Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

     Following is a question by the Hon Chau Siu-chung and a written reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun, in the Legislative Council today (July 23):
 
Question:

     Regarding the improvement of labour importation policy, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) as it has been reported that some employers have engaged in “bogus recruitment” (e.g. rejecting suitable local job seekers after interviews on the grounds that they do not meet the requirements) in order to create the false impression of difficulties in local recruitment, so as to justify applications to the Government for labour importation, while some unscrupulous employers have exploited the imported labour they employed through various means, resulting in the issue of “cheap imported labour”, and there are views pointing out that such non-compliant practices severely undermine employment opportunities for local workers, whether the Government will consider establishing a blacklist system to regularly publish information on companies involved in substantiated cases of violation of labour importation regulations (including company names, the industries to which they belong, nature and dates of violations, the labour importation schemes involved, and follow-up actions taken by the authorities), so as to enhance monitoring and increase deterrence;
 
(2) whether it will study the feasibility of introducing an administrative penalty system to impose heavy fines on employers who violate regulations related to imported labour (including reducing the working hours of local employees or dismissing them after recruiting imported labour) in order to enhance deterrence;
 
(3) as there are views pointing out that the median monthly wages for some job categories (particularly those in the catering industry) on the List of Common Posts under the current Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme are below market levels, which may bring down the wages for local workers in related job categories and even discourage employers from recruiting local workers, whether the authorities will review and refine the methodology for determining the median wage levels on the List to better align them with market levels;
 
(4) as there are views that local labour market statistics (including size of labour force, unemployment rate, underemployment rate and monthly employment earnings of employed persons) regularly published by the Census and Statistics Department do not process data on imported labour separately, making it difficult for such statistics to effectively reflect the impact of labour importation policy on the local labour market (including the employment and wages of local workers), whether the authorities will consider regularly compiling and publishing relevant labour market statistics that exclude the factor of imported labour; and
 
(5) whether the authorities will consider proactively and regularly publishing statistics on imported labour (including the numbers of applications, approvals and arrivals to Hong Kong for work, broken down by labour importation scheme, industry and job category, as well as the number and names of enterprises employing imported labour, the industries involved, and the number of local employees and imported workers), so that society can better understand the implementation of the labour importation policy?

Reply:
 
President,
 
     To cope with the challenges brought by manpower shortage and on the premise of ensuring employment priority for local workers, the Government suitably allows employers to apply for importation of workers. Apart from launching sector-specific labour importation schemes for the construction sector, transport sector, and residential care homes for the elderly and residential care homes for persons with disabilities, the Labour Department (LD) has implemented the Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme (ESLS) since September 4, 2023 to suspend the general exclusion of the 26 job categories as well as unskilled or low-skilled posts from labour importation under the previous Supplementary Labour Scheme for two years.
 
     In consultation with the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD), the reply to the Member’s question is as follows:
 
(1) and (2) To safeguard employment priority for local workers, applicant employers of the ESLS must undertake a four-week local open recruitment and accord priority to employing qualified local workers to fill the job vacancies at a salary not lower than the prevailing median monthly wage of a comparable position in the market. Upon completion of the local recruitment procedures, employers shall report the results and submit recruitment advertisements to the LD for verification. The LD will contact each of the unsuccessful local job seekers to verify the interview details and confirm if the reasons for not employing the job seekers as reported by the employers are consistent with the facts and reasonable, so as to assess whether the employers have sincerity in recruiting local workers. If there is evidence showing that an employer has violated the requirements of local recruitment or refused to employ qualified local job seekers without reasonable grounds, the LD will terminate the processing of the relevant application. The LD will also impose administrative sanction on the employer and refuse to process any other application(s) submitted by the employer concerned in the following year. In parallel, employers approved to import workers are required to sign a Standard Employment Contract (SEC) with imported workers, and shall pay a salary not lower than the median monthly wage of a comparable position to prevent the imported workers from becoming “cheap labour” and undermining the employment opportunities of local workers.

     Since June 17 this year, the LD has implemented a series of new measures to strengthen the protection of the employment priority for local workers, including launching an online complaint form on the ESLS dedicated webpage to enable local employees and imported workers to lodge complaints against employers for suspected breaches of the requirements of the ESLS, displaying the names of applicant companies when publishing job vacancies for local recruitment under the ESLS on the Interactive Employment Service website to increase the information transparency of local recruitment, launching a special inspection campaign to check whether establishments employing imported workers have continuously met the manning ratio requirement of full-time local employees to imported workers of 2:1, requiring employers to report information on full-time local employees and imported workers as well as the relevant manning ratios based on a risk-based approach, and refusing to process other application(s) submitted by the same employer within six months after the employer submitted an application under the ESLS. Besides, the LD launched additional measures in July to strengthen monitoring of employers’ local recruitment arrangements to ensure fairness and authenticity in the local recruitment process.
 
