Month: July 2025

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

​The Director-General of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Jakarta, Miss Libera Cheng, today (July 5) attended a dinner organised by the Hongkong Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines Inc in Manila, the Philippines, to celebrate the 28th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Addressing the dinner, Miss Cheng said that with the staunch support of the motherland and the advantages in connecting the Mainland and the world under the “one country, two systems” principle, Hong Kong has continued to consolidate its status as an international financial, shipping and trade centre. Hong Kong has performed remarkably in international rankings. It was named the world’s freest economy in the Economic Freedom of the World 2024 Annual Report, and ranked third globally in the World Competitiveness Yearbook 2025, the World Investment Report 2025 and the Global Financial Centres Index. Hong Kong’s success in attracting top-tier international companies and talent is also widely acknowledged. The number of companies in Hong Kong with overseas or Mainland parent companies has risen to 9 960, while the number of start-ups in the city increased to around 4 700, both reaching record highs.

Miss Cheng added that Hong Kong has a close relationship with the Philippines. Hong Kong is the Philippines’ fifth largest trading partner, with bilateral trade in goods amounting to US$13.9 billion last year. In tourism, Hong Kong has continued to attract Filipino visitors, welcoming around 1.2 million arrivals from the Philippines last year, representing a 55 per cent increase compared with 2023. In the first five months of this year alone, more than 550 000 Filipino visitors travelled to Hong Kong, marking a 27 per cent year-on-year increase and reflecting strong people-to-people ties between the two places.

Miss Cheng also shared the latest developments in Hong Kong with the guests, highlighting the emerging opportunities under the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area as strategic responses to future challenges. She said that as a global financial and trade centre, Hong Kong is well positioned to serve as a vital bridge connecting Mainland China and the Philippines. She thanked the chamber for fostering connections, and hoped that more outstanding Philippine enterprises would expand their business networks in Hong Kong to create synergy. On the other hand, Hong Kong has been actively seeking early accession to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, with a view to making greater contributions to regional development.

Around 250 representatives from the local government and business sectors, including the Minister Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines, Ms Wang Yulei, and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council’s Consultant in Manila, Ms Maribeth Barros, attended the event.

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

Secretary for Environment & Ecology Tse Chin-wan today officiated at an award ceremony to commend schools, students and families for their outstanding performance in waste reduction and recycling during the 2024-25 school year.

Speaking at the SGREEN x We-recycle@School Competitions Award Ceremony, co-organised by the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) and Ocean Park Hong Kong, Mr Tse highlighted that the current-term Government has successfully reversed the long-term trend of rising waste disposal quantities over the years through promoting waste reduction at source and expanding the recycling network.

He remarked that the disposal quantity of municipal solid waste decreased by a total of 7.5% from 2021 to 2024, while the waste recovery rate increased from 28% in 2020 to 33% in 2023.

Mr Tse congratulated all the awardees and thanked them for their support of Hong Kong’s waste reduction and recycling efforts.

He also emphasised that it is crucial to educate the next generation to achieve waste reduction at source.

“In 2024, the EPD launched the We-recycle@School Activity, providing a variety of teaching materials and promotional support to primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong to assist schools and teachers in integrating waste reduction and recycling knowledge into daily teaching, encourage students to make good use of recycling facilities in schools and the community, and inspire their family members to practise resource separation and recycling together.”

The EPD said the We-recycle@School Activity has received an overwhelming response since its launch. Currently, around 550 primary and secondary schools have participated in the scheme, encompassing about 350,000 students.

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

The Department of Justice today launched the third phase of the foundation course of its Rule of Law Education (ROLE) Stars Train-the-Leaders Programme.

 

The two-day course is being taken by about 120 trainees from district youth committees in the 18 districts and from the Education University of Hong Kong.

 

It covers topics relevant to the rule of law and daily life in a way that is diversified, interactive, and easy-to-understand, encouraging participants to become ROLE ambassadors and actively promote the rule of law in their daily lives and work.

