Month: October 2025

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

Following is a question by the Hon Stanley Ng and a reply by the Acting Secretary for Health, Dr Cecilia Fan, in the Legislative Council today (October 15):

Question:

The Government launched the Elderly Health Care Voucher Greater Bay Area Pilot Scheme (the Pilot Scheme) in June last year to extend the coverage of the Elderly Health Care Vouchers (EHCVs) to suitable medical institutions in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). The Pilot Scheme has now been extended to nine Mainland cities in GBA, with the number of service points increased to a total of 21 after the addition of five pilot medical institutions in August this year, further enhancing the coverage of cross-boundary healthcare services. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) as the Secretary for Health has previously indicated that the Government is considering progressively extending the Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme to Fujian Province, of the relevant idea, specific arrangements and timetable;

(2) of the number, and the number of person-times, of Hong Kong elderly persons who have used EHCVs in GBA under the Pilot Scheme to date, with a breakdown by city and medical institution; whether the Government has analysed the relevant utilisation rates and trends; and

(3) whether, during the implementation of the Pilot Scheme, the SAR Government has established a coordination mechanism with the relevant Mainland authorities in respect of the sharing of medical records, payment procedures, medical dispute resolution mechanisms, the collection of feedback from the elderly, etc, and formulated specific agreements or cooperation arrangements?

Reply:

President,

The Government launched the Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme (EHVS) in 2009 which aims at providing financial incentives, through offering partial subsidies, for elderly persons to choose private primary healthcare (PHC) services that best suit their health needs. Each eligible elderly person is currently provided with an annual Elderly Health Care Voucher (EHCV) amount of $2,000, with the accumulation limit of $8,000. The expenditure for the EHVS increased from $682 million in 2014-15 to $3.424 billion in 2024-25. The estimated expenditure for the EHVS in 2025-26 is $4.15 billion. As at end-September 2025, over 1.79 million eligible elderly persons have used EHCVs.

In consultation with the Department of Health (DH), my reply to the question raised by the Hon Stanley Ng is as follows:

(1) The Government has been actively promoting healthcare collaboration in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) in recent years. In order to provide eligible Hong Kong elderly persons with more choices of service points in the GBA, and to offer them more convenience and flexibility to better use their EHCVs on PHC services, the Government launched the Elderly Health Care Voucher Greater Bay Area Pilot Scheme (Pilot Scheme) in 2024. Since June of the same year, the coverage of EHCVs has been extended by phases to seven integrated medical/dental institutions in the GBA, covering Guangzhou, Zhongshan, Dongguan and Shenzhen; among them are two designated dental institutions in Shenzhen for addressing the demand of elderly persons for dental services. In view of the positive responses from the Hong Kong community on the Pilot Scheme, the Government announced the extension of the Pilot Scheme in May this year to include 12 additional medical institutions to cover nine Mainland cities in the GBA, and the goal was fully achieved in August. Together with the two existing service points operated by the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital (HKU-SZH), eligible elderly persons can use EHCVs at a total of 21 service points in the Mainland cities in the GBA.

The extension of the Pilot Scheme to full coverage of nine Mainland cities in the GBA marks another milestone in policy innovation and medical collaboration between the two places. The Pilot Scheme is still in its initial operation period, we will continue to assess and monitor the operation and usage of EHCVs in the pilot medical institutions and review the effectiveness of the Pilot Scheme in due course before studying further arrangements.

(2) To ensure that EHCVs can effectively continue the policy objective of supporting the implementation of PHC services, the scope and principles of the use of EHCVs under the Pilot Scheme are generally identical to those in Hong Kong and under the HKU-SZH scheme. As at end-September 2025, over 23 300 eligible elderly persons have used EHCVs to pay for the fees of outpatient healthcare services received at medical institutions under the Pilot Scheme, involving 48 538 voucher claim transactions and a total claimed amount at approximately HK$55.99 million. The usage of EHCVs by eligible elderly persons at various pilot medical institutions are set out at Annex. Since the launch of the Pilot Scheme, the utilisation rate has been rising steadily. The service types for using the EHCVs are mainly “follow up/monitoring of long-term conditions” (52 per cent) and “preventive” (23 per cent). The Pilot Scheme is still in its initial operation period and some of the pilot medical institutions have operated for only a few months, requiring more time for further observation. We will continue to assess and monitor the operation and usage of EHCVs in the pilot medical institutions before further analysing relevant data.