     The ESLS also requires employers not to displace local workers with imported workers. In the event of redundancy, imported workers should be retrenched first. If there is sufficient evidence substantiating violation of the relevant requirements, the LD will impose administrative sanction, including withdrawal of approvals for importation of labour previously granted to the employer and refusal to process applications for labour importation submitted by the employer in the following two years.
 
     With regard to the treatment of imported workers, the Government attaches great importance to protecting their employment rights and benefits. Imported workers also enjoy the protection of labour laws in Hong Kong. The Government adopts a multi-pronged strategy, including requiring employers and imported workers to sign the SEC, requiring that wages be paid directly into imported workers’ bank accounts in Hong Kong by automatic payment, conducting surprise inspections to workplaces of imported workers, and organising briefings on employment rights to ensure imported workers understand their employment rights and benefits. For cases of suspected exploitation of imported workers, the Government has set up an inter-departmental task force to follow up and investigate whether criminal elements are involved. If there is sufficient evidence, law enforcement agencies will take out prosecution. In addition, the LD launched the Imported Workers Support Scheme in January this year to strengthen support for imported workers who are suspected of being exploited, including case consultation, follow-up and guidance, as well as assisting imported workers whose employment has been terminated by their employers to arrange temporary accommodation and apply for relevant subsidies.
 
(3) In consultation with relevant government bureaux/ departments/ training bodies/ professional organisations and making reference to details of the applied posts commonly processed under the ESLS, the LD complies the List of Common Posts under the ESLS (including the scope of duties, academic requirements, years of experience, normal working hours per day, and median monthly wages of relevant posts). Among others, the median monthly wages are mainly determined by the C&SD’s data of wages earned by relevant employed labour force in the specified survey reference month. The LD will continue to closely monitor the local labour market and relevant statistics, and continuously review the operation and implementation arrangements of the ESLS, striving to safeguard the employment priority for local workers.
 
(4) To reflect the latest conditions of the overall labour force (including imported workers in Hong Kong), the C&SD conducts regular sample surveys to compile and disseminate statistics on the labour force, employment, unemployment and underemployment, etc, in Hong Kong. As imported workers in Hong Kong only constitute a very small proportion of the labour force, the relevant breakdowns will have significant sampling error. Taking into account the accuracy of the statistics, it is difficult to segregate the factor of imported workers and publish the statistics separately.
 
(5) The Government reports regularly to the Labour Advisory Board on the implementation and relevant statistics of the labour importation schemes, and will continue to closely monitor changes in the local labour market and the manpower situation of different industries, and from time to time review the operation and implementation arrangements of the sector-specific labour importation schemes and the ESLS to ensure measures for safeguarding employment priority for local workers are implemented.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

Following is a question by Dr the Hon Dennis Lam and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Ms Mable Chan, in the Legislative Council today (July 23):

Question:

Under the existing legislation, a person holding an overseas driving licence issued by a recognised country or place may be directly issued with a Hong Kong full driving licence without taking a local driving test (direct issue of driving licence). It has been reported that queuing gangs have recently been blatantly offering facilitation service for direct issue of driving licence in the vicinity of the Hong Kong Licensing Office of the Transport Department (the Licensing Office) and on social media platforms (such as Xiaohongshu, etc), and some individuals have been transferring their same-day queue tickets after waiting in line early in the morning at the Licensing Office, raising suspicions of abuse of services. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) whether the aforementioned facilitation service is illegal;

(2) whether it has reviewed if the existing legislation is adequate in combating the suspected abuse of services and transfer of queue tickets as mentioned above; if so, of the details;

(3) of the measures the Government will adopt to combat the suspected abuse of services and transfer of queue tickets as mentioned above, including whether it will consider conducting decoy operations on social media platforms (such as Xiaohongshu) or at the Licensing Office; if so, of the details; and

(4) given the current significant demand for direct issue of driving licence, whether the authorities will consider optimising the existing ticket distribution mechanism or application process (including the existing system of online appointment booking for services), so as to shorten applicants’ waiting time and enhance overall efficiency?

