Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

Nearly 330,000 people participated in recreation and sports programmes and used leisure facilities for free during Sport For All Day 2026, the Leisure & Cultural Services Department announced today.

The department noted that it was the first time it opened leisure facilities for free public use across two consecutive days on August 1 and 2.

Themed “Asian Games in Motion, City in Action” this year, the event logged a usage rate of over 95% for the main arenas of sports centres, while public swimming pools saw more than 100,000 visits.

More than 26,000 people took part in free leisure programmes held at designated sports centres across 18 districts. These included activities inspired by Asian Games events such as wushu, handball, football, rowing, equestrian sports and skateboarding.

Sports demonstrations, fitness corners, and activities tailored for people of different ages and those with disabilities were also well received.

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government warmly welcomes new measures to deepen market co-operation and co-ordinated development between Hong Kong and the Mainland.

The series of new measures, announced today by the China Securities Regulatory Commission and the Securities & Futures Commission, aim to consolidate and enhance Hong Kong’s status as an international financial centre.

Chief Executive John Lee said the measures will support enterprise development and cross-boundary financing. They will also promote market connectivity by deepening co-operation in indices, futures and exchange traded funds (ETFs).

“Under ‘One Country, Two Systems’, Hong Kong enjoys the unique advantage of having strong support from the motherland while being closely connected to the world,” he said. “As an important bridge in our country’s financial system, Hong Kong will continue to leverage its role in ‘bringing in and going global’, better integrating into and serving the overall development of our country,” Mr Lee added.

“Hong Kong is proactively aligning with the National 15th Five Year Plan and is working at full speed to formulate our first five-year plan, fostering high quality market development by promoting renminbi internationalisation and cross-boundary capital flows.

“I sincerely thank the Central People’s Government and relevant authorities for their staunch support for Hong Kong all along. The Hong Kong SAR Government will continue to enhance the competitiveness of Hong Kong’s financial markets to consolidate and elevate Hong Kong’s status as an international financial centre, while serving our country’s high-quality financial opening-up and contributing to the long-term development of our country’s financial markets.”

Financial Secretary Paul Chan noted that the 10 new measures span cross-boundary listings, ETFs, index co-operation, RMB-denominated futures products, streamlined applications for Mainland professional qualifications and strengthened regulatory co-operation.

“They will facilitate Mainland and overseas investors to seize the enormous investment opportunities arising from our country’s steady and high-quality economic development and the building of a modern industrial system, while at the same time consolidating and enhancing Hong Kong’s function as a hub connecting the Mainland market and global capital.

“These measures will further promote the coordinated development of the two capital markets on a more open, resilient and efficient basis,” he added.

The Hong Kong SAR Government said that it will work with regulators to facilitate the implementation of the measures.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, today (August 2) met with the Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, Mr Wu Qing, at Government House to exchange views on deepening the mutual access between Hong Kong and Mainland financial markets. The Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan; the Acting Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Joseph Chan; the Chairman of the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong (SFC), Dr Kelvin Wong; and the Chief Executive Officer of the SFC, Ms Julia Leung, also attended the meeting.
 
Mr Lee welcomed Mr Wu and his delegation to Hong Kong. He said that Hong Kong enjoys unique advantages of having strong support of the motherland and being closely connected to the world under the “one country, two systems” principle, and possesses a highly internationalised market environment and mature financial infrastructure. The National 15th Five-Year Plan supports Hong Kong in consolidating and enhancing its status as an international financial centre, strengthening its functions as a global offshore Renminbi (RMB) business hub, an international asset and wealth management centre, and an international risk management centre. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government is pressing ahead at full speed with the preparation of Hong Kong’s First Five-Year Plan, and is fully committed to its formulation to proactively seize the opportunities brought by the development of the country, continuously advance the high-quality development of Hong Kong as an international financial centre, and support the high-level opening up of the Mainland’s financial markets.
 
Mr Lee said that global demand for RMB in trade finance, investment and reserves is steadily rising. Hong Kong, as a hub for global offshore RMB transactions and financial activities, with the world’s largest offshore pool of RMB funds, has been actively advancing the upgrading of its financial infrastructure, product innovation and market expansion in various key areas. He was pleased to note that the launch of Mainland government bond futures in Hong Kong tomorrow (August 3) provides an effective offshore risk management tool for investors, and helps attract international investors to participate in the Mainland bond market and to hold RMB treasury bonds on a long-term basis. This is a key step in enhancing the RMB product ecosystem, and further consolidates Hong Kong’s status as the world’s offshore RMB business hub. Mr Lee thanked the Central People’s Government and relevant Mainland regulators for their continued support, and said that he looked forward to further deepening co-operation with the Mainland and enhancing the liquidity of offshore RMB to facilitate the prudent and solid advancement of the RMB’s internationalisation.
 
Mr Lee said that the HKSAR Government will continue to work closely with Mainland regulators to jointly implement pragmatic measures to deepen co-operation between the two markets. Hong Kong will continue to expand the mutual access between Hong Kong and Mainland financial markets, building on the existing foundations of Stock Connect, Bond Connect and Cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect, to offer a wide range of investment and risk management products to the market. Hong Kong and the Mainland will achieve complementary advantages and promote synergistic development and product innovation in the financial markets to contribute to the development of the country as a financial powerhouse. 