 

In his opening remarks at the event, Secretary for Justice Paul Lam said he hoped the programme would enhance trainees’ understanding of the legal system and the rule of law in Hong Kong, as well as their capabilities in promoting the rule of law as youth leaders and educators in the future, thereby consolidating their role as leaders in rule of law education.

 

As part of the course, Mr Lam also gave a lecture on the topic “Rule of law and our legal system”.

 

He elaborated to the trainees on the essence of the rule of law as a concept, presented an overview of Hong Kong’s legal and judicial systems, and explained the relationship between the rule of law and the Constitution, the Basic Law, the Hong Kong National Security Law, the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance and “one country, two systems”.

 

Also taking part in the programme as a speaker was 14th National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee member and Legislative Council member Starry Lee. She spoke about the Mainland’s legal system, as well as the functions of the NPC and state institutions.

 

The second day of the programme, along with its graduation ceremony, will be held next Saturday. Trainees who have completed the course will receive certificates.

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho met Deputy Mayor of Barcelona Jordi Valls Riera to discuss matters including housing policy and construction technologies as she began a two-day visit to the Spanish city yesterday.

 

Ms Ho met the deputy mayor, who oversees housing policy, economic affairs and tourism yesterday morning. She briefed him on the implementation of government-led Light Public Housing (LPH) projects in Hong Kong that use Modular Integrated Construction.

 

She highlighted that the first LPH project – at Yau Pok Road, Yuen Long – took only about one year to complete, and that the first phase of the project at Choi Hing Road in Ngau Tau Kok was completed in less than 18 months, a record for the construction of high-rise buildings in Hong Kong.

 

Ms Ho also outlined that the Housing Bureau and the Hong Kong Housing Authority are engaged in continuously optimising the city’s housing ladder to encourage more young people and families to ascend it.

 

She mentioned that in November the bureau will organise an international symposium in Hong Kong to showcase developments in construction technologies in Mainland China and Hong Kong to the world.

 

Later on, Ms Ho visited a social housing project, Modulus Matrix: 85 Social Housing, where timber frames were used to reduce carbon emissions and a modular design was adopted to shorten construction time.

 

Ms Ho then toured another social housing project, APROP-Glòries, in which converted containers are used to provide temporary accommodation to people in need.

 

Ms Ho highlighted that governments of both Hong Kong and Barcelona are dedicated to increasing their housing supply through swift and pragmatic measures, and to providing accommodation to families with urgent housing needs.

 

She added that she hoped the two places will continue to share experiences on relevant initiatives.

 

Ms Ho then paid a courtesy call on Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in Barcelona Meng Yuhong, and briefed her on the various housing initiatives being implemented by the bureau.

 

These include leveraging the strengths of the Mainland cities in the Greater Bay Area to promote the development of housing construction technologies.

 

Today, the housing chief visited another social housing project, 72 Social Housing Units, to learn about its design characteristics and energy-efficient living environment.

 

In concluding her trip, Ms Ho observed that Hong Kong enjoys the unique advantage of having the strong support of the motherland while maintaining unparalleled connectivity with the world, as well as the strategic geographical benefit of being connected to the bay area.

 

She added that the visit had demonstrated how Hong Kong is giving full play to its roles as a super connector and super value-adder.

 

“I look forward to maintaining close exchanges with Portugal and Spain in areas including innovative construction technologies, people-oriented ‘Well-being design’ concepts and sustainable smart city development, and exploring further collaboration to create more opportunities for the industries and enterprises of the three places.”

 

Ms Ho will return to Hong Kong tomorrow morning.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

Secretary for Labour & Welfare Chris Sun said today that a database on carers will be rolled out in the coming weeks, allowing the Government to use data to identify families at risk at an earlier stage.

 

At a media session following an appearance on a radio programme this morning, Mr Sun said the pilot scheme will start with beneficiaries of the “Scheme on Living Allowance for Low-income Carers of Persons with Disabilities”, which assists thousands of families at higher risk.

 

“An example is if the carer has been admitted into hospital. Under our new pilot scheme, a message would be given from the Hospital Authority to the Social Welfare Department signaling that the said family is now at risk, so that we can reach out to it to provide necessary respite service or home service to make sure those being taken care of (are) receiving proper care.”