Reply:

President,

The Transport Department (TD) implements direct issue of a Hong Kong full driving licence without test (“direct issue”) in accordance with regulation 11(3) of the Road Traffic (Driving Licences) Regulations (Cap. 374B) (the Regulations), which allows a person holding a driving licence issued by one of the 32 countries and places specified in the Fourth Schedule to the Regulations (recognised countries or places) to be directly issued with a Hong Kong full driving licence without taking a local driving test for driving private cars, light goods vehicles, motor cycles and/or motor tricycles, provided that specified conditions are met.

According to the Regulations, to apply for “direct issue”, the driving licence issued by the relevant recognised country or place must still be valid or expired for not more than three years, and be obtained by the applicant after successful completion of a driving test conducted in the issuing country or place. Also, the applicant must be aged 18 years or above and meet one of the following requirements: (1) the driving licence held was issued during a period of the applicant’s residence of not less than six months in the issuing country or place; or (2) the applicant has been holding the driving licence issued by the recognised country or place for not less than five years immediately prior to the application; or (3) the applicant is the holder of a passport or other equivalent travel document issued in the country or place in which the driving licence was issued.

A consolidated reply to the various parts of the question raised by Dr the Hon Dennis Lam is as follows:

(1) to (3) For the convenience of the general public, the TD, as in the case of other licensing services, allows applicants for “direct issue” to choose to submit their applications and supporting documents in person or by authorised persons (including family members, friends, etc) based on their own needs. To meet the eligibility criteria of “direct issue” under the Regulations, an applicant or his/her authorised person should, when submitting an application, produce the relevant original copies of various supporting documents which are authentic and accurate (including a valid driving licence issued by the recognised country or place, the applicant’s passport/other travel document, proof of address or Certificate of Driving Licence Particulars, etc) for on-site inspection by TD staff. The TD has been processing the applications in a stringent manner to ensure that all applications are correctly approved.

Currently, applicants for “direct issue” may use counter services and submit application documents through making online appointments or obtaining same-day queue tickets at the Licensing Offices. As regards obtaining same-day queue tickets, in order to maintain the good order of queuing, the TD has further stepped up staff patrols, set up additional barriers to separate those queuing up for the tickets for “direct issue” and those for the tickets for general driving licensing services, and demarcated designated areas for queuing. In addition, in relation to “direct issue”, the TD will specify the sequence of queuing tickets to prevent situations such as queue-jumping. The TD has been posting notices and deploying staff and security guards to provide on-site assistance as appropriate. Any acts found to be disrupting public order will be reported to the Hong Kong Police Force for follow-up.

To strengthen verification of the identity of queuers, the TD has enhanced the queue ticketing system for same-day queue tickets to ensure that a person using the same identification document (ID) can only obtain one queue ticket for each time slot. The counter staff will conduct strict checking of the ID number of the user and ascertain that the queuer is the one who uses the counter services, so as to curb transfer of queue tickets. Once an unauthorised transfer of queue ticket is found, all relevant queue tickets will become void immediately and the applications will not be processed.

To address the issue of individuals touting facilitation services after obtaining same-day queue tickets, the TD will further enhance the queue ticketing system from mid-August 2025, whereby all queuers will be required to input both the ID numbers of their own and those of the applicants for “direct issue”, which will then be printed on the tickets. When a ticket holder uses the counter services, the counter staff will verify his/her ID numbers and those of the applicant. If either of these ID numbers does not match with those printed on the ticket, the ticket will become void and the application will not be processed. This enhanced arrangement will deter individuals from touting with the same-day queue tickets obtained. The TD will publicise the latest operational arrangement of the queue ticketing system on its website and announce the relevant information through social media. The TD staff will post notices on-site and provide assistance to members of the public at the venue.

(4) The TD has been highly concerned about the situation of queue ticketing and online appointments, and has implemented targeted enhancement measures. Apart from the aforementioned enhanced arrangements for same-day queue tickets, in terms of online appointments, the TD will strengthen its co-operation with the relevant issuers of driving licences. For example, starting from September 2025, applicants’ information in relation to Mainland driving licences provided via online appointments will be checked. If the information is found to be untrue, the relevant online appointment will be cancelled and the quota will be reopened for appointment by other applicants. The relevant measures will ensure the enhancement of effective operation of the system.

The TD will keep in view of the effectiveness of the aforementioned enhancement measures and make timely adjustments to the relevant arrangements, as well as continue to promote the digitalisation of licensing services, thereby allocating more counters for processing applications which require counter services such as “direct issue”.

