Category: MIL-OSI

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

     ​Following is a question by the Hon Ken Wong and a reply by the Secretary for Education, Dr Choi Yuk-lin, in the Legislative Council today (January 21):

Question:

     In recent years, the Government has actively promoted digital education with a view to fostering educational innovation. Nevertheless, there are views pointing out that considerable disparities currently exist among Hong Kong schools in promoting digital education, and that frontline teachers’ confidence and capabilities in utilising digital technology in teaching also vary. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the number of training courses relating to digital education organised by the authorities for in-service teachers in the past academic year; whether the effectiveness of such courses in enhancing teachers’ ability to apply digital technology in the classroom has been evaluated; if so, of the evaluation mechanism and the results thereof; if not, the reasons for that;

(2) whether it has plans to include artificial intelligence (AI) as a compulsory domain in teachers’ continuing professional development, and to incorporate competence in digital education as a prerequisite for teachers’ professional development and promotion; if so, of the details and implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that; and

(3) whether it will expand the Digital Education Centre of Excellence Scheme to encourage teacher teams with successful experience to provide on-site support to other schools, so as to assist frontline teachers in integrating AI into teaching and learning; if so, of the details; if not, what alternative measures are in place to promote inter-school sharing of experience and resources?

Reply:

President,

     To align with the national strategy of invigorating the country through science and education, the Education Bureau (EDB) has implemented various measures in primary and secondary schools to promote digital education, support teaching innovation and nuture innovative talent. The competence of teachers is key to the effective implementation of digital education.

     ​The reply to the question raised by the Hon Ken Wong is as follows:

(1) To equip teachers to embrace the opportunities and challenges brought by digital education, the EDB adopts a diversified training approach, emphasising both quality and quantity, to continuously advance teacher professional development. Across the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school year, over 70 000 training places will be provided, ensuring that all teachers in publicly-funded schools in Hong Kong have the opportunity to participate in training, thereby establishing a solid professional foundation for the implementation of digital education.
          
     In the 2024/25 school year, the EDB has rolled out a series of teacher professional development activities, including organising over 430 digital education professional development programmes for teachers, offering more than 35 000 training places. The EDB has also organised a featured programme, “AI Unleashed – Exploring the Depths for Educators”, providing 940 training places, enabling teachers to deepen their understanding of artificial intelligence (AI) technology and its applications and broaden their horizons through thematic talks and a study tour to the Greater Bay Area. The curriculum leadership seminar organised by the EDB themed effective use of AI to promote curriculum developments in primary schools also attracted participation from over 120 primary schools with nearly 350 principals and teachers, fostering inter-school experience exchange and collaboration.
          
     In addition, the Digital Education Centre of Excellence (CoE) established by the EDB promotes digital education through seminars and on-site support. The CoE organises in-service teachers to share their practices of digital education and explore the application of AI in teaching, thereby promoting peer learning. In the past year, the CoE offered over 200 training programmes for teachers with more than 14 000 training places, and nearly 140 times of on-site support services. Meanwhile, teaching demonstrations and lesson observation activities were also conducted on the campuses to share good practices in teaching. The support services of the CoE have covered more than 90 per cent of the publicly-funded primary and secondary schools, and the participating schools generally agree that the services meet their needs and help enhance teaching effectiveness.
         
     Regarding the effectiveness of teacher training, in addition to conducting post-training surveys upon completion of training programmes, the EDB also provides on-site support services and organises lesson observation activities to evaluate the implementation. The EDB also invited all primary and secondary schools across the territory to take part in the Survey on Digital Education for the 2024/25 school year, with a response rate of nearly 92 per cent. The survey findings revealed that over 95 per cent of the teachers showed confidence in using e-tools to enhance teaching effectiveness; were able to grasp the essence of using e-tools to improve teaching effectiveness; and were able to make use of various e-tools to help students, inter alia, unleash their creativity and solve daily problems with technology. These findings are consistent with the usual training data, which indicate that teachers have built a good foundation in applying digital tools in teaching.

(2) With technology advancing at an unprecedented pace and societal expectations for teachers constantly rising, teachers must keep abreast of the times. Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is key to the quality assurance of teaching. To this end, the EDB has established a professional development training framework for teachers, requiring all in-service teachers to complete 150 hours of CPD every three years. Within each three-year cycle, a minimum of 30 hours must be allocated to two categories of core training, namely “Teachers’ Professional Roles, Values and Conduct” and “Local, National and International Education Issues”, with not less than six hours spent on each category. The training framework allows teachers to utilise their training hours with openness and flexibility to participate in various activities or programmes that align with the needs of schools, students and their own professional development. AI and digital education fall under the category of “Local, National and International Education Issues”. Currently, schools can devise school-based CPD plans according to their specific school context to facilitate teachers in fulfilling the training requirements.
         