(3) To ensure the proper use of public money, the DH adopts a robust monitoring mechanism for checking and auditing voucher claims under the EHVS. The existing monitoring mechanism, which includes measures such as routine checking, monitoring and investigating in respect of aberrant transactions, as well as auditing voucher claims, is also applicable to the HKU-SZH and medical institutions participating in the Pilot Scheme. The DH has also established a mechanism with the health authority of Guangdong Province, through which the health authority of Guangdong Province will provide assistance to the DH when necessary, with a view to enhancing its monitoring capabilities. The Government will continue to maintain close contact with the health authority of Guangdong Province to ensure the smooth implementation of the monitoring mechanism in the pilot medical institutions. The DH provides channels such as telephone hotline and email under the EHVS to Hong Kong elderly persons for making enquiries or complaints on the use of EHCVs and medical institutions under the Pilot Scheme. Based on the nature of complaints, the DH will strictly deal with all suspected cases of violating the EHVS rules and take appropriate follow-up measures.

In addition, the DH has signed service agreements with all pilot medical institutions, which cover and state clearly the relevant practices on the appropriate use of EHCVs, as well as the arrangements on financial matters and system configurations, etc. The Government has collaborated with all pilot medical institutions to finalise the relevant arrangements under the service agreement. All 19 pilot medical institutions have been operating smoothly since the launch of the Pilot Scheme in June 2024. 

Currently, Mainland medical institutions, including the quality of clinical services and the fees charged, are subject to strict supervision by relevant local authorities. Each medical institution under the Pilot Scheme has set up its own enquiry or complaint hotline. Hong Kong elderly persons can make use of different channels (including telephone hotline or email) to directly file any complaints, including medical incidents, regarding the pilot medical institutions, or lodge complaints against the medical institutions under the Pilot Scheme to the health authority at the provincial or municipal level if necessary. The relevant medical institution and the local regulatory authorities will follow up on the matter. The DH has also consolidated relevant information on the channels for reporting or lodging complaints, and uploaded the details to the EHVS website for public reference. 

Regarding medical records, the Government has been maintaining close liaison with the relevant Mainland authorities to take forward the sharing of cross-boundary medical records , in accordance with the overarching principles of ensuring due compliance of laws and regulations of Hong Kong and the Mainland and that data security and patients’ privacy are fully safeguarded. In particular, the Government launched two eHealth App functions, namely “Cross-boundary Health Record” and “Personal Folder”, at the HKU-SZH and the 19 medical institutions under the Pilot Scheme, which will facilitate elderly persons to securely use their electronic health records across the boundary under the principle of “bring your own health records”, thereby enhancing the continuity of care. Taking into account the implementation experience, the Government will further streamline the workflow and enhance the user experience, with the aim to support citizens’ cross-boundary healthcare needs more effectively.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

     The flag presentation ceremony of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Delegation to the 15th National Games of the People’s Republic of China (NG) was held at the Kowloon Park Sports Centre this afternoon (October 15).
      
     The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, officiated at the ceremony and presented the HKSAR regional flag to the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Head of the HKSAR Delegation, Miss Rosanna Law. The supporting organisations were also presented with certificates of appreciation during the ceremony.
      
     Organised by the General Administration of Sport of China once every four years, the NG is the country’s highest-level and largest national multi-sport event. The 15th NG, featuring 34 competition events and 23 mass participation events, with the latter covering 19 sports for competition and four sports for demonstration, will be held in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao from November 9 to 21 this year.
      
     Speaking at the event, Miss Law said that Hong Kong has participated in the NG eight times since its return to the motherland. In the last NG held in Shaanxi in 2021, the results of the Hong Kong team were very encouraging, achieving a total of seven medals, namely two golds and five bronzes. In recent years, Hong Kong athletes have accomplished outstanding results in various major international competitions and made historic achievements by capturing two gold medals and two bronze medals at the Paris Olympic Games last year, injecting strong impetus into the development of Hong Kong’s sports. This not only reflects that the skills of athletes have been on the rise, but also shows that the HKSAR Government is moving in the right direction in training elite athletes. At the same time, it demonstrates the results of the joint efforts of the Government and various sectors of the community in promoting the development of sports over the years.
      
     The Delegation participating in this year’s NG is the largest ever, with over 600 athletes and about 270 team officials and medical personnel taking part in 28 competition events. Together with the athletes and officials of 23 mass participation events, the total number of participants exceeds 1 800. For details and the list of athletes participating in the 15th NG, please visit the dedicated webpage of the HKSAR Delegation to the 15th NG (www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/ngames/2025).
      
     Also attending the flag presentation ceremony today were Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR Mr Sun Shangwu; the President of the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China and Chairman of the Organising Committee of the Delegation, Mr Timothy Fok; the President of the China Hong Kong Paralympic Committee and Chairman of the Organising Committee of the Delegation, Mrs Jenny Fung; the Permanent Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism and Honorary Adviser of the Delegation, Ms Vivian Sum; the Under Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr Raistlin Lau; the Head of the National Games Coordination Office (Hong Kong), Mr Yeung Tak-keung; the Director of Leisure and Cultural Services and Vice Chairman of the Organising Committee of the Delegation, Ms Manda Chan; and the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Delegation, Mr Cheng King-leung.