Source: Republic of China Taiwan

Director General David Cheng-Wei Wu hosted the Sydney Preliminary Forum for the Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) General Assembly, joined by OCAC Director Chia-Hui Chiang and Council Members Johnson Hsiung and Shirley Chen. Together, they listened to our community’s voices and responded to questions and feedback.
DG Wu expressed his gratitude for the unwavering support from our community—ranging from Taiwan’s efforts in international participation, such as the WHA and CPTPP, to cultural diplomacy through events like the 2025 International Tour of Taiwan Gourmet Cuisines. He also emphasized Taiwan’s commitment to strengthening its “Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience” in the face of growing geopolitical challenges. This year’s Han Kuang Exercise—the longest, largest, and most extensive mobilization of reservists to date—demonstrates to the world Taiwan’s unity and resolve in self-defense.

Source: Republic of China Taiwan

Tawan in Sydney had the pleasure working with Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce in Australia to host Taste of Taiwan- 2025 International Tour of Taiwan Gourmet Cuisine at #Prefecture48.
We’d like to thank the parliamentary friends- the Hon Rod Roberts MLC and Matt Cross MP, colleagues from consular corps & community leaders for attending.
Amb Douglas Hsu remarked that Taiwan is recognized as a culinary paradise, and he is delighted to have the opportunity to share Taiwanese cuisine with friends around the world. He trusted that through food and culture mutual understanding can be greatly enhanced.
Director General David Cheng-Wei Wu pointed out that Taiwanese food is rich in variety, which reflects the unique history, profound culture background & our colourful life. It has incorporated different gourmet cultures and formed such a harmonious & diverse feature.
We also kicked off 2025 Soft Power 3 Episodes thru Taste of Taiwan on that day, and Episode Two & Three will be Taiwan Film Festival in Australia Premiere on July 24 at Event Cinema and performance of Cutural Goodwill Mission formed by Formosa Melody Music Centre on Sep 22 at Chatswood Concourse.
NSW members of Parliment mentioned the close ties between #Taiwan & #Australia, expressed gratitude for the outstanding contributions of the Taiwanese community, recognized the resilience & strength of Taiwanese people and affirmed that NSW & Taiwan will always stand shoulder to shoulder in mutual support. They also praised Taiwan’s cuisine, noting that Australia—also being a multicultural society—blends culinary traditions from around the globe.
Big thanks go to the organizer TCCA & its President Peter Huang, Ms. Sonia Chen, and the owner of P48 Michael Wu for allowing all the guests to enjoy themselves and experience charm of Taiwan.

Source: Republic of China Taiwan

Director General David Cheng-Wei Wu and Mrs. Wu were delighted to join the Learning Delights Book Club’s urban exploration event, engaging with the street art of Sydney’s Inner West.
Not to be outshone by Melbourne’s famous street art, Sydney’s Inner West is also a vibrant hub of creativity and culture. Suburbs like St Peters, Newtown, and Enmore each showcase a unique character through a wide range of mural styles.
Why not take a leisurely stroll here over the weekend? You’ll discover a whole new side of Sydney — full of character-filled cafés, eateries, and charming indie shops.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Attention TV/radio announcers:

Please broadcast the following as soon as possible:

     Here is an item of interest to swimmers.

     The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced today (July 23) that the shark prevention net at Big Wave Bay Beach in Southern District, Hong Kong Island, has been repaired, and the beach is reopened. The beach was temporarily closed earlier for shark prevention net maintenance work.
 
     However, according to the Beach Water Quality Forecast System of the Environmental Protection Department (www.epd.gov.hk/epd/english/environmentinhk/water/beach_quality/forecast_system.html), the Beach Water Quality Forecast Index for Big Wave Bay Beach is 4, which means the predicted water quality at this beach is “Very Poor” due to potential transient water quality fluctuations caused by heavy rain. The red flag has been hoisted, and beachgoers are advised not to enter the water to safeguard their health.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

     Following is a question by Dr the Hon Chan Han-pan and a written reply by the Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, in the Legislative Council today (July 23):

Question:

     According to the data of the Hospital Authority (HA), the number of full-time doctors increased from 5 695 in 2013-2014 to 7 350 in 2023-2024, representing an increase of 29 per cent. During the same period, the number of HA’s specialist outpatient attendances increased by only 18.9 per cent while the relevant increase rate in the number of its general outpatient attendances was 3.34 per cent, and the number of accident and emergency (A&E) attendances even recorded a drop of 4.4 per cent. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) whether it knows the respective numbers of HA doctors providing general outpatient clinic (GOPC) services and specialist outpatient clinic (SOPC) services in 2013-2014 and 2023-2024, as well as the respective percentages of such numbers in the total number of HA doctors (set out in a table);

(2) whether it knows the respective average waiting time for HA’s SOPC new cases, GOPC services and A&E services, the average consultation time per patient, as well as the average number of consultations per doctor in 2013-2014 and 2023-2024 (set out in a table);

(3) whether it knows if the HA has compared the average number of consultations per doctor between the HA and medical institutions in other places; if the HA has not, how the HA assesses the efficiency in the use of doctor manpower and the consultation efficiency; and

(4) as there are views that the aforesaid data show a significant increase in the number of HA doctors from 2013-2014 to 2023-2024, but there is no significant rise in the number of attendances for various outpatient services, whether the Government knows if the HA has examined the reasons for that, and whether the HA will consider providing additional evening consultation services, so as to enhance the efficiency in the use of manpower and the service coverage while alleviating the pressure on the daytime services?