     Regarding the promotion criteria for teachers in aided schools, in addition to meeting the qualification requirements stipulated in the Codes of Aid, teachers must also complete the specified promotion training programmes within five years prior to their date of substantive promotion. The core training is provided by the EDB, and currently includes content on digital education. The elective training allows teachers to undertake relevant training based on the professional expertise required for the respective promotion posts. Given the varying contexts of different schools and the different professional duties of promotion posts, we do not recommend setting uniform and rigid criteria.

(3) Moving forward, the EDB will further expand the support services of the CoE and organise more seconded teachers to provide support in other schools. The number of resource schools has increased from 13 in the previous school year (2024/25) to 18, the number of seconded teachers has expanded from 26 to 34, and the number of support service items has increased from 16 to 23. In addition to focusing on areas such as promoting information literacy, e-assessment, using information technology to support students with special educational needs, and blended mode of learning, the support will also incorporate more AI elements, for example, how to plan the application of AI in teaching, AI in pedagogical and curriculum design, as well as AI and educational ethics.

     The EDB will also implement various measures to encourage inter-school experience exchange and resource sharing. These include strengthening school-based professional support services, and supporting schools in integrating digital education tools into different Key Learning Areas/subjects. In addition, the Mainland-Hong Kong Teachers Exchange and Collaboration Programme will also facilitate cross-regional experience sharing and observation, thereby enhancing teachers’ professional competence.

     In addition, we will be launching progressively a new series of AI professional development programmes, which cover the core AI literacy areas required by school leaders and teachers, including “AI Literacy courses”, “AI+Subjects courses”, and “AI Leadership courses”. This will enable teachers to participate in relevant training according to their needs of teaching and job positions.
         
     In fact, given the varying school circumstances, the extent and pace of implementing digital education differ among schools. In addition to providing teacher training with emphasis on both quality and quantity, the EDB also encourages diverse school-based practices and promotes experience exchange and resource sharing through various school-based support and inter-school sharing activities to accelerate the pace of development of digital education.
          
     In summary, building on existing strengths and foundations, the EDB will continue to optimise teacher professional training and school-based support services through a multi-pronged approach. We will also keep pace with the latest development of digital education, timely review the effectiveness and adjust strategies, to equip schools and teachers with the capacity to apply innovative technology to assist teaching, thereby fostering pedagogical innovation and enhancing learning effectiveness.

     Thank you, President. 

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

     Following is a question by the Hon Lam Chun-sing and a written reply by the Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, in the Legislative Council today (January 21):

Question:

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

     Following is a question by the Hon Chan Yung and a written reply by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Algernon Yau, in the Legislative Council today (January 21):

Question:

     It has been reported that the Government is actively taking the lead in promoting exchanges and co-operation with countries in the Middle East region, including preparations for establishing an Economic and Trade Office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In terms of financial services, the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited also established an overseas office in Riyadh last year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) given that in recent years, Hong Kong has signed a number of Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) with countries along the Belt and Road in the Middle East region, whether the Government has studied what structural changes the signing of these MOUs have brought to the bilateral trade relations between Hong Kong and these countries; whether it has assessed (i) how such changes affect the long-term co-operation potential between Hong Kong and these countries in industries that enjoy advantages, such as financial services and technology products, and (ii) the specific benefits such changes bring to Hong Kong’s economic development; the year-on-year growth rates of bilateral trade between Hong Kong and countries in the Middle East region, as well as their import and export values over the past three years, and the respective proportions of such exports involving Hong Kong’s financial services and technology products;
 
(2) whether consideration will be given to consolidating the layout and resources of Hong Kong overseas offices, such as co-locating the base of such organisations as Invest Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council in the same office building or area in countries in the Middle East region, so that Hong Kong enterprises can benefit from the one-stop services coordinated across different departments/institutions when they explore these markets; and
 
(3) how the Government promotes co-operation between Hong Kong and institutions and scientific research institutes in countries in the Middle East region, and of the progress and achievements made throughout the co-operation between Hong Kong and institutions and scientific research institutes in these countries so far; over the past three years, (i) the number of exchange programmes organised by Hong Kong and the institutions in these countries, as well as the number of schools and students involved, and (ii) the number of co-operation agreements signed between Hong Kong and the scientific research institutes in these countries; what plans the Government will put in place this year to promote co-operation between Hong Kong and the higher education institutions and scientific research institutes in countries in the Middle East region, and the targets it expects to achieve?

Reply:

President,

     The Government has been proactively expanding its economic and trade network, including that in the Middle East region, to promote the long-term economic development of Hong Kong. Among others, the Government established the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (ETO) in Dubai in October 2021, and is actively liaising with the Government of Saudi Arabia to pursue the establishment of another ETO in Riyadh with a view to strengthening Hong Kong’s economic and trade relations with trading partners in the region. Moreover, Invest Hong Kong has established two new consultant offices in Cairo, Egypt in July 2024 and in Izmir, the third largest city in Türkiye in January 2025, thereby exploring the emerging market of the Middle East.