 

Separately, the labour chief iterated that the Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme is designed to ensure that local workers are given priority for employment.

 

Employers are required to prove that they are unable to recruit enough workers locally before the Government will consider applications for the importation of labour, he added.

 

“Once an employer put up an application, first of all they have to recruit locally for four weeks. That is a very vigorous process.

 

“They have to interview every local worker (who) applies for the job. Even if he or she is not employed, the Labour Department will give them a call to make sure that they have not been mistreated. If we found out during that process that the local workers have the willingness to work and somehow the employer has not been treating him or her in a fair manner, this would possibly result in the rejection of the application for importation of labour for that employer.”

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

The third phase of the foundation course of the Rule of Law Education (ROLE) Stars Train-the-Leaders (TTL) Programme was officially launched today (July 5) by the Department of Justice (DoJ). The two-day course, which covers topics relevant to the rule of law and daily life, provides training to about 120 trainees from district youth committees in the 18 districts and a local university about knowledge on the rule of law in a diversified, interactive, and easy-to-understand manner, encouraging them to become ROLE ambassadors and actively promote the rule of law in their daily lives and work.

The Secretary for Justice, Mr Paul Lam, SC, and the President of the Education University of Hong Kong, Professor John Lee, delivered opening remarks for the event. Mr Lam expressed the hope that this Programme would enhance the trainees’ understanding of the legal system and the rule of law in Hong Kong, as well as their capability in promoting the rule of law as youth leaders and educators in the future, consolidating their role as leaders in the rule of law education.

     On the first day of the course, Mr Lam gave a lecture on the topic of “Rule of law and our legal system”. He elaborated to the trainees on the essence of the rule of law concept, presented an overview on Hong Kong’s legal and judicial systems, and explained to them the relationship between the rule of law and the Constitution, the Basic Law, the Hong Kong National Security Law, the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance and “one country, two systems”.

Member of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People’s Congress (NPC) and Member of the Legislative Council, Dr Starry Lee, took part in the Programme as a speaker again to explain to the trainees about the Mainland legal system and the functions of the NPC and state institutions.

The trainees of the third phase of the Programme include members of the District Youth Community Building Committees and District Youth Development and Civic Education Committees in the 18 districts, as well as students of the Education University of Hong Kong. The second day event of the TTL Programme and its graduation ceremony will be held on July 12 and certificates will be presented to trainees who have completed the course.

The third phase of the TTL Programme carries on its legacy and forges ahead with an advanced course and a newly added extended course, with a view to further deepening the understanding of the legal system and the implementation of procedures for trainees who have completed the foundation course. The content of the advanced course includes visits to law enforcement agencies and mock court activities, enabling trainees to gain a first-hand experience of the practice of the rule of law. The new extended course provides thematic talks on specific legal topics, such as a thematic talk on the cyber world which was organised earlier, along with practice activities for promoting the rule of law. This aims to strengthen trainees’ legal knowledge and encourage them to organise and participate in various community promotion projects on their own, taking on the roles of promoters and leaders of the rule of law education.

​For more details on the TTL Programme and other information relating to the promotion and training on the rule of law, please visit the dedicated website at www.role-ttl.gov.hk.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

     The Secretary for Housing, Ms Winnie Ho, commenced her visit to Barcelona, Spain, yesterday (July 4, Barcelona time).
 
     In the morning, Ms Ho met with Deputy Mayor of Barcelona Mr Jordi Valls Riera, who oversees housing policies, economic affairs and tourism matters. They exchanged views on areas such as housing policies and construction technologies. Ms Ho shared Hong Kong’s experience in expeditiously building government-led Light Public Housing (LPH) using Modular Integrated Construction (MiC). For instance, the first LPH project at Yau Pok Road, Yuen Long, took only about one year to complete. As for the Choi Hing Road project in Ngau Tau Kok, which is the first 19-storey LPH project with elevators, its first phase was completed in less than one and a half years, breaking the record for rapid construction of high-rise buildings in Hong Kong. She also shared that the Housing Bureau (HB) and the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HKHA) have been continuously optimising Hong Kong’s housing ladder to encourage more young people and families to move up the housing ladder. She mentioned that the HB will organise an international symposium to be held in Hong Kong in November this year, to showcase to the world the latest developments of construction technologies in Mainland China and Hong Kong. She expressed hope that friends from around the world could attend the symposium.
 