Reply:

President,

     In consultation with the Hospital Authority (HA), the consolidated reply to the question raised by Dr the Hon Chan Han-pan, is as follows:

     With the ageing population and the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, the demand for various types of services provided by the HA has continued to rise over the past decade. While coping with the ever-rising service demand, the HA is also committed to enhancing the quality and efficiency of public healthcare services, while adopting an integrated and multi-disciplinary team approach in the delivery of various healthcare services, with a view to providing optimal treatment and care to patients. 

     Apart from providing general out-patient (GOP), specialist out-patient (SOP) and Accident and Emergency (A&E) services as mentioned in the question, doctors of the HA are also tasked with providing a comprehensive range of services including in-patient, out-patient, and day services, as part of the overall healthcare team. The table below sets out the number of hospital beds and the number of attendances for each of the major service categories of the HA in 2013-14 and 2023-24, which show an increase in the utilisation of each of the services over the 11-year period mentioned in the question. In particular, the HA has been gradually promoting ambulatory care and community-based care in recent years to replace the traditional hospital-centric service model, with a particularly significant rise in the demand for day in-patient services. 
 

	2013-14	2023-24	Increase
Number of hospital beds (as at year-end)	27 440	30 671	11.8%
Number of in-patient discharges and deaths	1 026 998	1 146 494	11.6%
Number of patient days	7 479 088	8 750 456	17.0%
Number of day in-patient discharges and deaths	542 333	809 505	49.3%
Number of day hospital attendances (Note 1)	477 553	508 961	6.6%
Number of SOP (Clinical) attendances	7 040 883	8 368 107	18.9%
Number of Family Medicine out-patient (including Family Medicine Specialist Clinic and GOP clinic) attendances	6 100 888	6 359 781	4.2%

     As far as day in-patient services are concerned, day surgery brings significant benefits to patients, the public and the HA. For patients, day surgery has the benefits of causing less disruption to daily lives, reducing the risk of cross-infection and relieving psychological stress. In addition, day surgery is less costly and more efficient as it reduces the need for patients to stay in the hospital overnight, thereby releasing beds for more critical cases. Studies have also shown that the efficacy of day surgery is similar to that of in-patient surgery. For ambulatory palliative care services, the HA provides medical, nursing, rehabilitation, psychosocial and bereavement services through a one-stop multi-disciplinary team to alleviate patients’ symptoms and improve their quality of life, as well as reducing unnecessary hospitalisation. Day rehabilitation services include geriatric day hospitals, day rehabilitation services and allied health rehabilitation services. The HA provides specialty-oriented rehabilitation programmes, such as thoracic rehabilitation, orthopaedic rehabilitation, geriatric rehabilitation and cardiac rehabilitation, in its ambulatory care facilities to cater for the needs of individual types of patients. This development strategy can effectively shorten unnecessary hospitalisation time, help patients return to the community and enhance their ability to take care of their own health.

     Moreover, the HA has actively increased the number of endoscopic sessions to meet the public demand for endoscopic examination. The table below sets out the number of common endoscopic procedures performed in 2014-15 and 2023-24.
 

	2014-15	2023-24
Common endoscopic procedures (Note 2 and 3)	9 608	10 591

     The HA will review and plan the role and positioning of its hospitals in each cluster to reflect the changes in healthcare needs brought about by changes in population in various districts over time, and will review from time to time and ensure that hospitals in the clusters can complement each other in the continual provision of A&E and in-patient, ambulatory care, extended care as well as community care services, so as to ensure that patients will continue to receive optimal treatment and services at appropriate locations.

     Please refer to Annex 1 for the number of doctors in each major specialty providing GOP or SOP services and their respective proportions in the total number of doctors in the HA in 2013-14 and 2023-24 as mentioned in the question. However, as mentioned above, since the HA adopts an integrated and multi-disciplinary approach in service provision, and flexibly deploys its staff to meet service and operational needs from time to time, the number of doctors in the above table only reflects the number of doctors providing GOP and SOP services, and the doctors concerned may also be tasked with providing other services including in-patient, A&E and ambulatory services, etc.

