Month: June 2025

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

​The Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Ms Mable Chan, paid a two-day visit to Shanghai and met with local government officials as well as trade representatives on transport and logistics issues.

Upon her arrival yesterday (June 16), Ms Chan first had a meeting with the Director of the Shanghai Municipal Transportation Commission, Mr Yu Fulin, and other officials to exchange views on issues of mutual interest, including traffic management, shipping and aviation. She also visited an all-electric ferry, which commenced operation in April, to learn about Shanghai’s progress in promoting green transport.

She subsequently met with representatives of the China Shipowners’ Association to give an overview of the latest developments of Hong Kong’s maritime services. She encouraged Mainland shipowners and shipping enterprises to register their ships in Hong Kong. Hong Kong ranks fourth globally in shipping registration and the quality of the Hong Kong flag has long been internationally renowned, with its port detention rate consistently among the top three lowest in the world. Additionally, the Government will introduce tax concessions for commodity trading, further generating new impetus for the maritime services sector. Combined with the market influence of Mainland shipowners and the shipping sector, this initiative will reinforce the influence of the country in the international shipping community.

Ms Chan visited the Yangshan Port in Shanghai today (June 17) to gain insights into the operations of its automated terminal. She said, “The Port of Shanghai and ports in Hong Kong are advancing in unison towards greening, digitalisation and adoption of smart technologies. The visit has deepened exchanges between the two sides on high-quality port development and allowed us to draw on Yangshan Port’s experience to facilitate discussions with port operators on a roadmap for the smart transformation of Hong Kong’s ports. The Port of Shanghai leverages technology to drive port development, and I look forward to further strengthening exchanges and co-operation with it in the future, consolidating and enhancing Hong Kong’s strengths as the ‘southern gateway’ of the country.”

She continued that Shanghai and Hong Kong are both vital shipping centres to the country, ranking third and fourth respectively in the 2024 Xinhua-Baltic International Shipping Centre Development Index Report. She expressed hope that through this visit and exchanges, both cities can work together to strive toward the country’s strategic goal of becoming a maritime powerhouse and explore opportunities for deeper collaboration.

Ms Chan concluded her duty visit to Shanghai and returned to Hong Kong this afternoon.

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

Hong Kong’s global competitiveness has risen by two places to third globally, after improving by two places to fifth last year, in the World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY) 2025, published by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD).

The ranking marks Hong Kong’s return to the global top three for the first time since 2019.

WCY 2025 finds that Hong Kong’s competitiveness has improved significantly. The city’s total competitiveness score of 99.2 out of 100 represents an increase of 7.7 points, the largest increase among the top 10 economies.

In terms of yearbook’s four competitiveness factors, Hong Kong rose to second globally on government efficiency and business efficiency. Its rankings on economic performance and infrastructure also improved to sixth and seventh, respectively.

With regard to competitiveness sub-factors, Hong Kong tops the rankings on tax policy and business legislation, ranks second globally in international investment, education and finance, and third globally in international trade and management practices.

Ahead of this morning’s Executive Council meeting, Chief Executive John Lee said Hong Kong’s scores, both in overall terms and in many specific areas, have improved, showing that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government’s policy course is the right one, with various policies already yielding clear results.

Highlighting that the city ranks second globally on government efficiency, he said this reflects the inherent excellence and competence of the city’s civil servants, and indicates that policies designed to make the Government more result-oriented are bearing fruit.

In addition, noting that Hong Kong ranks second globally on business efficiency, Mr Lee said this reflects business leaders’ positive views of Hong Kong’s competitiveness and of its strengths, including the rule of law, a simple tax system and low tax rates, and the free flow of capital, information, goods and talent.

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

The Security Bureau today reminded the public to stay vigilant against suspicious calls purportedly made by Security Bureau staff, alleging that the citizen was suspected of breaking the law and required to visit the bureau office in person for verification.

The bureau solemnly clarified that this is untrue and condemned such deception tactics. The bureau has displayed an alert message on its official website to remind the public to stay vigilant against scams.

In addition to reminding people not to disclose their personal information to any suspicious or unidentified individuals, the bureau stressed that in case of doubt, they should call the Anti Scam Helpline 18222 for enquiries.

Those who have provided personal information to suspicious individuals or suspect they have been scammed should contact Police, the bureau added.

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

The Labour Department today announced the implementation, with immediate effect, of measures under the Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme (ESLS) to safeguard employment priority for local workers.

After an employer submits an ESLS application, any other application submitted by the same employer within the following six months will generally not be processed except under exceptional circumstances, such as where the application is for renewal of an imported worker’s employment contract.

In cases where ESLS applications pass initial screening, triggering the start of a four-week local recruitment process, the department will display the names of applicant companies on the Interactive Employment Service website to encourage local job seekers to apply for the jobs.

The department will also launch a special campaign to inspect whether entities employing imported workers have continuously met the manning ratio requirement of full-time local employees to imported workers of two to one.