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government will hold the Seminar on Executive-Legislative Collaboration for Good Governance & Better Future at the Central Government Offices tomorrow, where Chief Executive John Lee will deliver a keynote speech.

The seminar aims to strengthen public understanding of the relationship between the executive authorities and the legislature, steadfast and successful implementation of “one country, two systems” and the significance of good governance.

Patriotic and pro-Hong Kong organisations, representatives from various sectors of the community as well as experts and scholars are invited to exchange views and build consensus at the event.

Chief Secretary Chan Kwok-ki, Legislative Council President Andrew Leung, Secretary-General of the Hong Kong Coalition Tam Yiu-chung, and Consultant of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong & Macao Studies Prof Lau Siu-kai will give speeches.

The seminar will be held from 11am to 12.30pm. Radio Television Hong Kong TV 32 will live-broadcast the seminar, while the RTHK website, Information Services Department website, and Facebook pages of news.gov.hk and that of the Constitutional & Mainland Affairs Bureau will stream the seminar online.

The Hong Kong SAR Government encourages citizens to watch the seminar for a better understanding of the Legislative Council Election and participate actively in the polls to create the future together.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

The Government welcomed the passage of the Road Traffic (Amendment) (Ride-Hailing Service) Bill 2025 today, which marks a significant milestone in introducing a regulatory regime for ride-hailing services that aims to provide the public with safer, more reliable, and diverse personalised point-to-point transport services.

The Road Traffic (Amendment) (Ride-hailing Service) Ordinance 2025 introduces a regulatory framework for ride-hailing services, requiring platforms, vehicles, and drivers providing ride-hailing services to obtain licences or permits.

In addition, the ordinance strengthens penalties and arrangements related to illegal carriage of passengers for reward.

Secretary for Transport & Logistics Mable Chan said the Government is determined to introduce a legal framework for regulating ride-hailing services, in order to address the long-standing controversies surrounding such services, and achieve a win-win situation for the public, taxis and ride-hailing services.

“The ordinance represents a crucial step forward in the Government’s legislative work.

“By first establishing the fundamental regulatory principles, it lays a solid legal foundation for establishing the technical details in the next stage.

“We will immediately proceed with the next stage of work, including discussing in a focused manner with stakeholders and finalising the regulatory details through subsidiary legislation and licence/permit conditions.

“We will continue to listen to the views and suggestions from all parties, with a view to adopting a ‘people-oriented and win-win’ approach.”

The ordinance will be gazetted on October 24.

The Government plans to submit the subsidiary legislation detailing regulatory requirements to the Legislative Council for scrutiny in the first half of next year, with a view to completing the relevant legislative procedures in mid-2026.

Subject to the preparatory work of the platforms that are granted ride-hailing service licences, the Government expects that the licensed platforms may start operating in the fourth quarter of next year.

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

The flag presentation ceremony of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Delegation to the 15th National Games of the People’s Republic of China was held at the Kowloon Park Sports Centre today.

Chief Executive John Lee officiated at the ceremony and presented the Hong Kong SAR regional flag to Secretary for Culture, Sports & Tourism and Head of the Hong Kong SAR Delegation Rosanna Law.

Miss Law said that Hong Kong has participated in the National Games eight times since its return to the motherland, noting that its athletes have accomplished outstanding results in various major international competitions in recent years and made historic achievements by capturing two gold medals and two bronze medals at the Paris Olympic Games last year, injecting strong impetus into the development of local sports.

This not only reflects that the skills of athletes have been on the rise, but also shows that the Hong Kong SAR Government is moving in the right direction in training elite athletes, she added.

The 15th National Games will be held in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau from November 9 to 21.

The delegation participating in this year’s Games is the largest ever, with over 600 athletes and about 270 team officials and medical personnel taking part in 28 competition events. Together with the athletes and officials of 23 mass participation events, the total number of participants exceeds 1,800.

Click here for details of the athletes’ participation in the 15th National Games.

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

The Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong (CMHHK), located at 1 Pak Shing Kok Road in Tseung Kwan O, will commence services in phases starting from December 11.

Highlighting that the CMHHK is the first hospital in Hong Kong to offer predominantly Chinese Medicine (CM) services, Secretary for Health Prof Lo Chung-mau said the hospital will lead the way for Hong Kong’s CM services to go beyond primary healthcare and play a part in secondary and tertiary healthcare services.

“I am very excited that the hospital is about to commence its service, and look forward to its development of a ‘Hong Kong model’ for pure CM services, services with CM playing the predominant role and integrated Chinese-Western medicine services, providing more comprehensive CM services to members of the public.