     The HA has also been implementing various measures over the years to enhance consultation efficiency and improve waiting time.

     In respect of SOP services, the HA has implemented a triage system to determine the priority of patients attending SOP clinics (SOPCs) based on their clinical condition. In addition, the HA has also adopted the strategy of “narrowing upstream, collaborating downstream, diverting midstream”. The HA has introduced doctor-led multi-disciplinary integrated clinics, and allocated more resources for new cases, rationalised referral arrangements for cross-specialty cases, set up more integrated clinics to provide multi-disciplinary support, and enhanced primary healthcare to follow up on patients in stable conditions. With the implementation of various measures, the waiting time for SOPCs has improved notably in the past few years. The data shows that the number of new SOP cases in 2023-24 has increased by 18 per cent compared to a decade ago, with the number of stable new cases (i.e. routine cases) increasing from 448 545 in 2013-14 to 577 191 in 2023-24, an increase of 28 per cent. Please refer to the Annex 2 for the number of new cases and waiting time for SOP services in 2013-14 and 2023-24.

     In addition, the HA has also rationalised the waiting procedures for SOP services to reduce the waiting time for patients to see doctors, with more than 75 per cent of SOP patients completing the process from registration to doctor consultation within 60 minutes in 2022-23 to 2023-24. The table below shows the percentage of the HA SOP patients who have completed the process from registration to doctor consultation within 60 minutes in 2022-23 and 2023-24:
 

Year 2022-23 (Since November 2022)	Year 2023-24
76.5%	83.6%

     Regarding A&E services, to ensure that citizens with urgent needs can receive timely services, A&E departments implement a patient triage system under which patients are classified into five triages, namely critical, emergency, urgent, semi-urgent and non-urgent based on their clinical condition, and will receive treatment as prioritised by their urgency category. The HA’s performance targets specify that all critical patients (i.e. 100 per cent) will receive immediate treatment, and emergency and urgent patients will be prioritised for treatment upon arrival at A&E departments, with the targets being that most emergency patients (95 per cent) and urgent patients (90 per cent) will be treated within 15 and 30 minutes. The table below sets out the number of attendances and average waiting time for each triage category of A&E services in the HA in 2013-14 and 2023-24 respectively:
 

	No. of A&E attendances
	Triage 1(Critical)	Triage 2  (Emergency)	Triage 3 (Urgent)	Triage 4 (Semi- urgent)	Triage 5 (Non- urgent)
Year 2013-14	19 358	41 136	674 841	1 288 359	145 406
Year 2023-24	28 138	56 566	820 353	1 126 207	58 965

     The above attendances for A&E services under various triage categories in various hospitals under the HA exclude (i) first-time visits without triage categories, and (ii) follow-up visits to the A&E departments.
 

	Average waiting time (in minutes) for A&E services
	Triage 1 (Critical)	Triage 2 (Emergency)	Triage 3 (Urgent)	Triage 4 (Semi- urgent)	Triage 5 (Non- urgent)
Year 2013-14	0	7	27	106	124
Year 2023-24	0	8	29	180	205

 
     The data show that, over the past decade, the number of A&E attendances for patients in Triage 1 to Triage 3 has increased by 23 per cent from more than 730 000 to more than 900 000. In particular, attendances for patients in Triage 1 and Triage 2, who are the primary service targets of the A&E departments, have increased by 45 per cent and 38 per cent respectively. That said, patients in these two categories are treated promptly and the relevant average waiting times continue to meet the service targets specified by the HA.
 
     Regarding GOP services, the HA provides public primary healthcare services through its 74 GOP clinics (GOPCs) (including community health centres), providing more than five million out-patient attendances annually. Of these, a total of 23 GOPCs in all districts of Hong Kong provide evening out-patient services until 10pm. Patients under the care of the GOPCs comprise two major categories: patients with chronic diseases in stable medical condition, such as patients with diabetes mellitus or hypertension; and episodic disease patients with relatively mild symptoms, such as those suffering from cold or gastroenteritis. As for patients with chronic diseases requiring follow-up consultations, they will be assigned a time slot for follow-up by the GOPCs after each consultation and do not need to make separate appointments by phone. Episodic disease patients can make appointments for the next 24 hours through the HA GOPC telephone appointment system and “Book GOPC” function in the HA’s one-stop mobile app “HA Go”. There is no waiting time for GOP services. 
 