     In addition, the Government will continue to explore free trade agreements and investment promotion and protection agreements (IPPAs) with other economies including those in the Middle East. We will soon be signing an IPPA with Qatar and are exploring new ones with Saudi Arabia and Egypt respectively.

     In response to the Hon Chan Yung’s question, after consulting the Education Bureau, the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau, the Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau and the Census and Statistics Department, our reply is as follows:

(1) The Middle East region is rapidly developing and full of potential, making it one of the key links of the Belt and Road Initiative (B&RI).

     In recent years, numerous Middle East countries have put forward their visionary development blueprints, with a view to driving economic diversification on top of the energy sector, and are actively advancing development in areas like innovation and technology (I&T), finance, trade, renewable energy and smart city. Hong Kong has competitive edge in many of these areas, and may align with the development strategies of relevant Middle East countries, achieve complementarity of strengths, and create tremendous opportunities for Hong Kong’s I&T, financial services and other professional services sectors as well as the start-ups.

     Given that the Middle East region is accelerating its development, many of the key infrastructure projects are progressing at full speed, which calls for the need of more diversified funding sources and innovative financing models. With capitals coverage of both international and the Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong offers diverse and innovative financial instruments, coupled with a pool of quality and experienced professional services, Hong Kong is also well positioned to assist in the acceleration of the Middle East’s development while expanding the room for development for ourselves. Furthermore, the Middle East region is actively seeking to diversify risk, aligning with the global economic shift towards the East. Being internationalised and highly connected with the Chinese Mainland market, Hong Kong has market operations and regulatory standards that are seamlessly aligned with the best international practices. This has made us an ideal platform for diversified asset allocation and wealth management.

     In light of the above, the Government has been actively expanding the Middle East market and establishing connections to enable investors and market participants from around the world to better understand and leverage Hong Kong’s strengths as an international financial centre, while providing them with a diverse range of financial products and services.

     Over the past few years, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has been actively promoting Hong Kong’s financial system and market advantages to the Middle East countries to further strengthen co-operation with the Middle East market. For example, the HKMA has held bilateral meetings with central banks in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Qatar, etc, and signed Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) covering areas such as financial infrastructure development, sustainable finance, fintech, market connectivity, Islamic finance, etc. Among these, the HKMA signed an MOU with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, anchoring a joint fund with target size of US$1 billion, to support the localisation of companies in Saudi Arabia connected to Hong Kong and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Besides, the HKMA has been encouraging the banking sector, especially banks on the Chinese Mainland, to establish regional headquarters in Hong Kong, where Hong Kong’s strengths can help companies expand into markets such as Southeast Asia and the Middle East, thereby providing more comprehensive cross-boundary financial solutions.

     We also actively explore attracting overseas capital through various channels, including deepening the two-way flow of capital between Hong Kong and the Middle East region. Following the listing of Asia’s first exchange-traded fund (ETF) tracking the Saudi Arabia market in Hong Kong in 2023, two ETFs tracking Hong Kong stock indices were listed on the Saudi Exchange in the form of feeder funds in 2024, which helps attract allocation of local capital to Hong Kong stocks. In addition, the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) has successively signed MOUs with the Saudi Tadawul Group Holding Company and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, and incorporated the Saudi Exchange, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange and the Dubai Financial Market on its list of recognised exchanges to facilitate companies listed on these markets to secondary list in Hong Kong. The HKEX also opened an office in Riyadh in 2025 to further promote ties with the Middle East region.

     As the countries in Middle East is full of potential, Hong Kong is committed to giving full play of our role as the functional platform for the B&RI, and stepping up efforts to deepen co-operation with the Middle East region. In recent years, official exchanges, economic and trade activities between the two sides have been increasing, and various institutions in Hong Kong have signed a number of MOUs and agreements with relevant entities in the Belt and Road countries in the Middle East region. Notably, the Chief Executive (CE) led delegations to visit Saudi Arabia and the UAE in February 2023, and Qatar and Kuwait in May 2025 respectively. These visits resulted in a total of 72 MOUs, agreements and statements, creating co-operation and business opportunities for Hong Kong and the Middle East in areas including trade, finance, I&T, sustainable development, transport and logistics, agriculture and education, etc. The above MOUs and agreements are conducive in driving all-round, multi-field collaboration and bring mutual benefits to Hong Kong and the Middle East region, thereby laying a solid foundation for long-term co-operation, thus consolidating the bilateral commercial and economic relations, injecting new energy to Hong Kong’s economy. The relevant examples of MOUs and agreements include:

(a) Hong Kong has signed Comprehensive Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreements with Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar, enabling investors to better assess their potential tax liabilities from cross‑border economic activities and enjoy avoidance of double taxation, thereby creating a more favourable business environment and promoting bilateral trade and investment;

(b) IPPAs were signed with Kuwait, the UAE and Bahrain to further strengthen mutual investment protection, enhance confidence of investors and expand bilateral investment flows;

(c) Mutual Recognition Arrangements on Authorized Economic Operator Programmes were signed with Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar to reinforce international cargo security while facilitating legitimate cross-boundary cargo movements of the two places, and strengthen the competitiveness of enterprises from both sides in the international market; and

(d) The MOU in relation to infrastructure and construction were signed with Saudi Arabia to enhance information exchange in the relevant fields and support Hong Kong’s professional services to access the market.