In parallel, it will require employers to report information on numbers of full-time local employees and imported workers, as well as manning ratios. Any suspected violations will be investigated and, if substantiated, administrative sanctions will be imposed on the employers concerned.

Meanwhile, the department has launched an online form on the supplementary labour scheme’s dedicated webpage to enable local employees to lodge complaints against employers over suspected violations of ESLS requirements. Members of the public may also lodge complaints by calling 2150 6363. 

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

     According to the latest labour force statistics (i.e. provisional figures for March – May 2025) released today (June 17) by the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD), the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased from 3.4% in February – April 2025 to 3.5% in March – May 2025. The underemployment rate also increased from 1.3% in February – April 2025 to 1.4% in March – May 2025.
 
     Comparing March – May 2025 with February – April 2025, the unemployment rate (not seasonally adjusted) increased across most major economic sectors, with more distinct increases observed in the construction sector, retail sector and real estate sector.  As to the underemployment rate, increases were mainly seen in the construction sector and transportation sector.
 
     Total employment decreased by around 12 400 from 3 677 100 in February – April 2025 to 3 664 700 in March – May 2025.  Over the same period, the labour force also decreased by around 6 000 from 3 806 500 to 3 800 500.
 
     The number of unemployed persons (not seasonally adjusted) increased by around 6 400 from 129 400 in February – April 2025 to 135 800 in March – May 2025. Over the same period, the number of underemployed persons also increased by around 6 000 from 47 600 to 53 600.
  
Commentary
 
     Commenting on the latest unemployment figures, the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun, said, “Compared with the preceding three-month period, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate posted a modest uptick of 0.1 percentage point to 3.5% in March – May 2025. The underemployment rate also edged up by 0.1 percentage point to 1.4%. The labour force and total employment decreased further to 3 800 500 and 3 664 700 respectively.”
 
     Looking ahead, Mr Chris Sun said, “The pace of job creation will continue to be affected by the evolvement of different industries amidst the continuing uncertain external environment and the changing consumption patterns of locals and visitors.  Besides, the entry of fresh graduates and school leavers in the coming few months may further impact the overall employment situation. That said, we are delighted to see the steady expansion of the Hong Kong economy with real Gross Domestic Product in 2025 forecast to grow by 2% to 3%, and the injection of new impetus to the market by local and non-local operators as reflected by the numbers of registered local and foreign companies having reached new heights in recent months. These positive developments should render support to the labour market and sustain the momentum of Hong Kong’s economic development.”
 
Further information
 
     The unemployment and underemployment statistics were compiled from the findings of the continuous General Household Survey.
 
     In the survey, the definitions used in measuring unemployment and underemployment follow closely those recommended by the International Labour Organization. The employed population covers all employers, self-employed persons, employees (including full-time, part-time, casual workers, etc.) and unpaid family workers. Unemployed persons by industry (or occupation) are classified according to their previous industry (or occupation).
 
     The survey for March – May 2025 covered a sample of some 26 000 households or 68 000 persons, selected in accordance with a scientifically designed sampling scheme to represent the population of Hong Kong. Labour force statistics compiled from this sample represented the situation in the moving three-month period of March to May 2025.
 
     Data on labour force characteristics were obtained from the survey by interviewing each member aged 15 or over in the sampled households.
 
     Statistical tables on the latest labour force statistics can be downloaded at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/scode200.html). More detailed analysis of the labour force characteristics is given in the “Quarterly Report on General Household Survey” which is published four times a year. The latest issue of the report contains statistics for the quarter January – March 2025 while the next issue covering the quarter April – June 2025 will be available by end August 2025. Users can also browse and download this publication at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/EIndexbySubject.html?pcode=B1050001&scode=200).
 
     For enquiries about labour force statistics, please contact the General Household Survey Section (3) of the C&SD (Tel: 2887 5508 or email: ghs@censtatd.gov.hk).

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

(To watch the full media session with sign language interpretation, click here.)

Chief Executive John Lee said today that actions taken by the Secretary for Security and the Police Force in relation to a mobile application were necessary to safeguard national security.

In remarks ahead of this morning’s Executive Council meeting, he emphasised that the Government will always take strict enforcement action in accordance with the law with regard to all activities and acts endangering national security.

“According to the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), all citizens have the obligation to uphold national security. So Hong Kong as a Special Administrative Region of the PRC, the residents of Hong Kong have that constitutional obligation.

“The mobile application in question was released under the guise of a game with the aim of promoting secessionist agendas of ‘Taiwan independence’ and ‘Hong Kong independence’. This endangers national security.

“The Secretary for Security and the Hong Kong Police have taken action in accordance with the Implementation Rules for Article 43 of the Hong Kong National Security Law, carrying out their responsibilities and duties to safeguard national security – they are doing the right thing.”

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region