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

     The Sport For All Day (SFAD) 2026 was held this afternoon (August 2). The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, took part in the activities held at the prime venue at Kowloon Park Sports Centre, conveying to the public the benefits of regular exercise for physical and mental well-being.

     With the 20th Asian Games to be held this September, SFAD 2026 was themed “Asian Games in Motion, City in Action”, cheering for the Hong Kong athletes participating in the Games.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

The 2026 provisional registers of electors/voters and omissions lists for geographical constituencies (GCs), functional constituencies (FCs) and Election Committee subsectors (ECSSs) were released today (August 1). The Registration and Electoral Office (REO) appeals to members of the public to check their registration status through “iAM Smart” or the Voter Registration website (vr.gov.hk) on or before August 25.

Compilation of provisional registers of electors/voters and omissions lists

     The 2026 provisional register of electors for GCs contains about 4 120 100 registered electors. In the 2026 voter registration cycle, there are about 64 900 new registration applications and about 127 800 applications for updating particulars from registered electors of GCs. Moreover, the records of about 24 900 and about 57 700 electors have been removed from the provisional register by being placed on the omissions list due to death or as a result of other inquiry processes respectively.

As for FCs, the provisional register of electors contains about 190 700 registered electors. The figure has factored in newly registered electors, electors with a change in constituency, and electors entered on the omissions list due to death or as a result of other inquiry processes, etc.

     As for ECSSs, the provisional register of voters contains about 9 300 registered voters. The figure has factored in newly registered voters, voters with a change in subsector, and voters entered on the omissions list due to death or as a result of other inquiry processes, etc.

     “The REO has earlier mailed to the relevant electors/voters to confirm their new registration or change of registration particulars. Those who have provided mobile phone numbers or email addresses would have received related messages. All SMS messages issued by the REO will start with the prefix ‘#REO’ in the sender ID for identification,” a spokesman for the REO said.

Prompt reply to reminding letters if requested

     Electors/voters who have been included in the omissions lists will receive reminding letters from the REO to confirm their eligibility. The envelopes of the reminding letters are beige in colour with a message, “Immediate action required. Your voting right is at stake” printed in red. Recipients must reply or provide supplementary information on or before the statutory deadline of August 25 by scanning the QR code on the reply slip with mobile devices, or by email, post or fax so that they may, with the Revising Officer’s approval, keep their elector/voter status and be included in the relevant final registers of electors/voters.

Lodging statutory claims and objections
 
Any electors/voters who have been included in the omissions lists; any individuals/bodies who have applied for registration but no such record is found in the relevant provisional register(s); any registered electors/voters with incorrect particulars recorded in the relevant provisional register(s); or anyone who considers an individual/body in the relevant provisional register(s) not eligible to be so registered may lodge a claim or an objection in person with the REO by the statutory deadline of August 25. The Revising Officer will, according to law, consider the evidence provided by the applicant and make a ruling.

     The specified forms for lodging claims and objections can be downloaded from the REO webpage (www.reo.gov.hk/en/voter/appeal.html) or obtained from the two offices of the REO (8/F, Treasury Building, 3 Tonkin Street West, Cheung Sha Wan, Kowloon, and 29/F, Standard Chartered Tower, Millennium City 1, 388 Kwun Tong Road, Kwun Tong, Kowloon) or the Home Affairs Enquiry Centres of respective District Offices. Information on the claims and objections will be uploaded to the same webpage before the day of the hearing for reference.

Arrangements for inspection of provisional registers of electors/voters and omissions lists

Notices on the inspection of the provisional registers of electors/voters and omissions lists were gazetted for promulgation today. According to the law, a copy of provisional registers and omissions lists containing entries relating to individuals may only be shown in accordance with the statutory requirements, and made available for inspection by specified persons only. A copy of the provisional registers and omissions lists containing only entries of bodies may be inspected by any member of the public. For inspection arrangement for the copy of registers, please refer to www.reo.gov.hk/en/voter/checkvrstatus/registers.html. 

     A special arrangement has been made by the REO today to allow specified persons/members of the public to inspect a copy of the provisional registers and omissions lists, and submit notices of claim/objection at the above two offices from 9am to 6pm.

     Related statistical information has been uploaded to the voter registration website (vr.gov.hk). The REO will publish the final registers of this year on September 25.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

​An incoming female passenger was sentenced to a total of 10 weeks’ imprisonment and fined $2,000 by the Fanling Magistrates’ Courts today (July 31) for possessing duty-not-paid cigarettes and failing to declare them to Customs officers, in contravention of the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance (DCO).
 
