Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK) announced today (March 4) that it has assisted a United States logistics industry multi-modal payment network, PayCargo, to open its first regional office in Hong Kong as part of its overseas expansion plan in Asia via the city.
      
     The Associate Director-General of Investment Promotion, Mr Charles Ng, welcomed the opening of PayCargo's regional office in Hong Kong. He said, "It brings not only an innovative payment solution to Hong Kong's logistics sector, but also shows a vote of confidence in the city's vibrant fintech ecosystem."
      
     The Commercial Director of Asia, PayCargo, Mr Morgan Law, said, "Our decision of setting up in Hong Kong was primarily influenced by the city's open business environment and robust rule of law, ensuring a secure and efficient setting for our operations. Additionally, Hong Kong's status as a global financial centre offers unparalleled access to a sophisticated banking infrastructure, essential for our payment-driven solutions in the logistics sector."
      
     Mr Law added, "Capitalising on Hong Kong's status as the largest air cargo hub in the world, we aimed to tap into the dense network of trade, enhancing our service offerings to customers and fortifying our position within the global supply chain. This move enables PayCargo to provide more efficient payment processing solutions for cargo movement, facilitating better cash flow and moving cargo faster in a region synonymous with high-volume trade and transportation."
      
     He explained, "The Hong Kong office serves as our initial step into Asia and marks an important milestone for our global expansion ambition. The learnings from growing our business here are going to play an important role in guiding our approach to launch new Asian markets in the future."
      
     To get a copy of the photo, please visit www.flickr.com/photos/investhk/albums/72177720315159736.
      
     For more information about PayCargo, please visit paycargo.com.

  

     A spokesman for the Housing Department (HD) today (March 4) said that the HD always spares no effort in combating false declarations made during applications for public rental housing (PRH). A PRH applicant who made a false statement was sentenced to one month's imprisonment (suspended for 12 months) today.

     The PRH applicant declared his marital status as married in a declaration in respect of admission to PRH in 2018. Subsequent investigation revealed that he was in fact proceeding with divorce. He intentionally concealed his marital status so that he could acquire a PRH flat.

     The applicant was prosecuted for knowingly making a false statement in respect of his application for PRH contrary to Section 26(1)(c) of the Housing Ordinance. After two days of trial, he was convicted earlier at the Kwun Tong Magistrates' Courts. After considering the gravity of the offence and the Community Service Orders Suitability Report, the defendant was sentenced to one month's imprisonment (suspended for 12 months).

     The spokesman reminded all PRH applicants that if any persons are convicted by the courts for making a false statement knowingly during a PRH application contrary to Section 26(1)(c) of the Housing Ordinance, the maximum penalty is a fine of $50,000 and imprisonment for six months. The PRH application concerned will be cancelled while any allocated PRH unit will be recovered by the HD. 

     The Labour Department and the Occupational Safety and Health Council will hold the OSH Innovation & Technology Expo on March 7 and 8. The Expo will introduce and showcase innovative solutions, products, and technologies in the field of occupational safety and health (OSH) with a view to promoting the innovative developments in this area.
      
     The two-day event will consist of two parts, an exhibition and a conference. The OSH Innovation & Technology Award presentation ceremony will also take place. The exhibition will bring together over 50 local and international exhibitors to showcase technological breakthroughs and latest applications in OSH, such as virtual reality training platforms for building safety, an EXO-S shoulder exoskeleton, and Automatic Retinal Image Analysis.
      
     Meanwhile, local, Mainland and international experts are invited to the conference to give keynote speeches on applications of innovations and technologies in enhancing OSH in different industries. Moreover, representatives from 16 shortlisted organisations and secondary schools in the OSH Innovation & Technology Award will also share and demonstrate their innovative products and solutions in the Expo.
      
     The Expo will be held at Hall 1A, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Wan Chai, from 9.15am to 6pm. The exhibition, conference and awards presentation ceremony will be open to the public for free but pre-registration is required. For more details of the Expo and registration, please visit the website
(OSHEXPO.hk/).
 

     The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government today (March 4) strongly condemned absconder Hui Chi-fung who blatantly requested foreign countries to impose so-called "sanctions" on judges and judicial officers, prosecutors, law enforcement officers and other public officers of the HKSAR and also appealed to the public to carry out doxxing against them. Not only can his act amount to perverting the course of public justice, it may also constitute the offence of "collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security" under Article 29 of the Hong Kong National Security Law.