“CMHHK will give full play to its role as a ‘change driver’ to drive CM development in Hong Kong and in the Greater Bay Area through close collaboration with the CM sector and stakeholders, as well as to assist CM services to go global, thereby contributing to the national development of CM.”

Clinical services

In its first year of service, the CMHHK will provide outpatient and day-patient services, and will fully launch six specialised CM services, namely internal medicine in CM, external medicine in CM, gynaecology in CM, paediatrics in CM, orthopaedics and traumatology in CM, and acupuncture and moxibustion in CM. It will also provide 12 special disease programmes, including those for elderly degenerative diseases and stroke rehabilitation.

For outpatient services, government-subsidised services will cover general clinic, specialised clinic and integrated allied health clinic services, while market-oriented services will cover private clinic and integrated allied health clinic services.

Day-patient services will encompass both government-subsidised services and market-oriented services. Twenty-five beds will be provided in the first year, primarily for CM cases requiring longer treatment times or more complicated procedures.

Inpatient services will mainly commence from the second year.

It is expected that by the end of 2030, the CMHHK will provide full inpatient services, involving 400 patient beds, as well as outpatient services handling 400,000 patients annually.

Fee models

The CMHHK’s government-subsidised services, which will be accessible to eligible Hong Kong citizens, will account for 65% of the hospital’s total service volume.

The hospital will adopt package charges, simplified itemised charges and combined charges, enabling users to easily understand fee arrangements and manage their healthcare expenses.

A medical fee waiver mechanism will be in place, under which specified patient groups will be eligible for a full fee waiver. Other patients facing financial hardship may apply to the hospital for fee waivers.

To encourage patients in need to experience the services of the first CM hospital in Hong Kong, the CMHHK will offer a special “experience discount” in its first year of operation, with designated services being offered at 10% to 30% off.

Appointments

From November 1, members of the public can make appointments by visiting the CMHHK’s website or calling 3121 3121. Bookings can also be placed through the hospital’s mobile app starting from December 1.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Police are investigating a fatal traffic accident in Tin Shui Wai today (October 15), in which a man died.

At about 11.17am, Police received a report that a man was trapped beneath a medium goods vehicle (MGV) with a container trailer.

Police officers sped to the scene. The 71-year-old man was rescued by firemen. Sustaining serious multiple injuries, he was rushed to Tin Shui Wai Hospital in unconscious state and was certified dead at 1.16pm today.

Initial investigation revealed that the man had parked his MGV at a warehouse car park in San Hing Tsuen on Lau Fau Shan Road. After alighting, the vehicle reportedly rolled forward. The man attempted to re-enter his vehicle to brake. The vehicle door then struck the container of another MGV parked in front, trapping him between his vehicle and the container. The other MGV subsequently moved off and the man reportedly fell to the ground, after which he was run over by his still-rolling vehicle.

Investigation by the Special Investigation Team of Traffic, New Territories North is underway.

Anyone who witnessed the accident or has any information to offer is urged to contact the investigating officers at 3661 3800.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

​The Secretary for Education, Dr Choi Yuk-lin, today (October 15) proceeded to Chengdu, Sichuan, to continue her visit programme.

Dr Choi met with the Director-General of the Department of Education of Sichuan Province, Professor Yu Xiaoqi, to discuss education issues of mutual concern. She said that Hong Kong and Sichuan Province have long maintained close ties, and both the Education Bureau and the Department of Education of Sichuan Province have been striving to advance education exchanges between Hong Kong and Sichuan since the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on education co-operation in 2013. She said she looks forward to expanding the collaboration based on the existing foundation.

Dr Choi also visited Sichuan Changjiang Vocational College to understand the latest developments and prospects of local vocational education and met with Hong Kong people working in Chengdu to learn about their entrepreneurial experiences. She toured the Sichuan-Hong Kong-Macao-Taiwan youth exchange base and the Chengdu-Hong Kong industry-education integration park in the college. She learned about how the college promotes youth exchanges through diverse activities and fosters synergy between vocational education and various industries to cultivate skilled professionals required.

During her meeting with the college leaders, Dr Choi noted that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has been promoting vocational and professional education and training (VPET) at different levels through a multipronged approach, adopting the strategy of fostering industry-institution collaboration and diversified development. It encourages the alignment of classroom education with industry needs and collaboration between businesses and education institutions, thereby providing diversified learning and employment opportunities and nurturing more high-quality talent with applied skills. Dr Choi said she expected to learn from the experiences of other regions in promoting VPET during the visit, and she was also pleased to see Hong Kong and Sichuan Province strengthen exchanges and co-operation in areas such as skilled talent cultivation and industry-education collaboration.

Dr Choi will call on the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the Sichuan Provincial People’s Government tomorrow morning (October 16) and then conclude her visit and return to Hong Kong.