     The HA has been closely monitoring the operation and utilisation of different services with a view to deploying manpower and service resources flexibly. Since 2008, the HA has adopted a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure its service performance, covering clinical services, human resources and finance, with a view to establishing a mechanism for monitoring service performance and identifying service areas for continuous improvement. The HA conducts regular reviews of the KPIs annually and will enhance and refine them in accordance with its service strategies. Progress reports on KPIs are submitted to the HA Board and the Health Bureau on a regular basis, through quarterly progress review reports for the latter, to keep track of the HA’s performance in key service areas. Trend analyses within and across hospital clusters can be conducted to help identify areas for deliberation and formulation of enhancement measures, and to provide reference on service planning and resource allocation.
 
     Moreover, the HA has set up the Governance and Structure Reform Committee to provide strategic guidance, oversight, and reform advice on implementing governance and structure reforms. The work of the Committee includes examining the introduction of KPIs to measure the service performance of the HA.
 
     In recent years, the HA has also endeavoured to enhance public healthcare services through various measures, including enhancing primary healthcare services, shortening the waiting time for cataract surgery, making good use of the Central Government-Aided Emergency Hospital to alleviate the pressure on the radiology services in public hospitals, and establishing centres for major illnesses, with a view to improving the quality and efficiency of treatment. Regarding evening out-patient services, the HA and the Primary Healthcare Commission will also review the demand and supply of evening out-patient services in different districts as well as the utilisation of such services by members of the public in various districts, with emphasis on districts where private evening out-patient services are scanty, with a view to further increasing the number of quotas of evening out-patient services through flexible deployment of manpower and resources, as well as exploring the feasibility of setting up additional evening out-patient clinics.
 
Note 1: The above figure includes attendances at Geriatric Day Hospitals, Psychiatric Day Hospitals, Day Rehabilitation Services, and Ambulatory Palliative Care Services. Of these, the number of attendances at Geriatric Day Hospitals includes those participating in the Integrated Discharge Support Programme for Elderly Patients.
Note 2: The HA has maintained the relevant statistics since 2014-15.
Note 3: The above endoscopic procedures include bronchoscopy, colonoscopy, colposcopy, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, flexible cystoscopy, oesophagogastroduodenoscopy, sigmoidoscopy and endoscopic ultrasonography. Of these, endoscopic ultrasonography covers upper gastrointestinal tract, lower gastrointestinal tract, as well as bronchus and mediastinum.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), as representative of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government (HKSAR Government), announced that a tender for 10-year HKD institutional Government Bonds (issue number 10GB3507001) under the Infrastructure Bond Programme was held today (July 23).
 
A total of HK$2.0 billion 10-year Government Bonds were offered today. A total of HK$10.545 billion tender applications were received. The bid-to-cover ratio, i.e. the ratio of bonds applied for to bonds issued, is 5.27. The average price accepted is 100.43, implying an annualised yield of 3.144 per cent.
 
HKSAR Institutional Government Bonds Tender Results
 
Tender results of 10-year HKD HKSAR Institutional Government Bonds:
 

Tender Date	:	July 23, 2025
Issue Number	:	10GB3507001
Stock Code	:	4294 (HKGB 3.17 3507)
Issue and Settlement Date	:	July 24, 2025
Tenor	:	10 years
Maturity Date	:	24 July 2035
Coupon Rate	:	3.17 per cent
Amount Applied	:	HK$10.545 billion
Amount Allotted	:	HK$2.0 billion
Bid-to-Cover Ratio*	:	5.27
Average Price Accepted (Yield)	:	100.43 (3.144 per cent)
Lowest Price Accepted (Yield)	:	100.21 (3.170 per cent)
Pro-rata Ratio	:	About 95 per cent
Average Tender Price (Yield)	:	99.13 (3.299 per cent)

* Calculated as the amount of bonds applied for over the amount of bonds issued.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Following is a question by the Hon Tommy Cheung and a reply by the Secretary for Education, Dr Choi Yuk-lin, in the Legislative Council today (July 23):

Question:   
(3) whether any PI KGs have participated in the Guangdong-Hong Kong Sister Kindergarten Exchange Programme which has been launched by the EDB since the 2023-2024 school year; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?      
President,

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

     Following is a question by Dr the Hon Kennedy Wong and a reply by the Acting Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Dr Bernard Chan, in the Legislative Council today (July 23):

Question:

     Since October last year, the Government has reduced the duty rate for liquor with import price over $200 from 100 per cent to 10 per cent for the portion above $200. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) whether it has compiled statistics on the changes in the value and volume of imports and re-exports of liquor to date after the reduction in the duty rate on liquor, and how such data compare with those prior to the reduction, together with a breakdown by type of liquor (e.g. Chinese baijiu, whisky and brandy);