     A spokesman for the HKSAR Government said, "Hui attempted to collude with a foreign country or with external elements and blatantly clamoured for so-called 'sanctions' and doxxing against dutiful HKSAR officials in an attempt to intimidate them, interfering with the HKSAR's judicial proceedings, obstructing the HKSAR Government from fulfilling its duty and undermining the rule of law of the HKSAR. The HKSAR Government strongly condemns his political grandstanding rife with ill intentions, which have been seen through by all.

     "Hui's acts precisely demonstrate the need for us to protect persons handling cases or work concerning national security and their family members from doxxing or harassment, which was proposed for consideration in the Basic Law Article 23 legislative proposal, to enable the relevant officers to handle work for safeguarding national security without worries, thereby buttressing and strengthening the enforcement forces for safeguarding security."

     The spokesman pointed out, "Being suspected of having committed multiple offences, Hui not only showed no intention to face the law enforcement and judicial procedures in relation to his suspected illegal acts, he even lied to the court for approval to leave Hong Kong, showing that he is completely devoid of integrity. It is outrageous that he continues to engage in acts and activities endangering national security after absconding overseas."

     â€‹"Hui is currently a wanted person with reward notice by the HKSAR Police for being suspected of violating offences of 'incitement to secession', 'incitement to subversion' and 'collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security' under the Hong Kong National Security Law. He should not have any delusion to evade legal liabilities by absconding from Hong Kong. The HKSAR Government will not condone any criminal acts. It will uphold the principle that 'laws are observed so as to bring offenders to account' to pursue the liability of people absconding overseas and endangering national security to the end by adopting all practical measures to bring them to justice. People providing pecuniary assistance for Hui to continue absconding overseas and conducting activities endangering national security will also need to face criminal liabilities," the spokesman stressed.

     The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) today (March 4) released the statistics on vessels, port cargo and containers for the fourth quarter of 2023.
 
     In the fourth quarter of 2023, total port cargo throughput decreased by 8.8% to 43.8 million tonnes over a year earlier.  Within this total, inward port cargo and outward port cargo decreased by 6.0% and 13.5% to 28.3 million tonnes and 15.6 million tonnes respectively.
 
     For 2023 as a whole, total port cargo throughput decreased by 9.0% to 174.9 million tonnes over a year earlier. Within this total, inward port cargo and outward port cargo decreased by 7.7% and 11.1% to 111.7 million tonnes and 63.2 million tonnes respectively.
 
     On a seasonally adjusted quarter-to-quarter comparison, total port cargo throughput decreased by 3.6% in the fourth quarter of 2023. Within this total, inward port cargo and outward port cargo decreased by 2.6% and 5.5% respectively compared with the preceding quarter. The seasonally adjusted series enables more meaningful shorter-term comparison to be made for discerning possible variations in trends.
 
Port cargo
 
     In the fourth quarter of 2023, within port cargo, seaborne and river cargo decreased by 8.2% and 9.9% to 28.3 million tonnes and 15.5 million tonnes respectively over a year earlier.
 
     In the whole year of 2023, within port cargo, seaborne and river cargo decreased by 11.4% and 3.8% to 115.1 million tonnes and 59.7 million tonnes respectively over a year earlier.
 
     Comparing the fourth quarter of 2023 with a year earlier, double-digit decreases were recorded in the tonnage of inward port cargo loaded in Vietnam (-28.1%), Japan (-22.8%), Malaysia (-14.4%) and Taiwan (-10.9%). For outward port cargo, double-digit increase was recorded in the tonnage of outward port cargo discharged in Australia (+57.4%). On the other hand, double-digit decreases were recorded in the tonnage of outward port cargo discharged in Korea (-30.8%), the United States of America (-27.7%), the mainland of China (-20.8%), Taiwan (-17.5%) and Japan (-15.2%).
 
     Comparing the whole year of 2023 with a year earlier, double-digit decreases were recorded in the tonnage of inward port cargo loaded in Vietnam (-30.0%), Japan (-23.8%), Taiwan (-23.4%) and Korea (-17.8%). For outward port cargo, double-digit decreases were recorded in the tonnage of outward port cargo discharged in the United States of America (-32.9%), Taiwan (-29.2%), Korea (-22.7%), Japan (-20.8%) and Vietnam (-16.1%).
 