     For bilateral trade, according to the statistics from the Census and Statistics Department, the value of bilateral trade in goods (including imports and total exports figures) between Hong Kong and the Middle East (Note 2) during the period of 2022 to 2024 (Note 1) are listed below:
 

	2022*	Per cent change over 2021	2023*	Per cent change over 2022	2024*	Per cent change over 2023
Total exports	125,391 (16,010)	+23.5	136,335 (17,414)	+8.7	129,068 (16,541)	-5.3
Imports	56,236 (7,180)	+7.7	71,819 (9,173)	+27.7	59,028 (7,565)	-17.8
Total trade	181,627 (23,190)	+18.1	208,153 (26,587)	+14.6	188,096 (24,106)	-9.6

*Value in HK$ million (US$ million)

     During 2021 to 2023 (Note 3), Hong Kong’s exports of financial services to the Middle East accounted for less than 0.5 per cent of Hong Kong’s total exports of financial services. On the other hand, there is no collected data by the Census and Statistics Department on the share of Hong Kong’s exports of technological products to the Middle East.
 
(2) As a measure announced in the 2025 Policy Address (PA), the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau has set up the Economic and Trade Express which enables overseas ETOs, Invest Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council to enhance collaboration within the region under their respective coverage through a one-stop platform, capitalising on their complementary advantages to promote Hong Kong’s trade and investment abroad under the trio-coordinated approach. The Economic and Trade Express focuses on supporting small and medium enterprises and start-ups by proactively organising overseas business missions for relevant enterprises with one stop supporting services (including arrangement of business matching and other activities) to assist Hong Kong enterprises to explore business opportunities in overseas markets including the Middle East. Through this process, Invest Hong Kong will identify overseas enterprises to connect with Hong Kong’s business sectors, facilitating more enterprises to invest and establish operations in Hong Kong, thereby promoting two-way flow of enterprises and investments.

     In addition, the Economic and Trade Express will conduct more trade and investment promotional activities and work by pooling the resources of the trio to enhance the scale and impact of such activities.

(3) In the 2023 PA, the CE announced the development of Hong Kong into an international education hub and a cradle for future talents, and in the 2024 PA, the CE emphasised that the Government strives to establish the “Study in Hong Kong” brand. In the 2025 PA, the CE further announced the establishment of a dedicated Task Force on Study in Hong Kong under the chairmanship of the Secretary for Education in order to further promote Hong Kong’s post-secondary education globally and to attract outstanding students and scholars to come to Hong Kong. The Task Force brings together the University Grants Committee (UGC), the Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau, the Hong Kong Talent Engage, post-secondary institutions, overseas ETOs, the Mainland Offices, etc for greater promotion of higher education in Hong Kong.

     To support universities’ efforts in stepping up the promotion of the “Study in Hong Kong” brand and to facilitate the development of Hong Kong into an international post-secondary education hub, the UGC has provided around $40 million to the Heads of Universities Committee’s Standing Committee on Internationalisation, which involves the eight UGC-funded universities, in the 2025 to 2028 triennium for participating in and organising various activities outside Hong Kong, and for visiting different places (in particular the Middle East region) to recruit overseas students. Universities have actively expanded their recruitment activities on the Chinese Mainland and overseas, participating in education fairs in specific regions, leveraging existing overseas networks to connect with local chambers of commerce and enterprises, and organising seminars for parents and students who are interested in studying in Hong Kong, etc. Through these efforts, the Education Bureau has stepped up the promotion of various policy measures, including the Belt and Road Scholarship, to attract more students to study in Hong Kong. Starting from the 2024/25 academic year, the annual quota for the Belt and Road Scholarship has been increased to 150 places. In the 2024/25 academic year, the UGC-funded universities organised nearly 200 overseas recruitment activities, many of which targeted the Belt and Road countries, such as the UAE, Jordan and Qatar.

     In attracting non-local students (including those from the Middle East region), starting from the 2024/25 academic year, the admission quota for non-local students in publicly-funded post-secondary institutions (applicable to taught programmes) has doubled from 20 per cent to 40 per cent of the local student places. The funded universities have actively made good use of the expanded quota to recruit more non-local students to pursue education in Hong Kong. In the 2024/25 academic year, these students were from around 100 countries and regions and among them, about 100 students were from the Middle East region. Starting from the 2026/27 academic year, the enrolment ceiling for self-financing non-local students of each funded post-secondary institution will be raised from the level currently equivalent to 40 per cent of the local student places to 50 per cent; and the over-enrolment ceiling of self-financing places of funded research postgraduate programmes will be increased from 100 per cent to 120 per cent.