(2) as the Government has indicated that the reduction in the duty rate on liquor aims to promote the development of Hong Kong into a trading hub for high-end liquor and boost the growth of various industries such as catering, hotel, logistics and warehousing, whether the Government has assessed if the policy has achieved the expected effects after its implementation; whether the Government will study a further reduction in the duty rate on liquor; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

(3) whether the Department of Health has, after the reduction in the duty rate on liquor, conducted a population health survey to compile statistics on the proportion of the population aged 15 or above who have consumed liquor; whether it will step up its efforts to publicise and educate the public about the health effects of alcohol, in order to prevent problems such as alcohol dependence, alcohol abuse and binge drinking; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

President,

     Having consulted the Health Bureau, the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) and the Customs and Excise Department (C&ED), the consolidated reply to the question raised by Dr the Hon Kennedy Wong is as follows:

     Currently, liquor duty in Hong Kong is levied on liquor for local sales or other uses, while liquor for export or re-export through Hong Kong to other regions is not subject to duty. As such, the liquor duty reduction has a more direct impact on liquor imported for local consumption, whereas the re-export trade of liquor is more influenced by macro factors such as global economic conditions and geopolitics.

     According to the statistics from the C&ED, during the 8.5-month period from the reduction of the duty rate on high-end liquor on October 16 last year to the end of June this year, both the volume (in litre) and value of duty-paid liquor import increased as compared with the 8.5-month period prior to the liquor duty reduction. Of these, the import volume of liquor rose by more than 20 per cent, while its value went up significantly by nearly 90 per cent, reflecting that the two-tier system introduced by the Government is effective in boosting high-end liquor trading. A comparison of the volume and value of duty-paid liquor before and after the reduction in liquor duty rate, as well as detailed statistics breakdown by type of liquor, is provided in Annex I for Members’ reference.

     On the other hand, as liquor duty is not levied on re-exported liquor, the C&ED does not maintain statistical data on the value of liquor re-export. The information provided by the C&SD is set out in Annex II.

     As the liquor duty reduction has only been implemented for a short period, its effectiveness in various aspects remains to be observed. Regarding the suggestion from some members of the trade that the Government should further reduce the duty on liquor, we would like to reiterate that the purpose of lowering liquor duty is to encourage the trade and auctions of high-end liquor in Hong Kong, thereby giving impetus to the development of other high value-added sectors such as logistics and storage, tourism as well as high-end food and beverage consumption. At the same time, we are also mindful of the need to avoid increasing liquor consumption among the public as a result of reducing liquor duty, thereby leading to other problems.

     When introducing the relevant measures, the Government has fully balanced different policy considerations such as promoting economic development, maintaining stable public finances and protecting public health. We will closely monitor the development of the liquor trade and review the effectiveness of the measures in a timely manner. Any further adjustments will require careful consideration of the impact on different aspects with prudent planning. The Government currently has no plan to further adjust the duty rate on liquor.

     In fact, the Government has been attaching great importance to the harms brought by alcohol, in particular alcohol dependence, alcohol abuse and binge drinking. In 2018, the Government launched the “Towards 2025: Strategy and Action Plan to Prevent and Control Non-communicable Diseases in Hong Kong”, setting out nine local targets, with “reduce harmful use of alcohol” being one of them, to be achieved by 2025. The Government will continue to adopt a risk-based approach to reduce alcohol-related harm through publicity, education, treatment and support services. Among which, the Department of Health (DH) has launched the Pilot Alcohol Cessation Counselling Service (Pilot Programme) through subvention to a non-governmental organisation. The Pilot Programme was launched on April 8, 2024, and will last for two years to provide free counselling service for Hong Kong residents identified to have probable alcohol dependence. The DH has also launched a publicity and education campaign named “Understanding Alcohol Harm” since 2022 to enhance the public’s understanding of the health risks associated with alcohol consumption; and provides online risk assessment of drinking behaviour, personalised health advice, self-help tools, health education resources, etc to encourage drinkers to change their drinking behaviour for the sake of their health.

     In addition, the DH conducts the Population Health Survey (PHS) approximately every five years with the Health Behaviour Survey conducted in between as regular surveillance to understand the health status of the Hong Kong population, including drinking behaviours. Figures relevant to drinking behaviours in past PHSs are set out in Annex III. The 2025/26 PHS is expected to commence in the third quarter this year with the findings to be available in end-2026, which would reflect the situation after the partial reduction of duty on liquor.