     Afterwards, Ms Ho visited a social housing project, Modulus Matrix: 85 Social Housing, which used timber frame construction to reduce carbon emissions and a modular design to shorten construction time.
 
     In the afternoon, Ms Ho toured a social housing project, APROP-Glòries, which was converted from containers to provide temporary accommodation to people in need. Ms Ho said that both the Hong Kong and Barcelona governments are dedicated to increasing their housing supply with swift and pragmatic approaches, and providing accommodation to families with urgent housing needs. She said she hoped that the two places would continue holding close exchanges on relevant initiatives.
 
     Ms Ho then paid a courtesy call on the Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in Barcelona, Ms Meng Yuhong, to share with her various housing initiatives being implemented by the HB, which include promoting the development of housing construction technologies by leveraging the strengths of the Mainland cities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA).
 
     Ms Ho today (July 5, Barcelona time) visited another social housing project, 72 Social Housing Units, to see its architectural design that creates a simple, livable and energy-efficient living environment.
 
     Concluding the trip, Ms Ho said, “Hong Kong enjoys the unique advantage of having the strong support of the motherland while maintaining unparalleled connectivity with the world, as well as the strategic geographical location of being connected to the GBA. This visit demonstrated how Hong Kong gives full play to its important roles as a ‘super connector’ and ‘super value-adder’. I look forward to maintaining close exchanges with Portugal and Spain in areas including innovative construction technologies, people-oriented ‘Well-being design’ concepts and sustainable smart city development, and exploring further collaboration to create more opportunities for the industries and enterprises of the three places.”
 
     Ms Ho will return to Hong Kong tomorrow morning (July 6).

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

     Following are the opening remarks by the Deputy Secretary for Justice, Dr Cheung Kwok-kwan, at the Opening Ceremony of Law Society of Hong Kong’s Teen Talk 2025 “Deepening Legal Cooperation, Youth Shaping Tomorrow” GBA Study Tour today (July 5):

Mr Roden Tong (President of the Law Society of Hong Kong), Mr Liu Chunhua (Director-General of the Department of Law of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region), Mr Cao Hailei (Deputy Director of the Justice Bureau of Shenzhen Municipality),
 
Good morning everyone! It is my great pleasure to join you at today’s opening ceremony of “Teen Talk GBA Study Tour 2025” organised by the Law Society of Hong Kong.

Our youth today are the leaders of tomorrow. I am pleased to note that the Law Society has empowered over 18 000 students through Teen Talk since 2009, fostering essential values such as empathy, team work and respect for the rule of law.

In recent years, the Greater Bay Area (GBA) has emerged as one of the world’s most significant economic zones. This dynamic region represents the successful collaboration between Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao, leveraging their complementary strengths to create exceptional opportunities for talented individuals like yourselves.

As Asia-Pacific’s premier hub for international legal services, Hong Kong’s established common law tradition provides distinctive expertise in bridging different legal systems. We should leverage our unique advantages and reinforce our connectivity with both the Mainland and the world, offering our unique contribution as the GBA continues its remarkable development.

It is therefore most timely for the Law Society to organise this second edition of cross-boundary Study Tour to Shenzhen. I would also like to welcome our participants assembled here today. Over the next two days, you will visit leading institutions, as Roden has mentioned, including the Qianhai People’s Court and the Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration, gaining valuable insights into cross-jurisdictional legal systems. I am sure that the volunteer solicitors who are joining today will be most happy to share their experience and broaden your understanding of legal practice.

I encourage you to approach this unique experience with intellectual curiosity, and embrace this opportunity for learning and meaningful exchanges.

I wish you all a highly successful and fruitful study tour. Enjoy!