     In signing exchange agreements with post-secondary institutions in the Middle East region, the UGC has all along been encouraging universities to provide more overseas exchange opportunities for students to gain a better understanding of national development and global trends. As of end November 2024, the UGC-funded universities signed a total of more than 2 600 student exchange agreements with institutions around the world, including 47 agreements with those in the Middle East region.

     With regard to research collaboration, the UGC and the Research Grants Council have been actively promoting stronger international research collaboration between local higher education institutions and overseas organisations, deepening international exchanges and conducting more impactful and cutting-edge research. Such efforts will help strengthen our research capacity. As at end November 2024, more than 50 ongoing research collaboration projects are being carried out by UGC-funded universities with institutions/organisations in the Middle East region, including Israel, the UAE, Türkiye and Saudi Arabia, etc.

     In addition, the Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Development Blueprint promulgated in end-2022 set out four broad development directions, including “to proactively integrate into the overall development of the country and consolidate our role as a bridge connecting the Chinese Mainland and the world”. Hong Kong’s three major I&T parks (i.e. the Hong Kong Science Park, Cyberport and the Hong Kong-Shenzhen I&T Park), have all along been actively establishing partnerships around the world. The relevant park companies signed two, four and two collaboration agreements/MOUs with I&T institutions (e.g. research institutes, venture capital funds and technology incubators) in the Middle East region in 2023, 2024 and 2025 respectively to foster exchange and collaboration, facilitating I&T enterprises from the two places to establish presence in each other’s markets.

     Looking ahead, the three I&T parks will continue to expand their I&T collaboration network in emerging markets (including the Middle East region), and lead I&T enterprises to participate in forums and summits therein. This will showcase Hong Kong’s I&T strengths, and further leverage Hong Kong’s role and advantages as a bridge connecting the Chinese Mainland and the world.

Note 1: The latest available full-year trade in goods statistics are for 2024.
Note 2: The Middle East refers to the following 12 countries: Bahrain, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the UAE and Yemen.
Note 3: The latest available full-year trade in services statistics are for 2023.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

Following is a question by the Hon Chan Hak-kan and a reply by the Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, in the Legislative Council today (January 21):

Question:

Currently, eight of Hong Kong’s 18 districts, including Tai Po and Sha Tin, have yet to set up District Health Centres (DHCs). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the expenditure, staffing establishment, number of members, service capacity targets and achievement rates for each of the operational DHCs and DHC Expresses (DHCEs) in each of the past three years; the respective numbers of activities, seminars, health risk assessments and various programmes (such as the Chronic Disease Co-Care Pilot Scheme) organised by these DHCs for primary to tertiary disease prevention services, along with the respective number of participants;

(2) whether the Government will expedite the development of the Tai Po DHC which is scheduled for completion in 2031, promptly finalise the site selection and completion timetable for the Sha Tin DHC, and consider establishing additional DHCEs within public housing estates in Shatin district to enhance public accessibility; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

(3) the Government’s projected reduction in the number of patients and expenditure involved in secondary and tertiary healthcare (namely hospital and specialist care, as well as specialised care) following the establishment of DHCs in various districts; whether performance indicators have been established in this regard?

Reply:

President,

     The Primary Healthcare Commission is progressively expanding the district health network with District Health Centres and District Health Centre Expresses (collectively referred to as DHCs) serving as hubs in accordance with the Primary Healthcare Blueprint (Blueprint), with a view to providing comprehensive, coherent and people-oriented multidisciplinary services, including chronic disease screening and management, family doctor pairing, nursing and allied health support, health risk assessment, community rehabilitation and health promotion. Prior to the commencement of District Health Centre operation, District Health Centre Expresses started to provide services of the same kind, enabling citizens to benefit earlier. The main differences between the two lie in the scale of facilities, site selection, and manpower allocation, while their functions are the same.

     My reply to the question raised by the Hon Chan Hak-kan is as follows:

(1) The expenditure of DHCs, including provisions for service contracts, site maintenance and rental cost, in the past three financial years is at Annex I. The information on staff establishment in 2025-26 is at Annex II. The cumulative number of attendances of all DHCs in Hong Kong exceeds 3 600 000, which includes health promotion/education, health risk assessment, screening, chronic disease management, with details at Annex III. 

     DHCs promote the “Family Doctor for All” concept. Following the introduction of the Chronic Disease Co-care Pilot Scheme (CDCC Pilot Scheme) in 2023, the number of new DHC members per year significantly increased from around 2 900 in 2019-20 to approximately 153 500 in 2024-25. To date, the cumulative membership of DHCs has reached 485 200. All DHCs attained the service volume targets in 2024-25.

     The screening of “three highs” under the CDCC Pilot Scheme has shown initial effectiveness. As at December 17 last year, around 185 200 citizens have enrolled in the CDCC Pilot Scheme. Among those, approximately 112 300 participants (i.e. about 60 per cent) have completed the screenings (Note 1), of which around 48 000 (i.e. about 40 per cent) have been diagnosed with prediabetes (Note 2), diabetes mellitus (DM), hypertension (HT) or dyslipidaemia. The latter participants can proceed to the treatment phase and will be subsidised by the Government to receive multidisciplinary follow-up in order to achieve the goal of “early identification and early treatment”.

