandbox, leveraged on the wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC) sandbox to be built under Project Ensemble, will support Phase 2 of the e-HKD Pilot Programme to accelerate the prototyping, development and testing of use cases by pilot participants, as well as facilitate the study of interoperability and interbank settlement between e-HKD and other forms of tokenised money.

     Research on the e-HKD will continue to underpin the HKMA’s broader work in exploring the roles central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) could play in a future digital money landscape. The HKMA has been conducting a number of in-depth research projects with the CBDC Expert Group on topics including programmability, privacy and interoperability. The outcomes and insights gained from both phases of the e-HKD Pilot Programme and the researches by the CBDC Expert Group will facilitate the HKMA’s study on the possible implementation of an e-HKD. The HKMA will also continue to engage local and international stakeholders regarding the latest development of CBDCs.

     Organisations interested in participating in Phase 2 of the e-HKD Pilot Programme should submit their applications on or before May 17, 2024. Further details about the application process can be found on the HKMA website. read more

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
 
     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) released today (March 14) the key analytical accounts of the Exchange Fund at the end of February 2024.
      
     Foreign assets, representing the external assets of the Exchange Fund, increased during the month by HK$21.0 billion to HK$3,532.9 billion.
      
     The Monetary Base, comprising Certificates of Indebtedness, Government‑issued currency notes and coins in circulation, the balance of the banking system and Exchange Fund Bills and Notes issued, amounted to HK$1,909.8 billion.
      
     Claims on the private sector in Hong Kong amounted to HK$292.6 billion.
      
     Foreign liabilities amounted to HK$22.4 billion.
      
     The analytical accounts of the Exchange Fund are released in accordance with the International Monetary Fund’s Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) and are referred to as the Analytical Accounts of the Central Bank under SDDS (Annex).
 
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     At present, four press releases relating to the Exchange Fund’s data are issued by the HKMA each month. Three of these releases are issued to disseminate monetary data in accordance with the International Monetary Fund’s SDDS. The fourth press release, on the Exchange Fund’s Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account, is made in accordance with the HKMA’s policy of maintaining a high level of transparency. For the month of March 2024, the scheduled dates for issuing the press releases are as follows:

March 7 (Issued)	SDDS International Reserves (Hong Kong’s Latest Foreign Currency Reserve Assets Figures)
March 14	SDDS Analytical Accounts of the Central Bank (Analytical Accounts of the Exchange Fund)
March 28	SDDS Template on International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity
March 28	Exchange Fund Abridged Balance Sheet and Currency Board Account

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