     Comparing the fourth quarter of 2023 with a year earlier, double-digit changes were recorded in the tonnage of inward port cargo of "petroleum, petroleum products and related materials" (+15.7%), "coal, coke and briquettes" (+11.2%), "metalliferous ores and metal scrap" (-13.7%) and "machinery" (-15.4%). As for outward port cargo, double-digit decreases were recorded in the tonnage of "live animals chiefly for food and edible animal products" (-25.7%), "artificial resins and plastic materials" (-24.5%), "stone, sand and gravel" (-15.1%), "machinery" (-11.9%) and "metalliferous ores and metal scrap" (-10.8%).
 
     Comparing the whole year of 2023 with a year earlier, double-digit changes were recorded in the tonnage of inward port cargo of "petroleum, petroleum products and related materials" (+23.8%) and "machinery" (-16.1%). As for outward port cargo, double-digit changes were recorded in the tonnage of "stone, sand and gravel" (+11.9%), "live animals chiefly for food and edible animal products" (-13.1%), "artificial resins and plastic materials" (-14.9%) and "machinery" (-17.6%).
 
Containers
 
     In the fourth quarter of 2023, the port of Hong Kong handled 3.61 million TEUs of containers, representing a decrease of 10.8% over a year earlier. Within this total, laden and empty containers decreased by 12.4% and 4.9% to 2.79 million TEUs and 0.82 million TEUs respectively. Among laden containers, inward and outward containers decreased by 14.0% and 10.4% to 1.48 million TEUs and 1.31 million TEUs respectively.
 
     For 2023 as a whole, the port of Hong Kong handled 14.40 million TEUs of containers, representing a decrease of 13.7% over a year earlier. Within this total, laden and empty containers decreased by 15.0% and 8.4% to 11.32 million TEUs and 3.08 million TEUs respectively. Among laden containers, inward and outward containers decreased by 16.5% and 13.3% to 6.05 million TEUs and 5.27 million TEUs respectively.
 
     On a seasonally adjusted quarter-to-quarter comparison, laden container throughput decreased by 2.6% in the fourth quarter of 2023. Within this total, inward and outward laden containers decreased by 3.8% and 1.3% respectively.
 
     In the fourth quarter of 2023, seaborne and river laden containers decreased by 9.5% and 18.5% to 1.96 million TEUs and 0.84 million TEUs respectively over a year earlier.
 
     In the whole year of 2023, seaborne and river laden containers decreased by 14.3% and 16.9% to 8.03 million TEUs and 3.28 million TEUs respectively over a year earlier.
 
Vessel arrivals
 
     Comparing the fourth quarter of 2023 with a year earlier, the number of ocean vessel arrivals increased by 4.9% to 4 841, with the total capacity also increasing by 15.0% to 77.2 million net tons. Meanwhile, the number of river vessel arrivals increased by 57.6% to 20 485, with the total capacity also increasing by 10.8% to 20.1 million net tons.
 
     Comparing the whole year of 2023 with a year earlier, the number of ocean vessel arrivals increased by 12.7% to 18 867, with the total capacity also increasing by 24.0% to 301.5 million net tons. Meanwhile, the number of river vessel arrivals increased by 46.5% to 73 331, with the total capacity also increasing by 13.5% to 74.7 million net tons.
 
Further information
 
     Port cargo and laden container statistics are compiled from a sample of consignments listed in the cargo manifests supplied by shipping companies and agents to the C&SD. Vessel statistics are compiled by the Marine Department primarily from general declarations submitted by ship masters and authorised shipping agents. Pleasure vessels and fishing vessels plying exclusively within the river trade limits are excluded.
 
     Table 1 presents the detailed port cargo statistics.
 
     Table 2 and Table 3 respectively present the inward and outward port cargo statistics by main countries/territories of loading and discharge.
 
     Table 4 and Table 5 respectively present the inward and outward port cargo statistics by principal commodities.
 
     Table 6 presents the detailed container statistics.
 
     Table 7 presents the statistics on vessel arrivals in Hong Kong.
 
     More detailed statistics on port cargo, containers and vessels are published in the report "Hong Kong Shipping Statistics, Fourth Quarter 2023". Users can browse and download this publication at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/EIndexbySubject.html?pcode=B1020008&scode=230).
 
     For enquiries about port cargo and container statistics, please contact the Electronic Trading Services and Cargo Statistics Section of the C&SD (Tel: 2582 2126 or email: shipping@censtatd.gov.hk). For enquiries about vessel statistics, readers may contact the Statistics Section under the Planning, Development and Port Security Branch of the Marine Department (Tel: 2852 3662 or email: st-sec@mardep.gov.hk).