(2) The DHCs have achieved comprehensive coverage across all 18 districts of Hong Kong since 2022. The Health Bureau will continuously review the site selection of DHCs, taking into account the service model, demographic structure and distribution, demand, etc., with a view to providing convenient and district-based primary healthcare services.

     The Tai Po District Health Centre Express currently operates eight service points. During the relief work of the Tai Po Wang Fuk Court fire, it instantly deployed nurses to support the medical stations at temporary shelters, and also co-ordinated over 500 volunteer healthcare professionals for the provision of onsite medical assistance. Subsequently, it arranged case management primary healthcare services for affected residents relocated to different districts together with all DHCs in Hong Kong, which include pairing with free consultation services provided by Chinese medicine practitioners, doctors, dentists and psychological support, as well as co-ordinating arrangements for follow-up appointments and medication refills at the Hospital Authority.

     The Government plans to construct a community health centre building at the ex-Jockey Club swimming pool site at On Pong Road, and designate it as the site for the Tai Po District Health Centre. The Government is currently reviewing the building facilities arrangement and service design in light of the feedback from the Tai Po District Council (DC) last September, with an aim to ensuring the proposal meets community needs and is cost-effective. When the facilities are finalised, the works department will review and plan the implementation timetable for the project. We will strive to implement the project as early as possible.

    The Sha Tin District Health Centre Express currently has two service points, and is anticipated to establish a third service point at Lek Yuen Health Centre in the second quarter of this year at the earliest. In the longer term, it is tentatively planned to establish the Sha Tin District Health Centre in the Joint-user Complex for Community Facilities at Shan Mei Street, Fo Tan. This project received the endorsement of the Sha Tin DC in October 2021. Prior to the establishment of the District Health Centre, the Government will closely monitor the service needs and explore the addition or expansion of service points.

(3) The district health network is a vital component within the primary healthcare system. During the medical support efforts following Wang Fuk Court fire, DHCs have demonstrated their pivotal role as a hub to provide personalised case management primary healthcare services for affected residents, offering convenient and comprehensive support. By providing timely, appropriate and proper care within the community, and co-ordinating access to public healthcare, private healthcare and multidisciplinary medical services such as Chinese medicine and dental service for residents in need, this not only alleviates pressure on hospital services, but also delivers people-oriented and compassionate support at the community level.

     As set out in the Blueprint, the development of primary healthcare may delay and alleviate the healthcare burden on secondary and tertiary healthcare brought about by an ageing population and thus slow down the rate of increase in healthcare expenditure in the long run.

     Taking the CDCC Pilot Scheme as an example, the preliminary analysis conducted by a local university research team indicated that the CDCC Pilot Scheme performed well in terms of health benefits and cost-effectiveness. Participants’ health conditions improved overall: after six months of participating in the Scheme, the average glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) level of DM patients dropped from 7.8 per cent to 6.8 per cent; while the average systolic blood pressure of HT patients decreased from 151 mmHg to 136 mmHg. Based on a modelled scenario of 200 000 participants, it was expected that the Scheme could prevent approximately 9 000 cases of cardiovascular diseases and 11 000 deaths, thereby gaining approximately 54 000 quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and saving $2.7 billion in health expenditure. 

     Taking Phase I of the Breast Cancer Screening Pilot Programme (BCSPP) as another example, from 2021 to 2024, over 37 000 women aged between 44 and 69 at moderate and average risk have received breast cancer risk assessment. The BCSPP showed that 97 per cent of breast cancer cases identified through breast cancer screening were at early stages, i.e. stage I or stage II. The risk-based screening can enhance the recovery rate of breast cancer patients through early detection and treatment, and will also lower the medical cost.

     We will continue to advance primary healthcare initiatives and evaluate their effectiveness to ensure that primary healthcare development enhances public health and fosters the sustainable development of the entire healthcare system. Thank you, President.

Note 1: The CDCC Pilot Scheme screened for DM and HT in the initial phase (before March 28, 2025), and was later expanded to include blood lipid screening. Therefore, some of the participants who completed the screening were screened for DM and HT only, while the rest were screened for the “three highs”.

Note 2: Prediabetes with glycated haemoglobin level of 6.0 to 6.4 per cent or fasting plasma glucose level of 6.1 to 6.9 mmol/L.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

     ​The Department of Health (DH) has recently received media enquiries concerning individuals who promote services on social media platforms that involve arranging blood draws for pregnant women on the Chinese Mainland and smuggling blood samples into Hong Kong for fetal gender testing. The DH today (January 21) stated that it has immediately followed up on the matter and referred relevant information regarding the two laboratories in question to the Medical Laboratory Technologists Board for appropriate actions against the registered Medical Laboratory Technologists concerned, in accordance with the Allied Health Professions Ordinance (Cap. 359). Under the Ordinance, no registered Medical Laboratory Technologist may perform tests for the purpose of medical diagnosis or treatment without a referral from a registered medical practitioner or other specified healthcare professional.
      