Customs officers first intercepted the incoming 82-year-old local female passenger at the Lo Wu Control Point on July 5 and seized 1 600 duty-not-paid cigarettes from her personal baggage. The female passenger was subsequently arrested, charged and released on bail pending trial. The woman later re-entered Hong Kong at the Lo Wu Control Point on July 24. Customs officers further seized 1 581 duty-not-paid cigarettes from her personal baggage. The female passenger was subsequently arrested again and charged. A total of 3 181 duty-not-paid cigarettes with an estimated total market value of about $13,000 and a total duty potential of about $10,500 were seized in the two interceptions.
 
Customs welcomes the sentence. The custodial sentence has imposed a considerable deterrent effect and reflects the seriousness of the offences.
 
Customs reminds members of the public that under the DCO, cigarettes are dutiable goods to which the DCO applies. Any person who imports, deals with, possesses, sells or buys illicit cigarettes commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $2 million and imprisonment for seven years.

Members of the public may report any suspected illicit cigarette activities to Customs’ 24-hour hotline 182 8080 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) or online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002).

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

Chief Executive John Lee today met Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission Wu Qing at Government House to discuss deepening the mutual access between Hong Kong and Mainland financial markets.

Welcoming Mr Wu and his delegation to Hong Kong, Mr Lee said that city enjoys the unique advantage of having the motherland’s strong support while being closely connected to the world under the “one country, two systems” principle, and possesses a highly internationalised market environment and mature financial infrastructure.

Mr Lee highlighted that the National 15th Five-Year Plan supports Hong Kong in consolidating and enhancing its status as an international financial centre, strengthening its functions as a global offshore renminbi (RMB) business hub, an international asset and wealth management centre, and an international risk management centre.

He outlined that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government is pressing ahead with preparing Hong Kong’s own first Five-Year Plan, and is fully committed seizing the opportunities brought by national development, advancing the high-quality development of Hong Kong as an international financial centre, and supporting the high-level opening up of the Mainland’s financial markets.

Mr Lee said that global demand for RMB in trade finance, investment and reserves is steadily rising. Hong Kong, as a hub for global offshore RMB transactions and financial activities, has the world’s largest offshore pool of RMB funds, and has been upgrading its financial infrastructure, while innovating and expanding in various key areas. 

Noting that Mainland government bond futures will be launched in Hong Kong tomorrow, Mr Lee said this provides an effective offshore risk management tool for investors, and also helps attract international investors to participate in the Mainland bond market and to hold RMB treasury bonds on a long-term basis.

Mr Lee emphasised that this is a key step in enhancing the RMB product ecosystem, and further consolidates Hong Kong’s status as the world’s offshore RMB business hub.

He thanked the Central People’s Government and relevant Mainland regulators for their continued support, and said that he looked forward to further deepening co-operation with the Mainland and enhancing the liquidity of offshore RMB to facilitate the prudent and solid advancement of the RMB’s internationalisation.

The Chief Executive said that the Hong Kong SAR Government will continue to work closely with Mainland regulators to jointly implement pragmatic measures to deepen co-operation between the two markets. 

Hong Kong will continue to expand the mutual access between Hong Kong and Mainland financial markets, building on the existing foundations of Stock Connect, Bond Connect and Cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect, to offer a wide range of investment and risk management products to the market. 

Hong Kong and the Mainland will achieve complementary advantages and promote synergistic development and product innovation in the financial markets to contribute to the development of the country as a financial powerhouse, he added.

Financial Secretary Paul Chan, Acting Secretary for Financial Services & the Treasury Joseph Chan, Hong Kong Securities & Futures Commission (SFC) Chairman Kelvin Wong and the SFC Chief Executive Officer Julia Leung also attended the meeting.

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

Chief Executive John Lee today attended various Sport For All Day activities at Kowloon Park Sports Centre, and conveyed a message to the public about the benefits of regular exercise for physical and mental well-being.

With the 20th Asian Games due to be held in September, this year’s Sport For All Day was themed “Asian Games in Motion, City in Action”, to support the Hong Kong athletes participating in the Games.

Secretary for Culture, Sports & Tourism Rosanna Law, and other guests including wushu athlete Juanita Mok and swimmer Adam Mak also attended.

There were wushu performances, as well as fitness, skateboarding, virtual football, equestrian and rowing demonstrations, and handball and floorball activities. 

Mr Lee also took part in games at Festival of Sport booth organised by the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China.

The following principal officials also attended leisure activities at sports centres in various district: Chief Secretary Chan Kwok-ki; Secretary for Security Tang Ping-keung; Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Algernon Yau; Secretary for Health Prof Lo Chung-mau; Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn; Secretary for the Civil Service Ingrid Yeung; Secretary for Innovation, Technology & Industry Prof Sun Dong; Secretary for Labour & Welfare Chris Sun; Secretary for Constitutional & Mainland Affairs Janice Tse; Acting Secretary for Financial Services & the Treasury Joseph Chan; Acting Secretary for Environment & Ecology Diane Wong; Acting Secretary for Education Sze Chun-fai; and Acting Secretary for Home & Youth Affairs Clarence Leung.

The Leisure & Cultural Services Department organises the Sport For All Day every August. This year, leisure facilities were, for the first time, open for free public use over both days of the weekend.