     The DH has also notified the relevant Mainland authorities.
      
     According to the Prevention and Control of Disease Regulation (Cap. 599A), any person who imports any excreta, secretion, blood or blood component that the person has reason to suspect contains an infectious agent should obtain prior written permission from the DH. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $5,000 and two months’ imprisonment.
      
     Investigation by the DH revealed that the two laboratories involved – NovaGene Diagnostic Laboratory Limited and Zentrogene Bioscience Laboratory Limited – falsely claimed in online postings to be “medical laboratories accredited by the DH”. This information is false and misleading, as the DH does not accredit any medical laboratories. Furthermore, DH records show that two other institutions, named “Nova Medical” and “Hong Kong BOYA Medical Center”, have neither applied for clinic licences or letters of exemption for small practice clinics under the Private Healthcare Facilities Ordinance (Cap. 633), nor registered under the Medical Clinics Ordinance (Cap. 343). Despite this, “Hong Kong BOYA Medical Center” claimed to be a “Hong Kong registered medical clinic”. The DH has referred these cases to the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department for follow-up and requested the removal of all misleading statements.
      
     In addition, during the investigation, the DH found that advertisements for other services published on the websites of the relevant medical centres involved are suspected of breaching the Undesirable Medical Advertisements Ordinance (Cap. 231). The DH has issued warnings to the medical centres and ordered the immediate removal of the non-compliant advertisements.
      
     The DH will continue to follow up on the matter seriously and take enforcement actions in accordance with the relevant regulations, in collaboration with other law enforcement agencies, to safeguard public health.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

The following is issued on behalf of the Independent Committee in relation to the fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po:
 
The Independent Committee in relation to the fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po announced today (January 21) that members of the public can make online reservations from 10am tomorrow to 10am on January 25 to pre-register for observing the direction conference.
 
The direction conference will be held at 10am on February 5 at the Multi-purpose Room, 3/F, City Gallery, 3 Edinburgh Place, Central. The Chairman of the Committee, Mr Justice David Lok, will give directions on the subsequent hearings. There will not be any presentation of evidence or examination of witnesses. The direction conference will be open to the public to observe. To allow more members of the public to observe the conduct of the conference, the proceedings will be broadcast simultaneously in transmission areas set up on the ground floor of the City Gallery and in the Lecture Theatre of the Hong Kong Central Library. Some members of the public will be arranged to observe the conference in these two areas. A total of about 400 seats will be available for the public, with separate arrangements for the media.
 
Individuals who wish to observe the direction conference are required to make an online reservation in advance through the submission of a pre-registration form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ic-hearing/en/) from 10am tomorrow (January 22) to 10am on January 25. The Secretariat of the Committee will allocate seats on a first-come, first-served basis according to the system’s record of the time that the pre-registration forms are received.
 
Successful registrants will receive a “Confirmation of Successful Registration” issued by the Secretariat of the Committee by February 3: an SMS notification will be sent from the sender name “#IC-hearing”. If an email address is also provided during pre-registration, an email notification will be sent from hearing@ic-wangfukcourtfire.gov.hk. The pre-registration will be considered unsuccessful for those who have not received a notification by that date. Each person can only pre-register once. Duplicate registrations will not be processed.
 
The Chief Executive has established the Independent Committee in relation to the fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po to review the causes of the incident and related issues of the fire, and to make recommendations to prevent similar incidents from occurring again. The Committee formally commenced its work on December 19, 2025.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

Following is a question by the Hon Yang Wing-kit and a written reply by the Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, in the Legislative Council today (January 21):

Question:

The public healthcare fees and charges reform will take effect on January 1 this year, with the Hospital Authority (HA) simultaneously enhancing the medical fee waiver mechanism, which will increase the number of eligible beneficiaries from 300 000 to 1.4 million. To handle the additional fee waiver applications, HA implemented special transitional arrangements (transitional arrangements) during the transition period from January to March this year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) whether it knows the number of medical fee waiver applications received by HA following the implementation of the transitional arrangements, as well as the number of applications approved and the average processing time;

(2) given that under the transitional arrangements, HA currently only permits patients with appointments at public hospitals in January or February of this year to submit medical fee waiver applications two months prior to their appointments, whether the Government knows when HA will commence processing applications from patients with appointments scheduled after February of this year, as well as from members of the public attending without appointments;

(3) as patients requiring immediate or urgent treatment during the transition period, who cannot afford medical expenses at the public sector but cannot provide complete documentation for financial assessment, will be granted “conditional waivers” by HA for full or partial medical fees, whether the Government knows how HA determines the amount of “conditional waivers” for such individuals in the absence of the requisite supporting documents; and

(4) as HA has established dedicated teams to assist patients with matters relating to medical fee waiver applications, whether the Government knows the staffing establishment of the dedicated teams and the expenditure involved?

Reply:

President,

In consultation with the Hospital Authority (HA), the consolidated reply to the question raised by the Hon Yang Wing-kit is as follows:

The fees and charges reform for public healthcare aims to, through reforming the subsidisation structure, guide the public to make optimal use of healthcare resources, reduce wastage and abuse, and enhance healthcare protection for “poor, acute, serious, critical” patients on all fronts, thereby enhancing the sustainability of the healthcare system and strengthening the public healthcare system to cope with the challenges posed by an ageing population, increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, persistent strain on healthcare resources, etc., and serve as a safety net for all. The various measures under the reform have been successfully implemented from January 1, 2026.

As an essential component of the fees and charges reform for public healthcare, the HA has concurrently expanded its medical fee waiver mechanism. Apart from the some 600 000 people who have been benefiting from medical fee waivers both before and after the reform (namely Comprehensive Social Security Assistance recipients, Old Age Living Allowance recipients aged 75 or above and Level 0 Voucher Holders of the Residential Care Service Voucher Scheme for the Elderly), the number of other eligible low-income individuals is estimated to significantly increase from approximately 300 000 to about 1.4 million – around 4.6 times the previous number of beneficiaries. This enables limited healthcare resources to be more precisely directed to help “poor, acute, serious, critical” patients who are most in need, while ensuring that no patient is denied medical care due to lack of means.

To handle the additional medical fee waiver applications, the HA has implemented the following special transitional arrangements to ensure patients are notified of the assessment results in a timely manner:

(i) Patients with appointments at public hospitals in January or February 2026 could submit the required documentation two months in advance (i.e. in November or December 2025). Applications were pre-assessed, and eligible patients could receive medical fee waiver certificates before their follow-up appointments after the fees and charges reform for public healthcare took effect on January 1, 2026; and

(ii) Patients with financial difficulty who require immediate or urgent treatment but cannot provide complete documentation for financial assessment will be granted “conditional waivers” for full or partial medical fees during the transitional period from January to March 2026. Eligible patients need only submit relevant documents within three months to receive official medical fee waiver certificates upon passing the assessment.

(1) Since the implementation of the fees and charges reform for public healthcare, the number of medical fee waiver applications approved by the HA has significantly increased by multiple times compared with the past, demonstrating that the reform has effectively strengthened support for low-income families and underprivileged groups. Recent data shows that the HA receives an average of about 5 900 medical fee waiver applications daily. From early November 2025, when the HA began accepting applications from patients for medical fee waivers applicable after the fees and charges reform for public healthcare takes effect, up until January 19, 2026, the HA has approved 91 479 medical fee waiver applications (including 47 051 “conditional waivers”). This figure far exceeded the annual number of approximately 14 000 patients who were approved to receive medical fee waivers in the past. In other words, at least an additional 77 000 patients to date have already benefitted from the safety net under the enhanced medical fee waiver mechanism, from having to pay the fees and charges in full before the reform to now receiving fee waivers. According to approval records, approximately 82 per cent of applications were successfully approved on average, with some hospital clusters reaching over 90 per cent, with medical fee waiver certificates issued on the same day.

(2) The medical fee waiver mechanism aims to provide assistance to patients with financial difficulties and healthcare needs, ensuring they are not denied medical care due to lack of means. Financial assessment is therefore required and not everyone will be eligible. The HA must handle each application with due diligence for proper use of public funds. Patients also have the responsibility to provide complete, accurate, truthful and appropriate information for assessment and verification to help ensure that assistance reaches patients truly in need. While ensuring that no patient is denied medical care due to lack of means, it is also essential for the HA to uphold the principle of prudent use of resources to prevent the limited and precious public resources from being abused. In general, those who have financial difficulty and are eligible for medical fee waivers are from low-income families with relatively simple asset structure. The assessment process is not complicated.

To facilitate eligible patients in obtaining medical fee waiver certificates before their appointments, the HA advises patients to begin the application process approximately one to two months before their scheduled appointments. The HA is accordingly now accepting applications for medical fee waivers from patients with scheduled appointments within two months. Citizens with scheduled appointments beyond two months or without any appointments do not need to apply at this stage.

(3) Patients applying for “conditional waivers” need only sign a declaration form and state their approximate financial circumstances to be granted a “conditional waiver” for full or partial medical fees valid for three months. However, as aforementioned, “conditional waiver” is only a special flexible arrangement for patients who require urgent medical services but are unable to provide the required documentation for financial assessment. Therefore, such patients must still submit all the relevant documents for financial assessment within the validity period of the “conditional waiver”. Eligible patients will be issued an official medical fee waiver certificate, which will replace the conditional waiver certificate. If patients fail to submit the required documents within the three-month deadline or do not meet the relevant eligibility criteria, they will be required to settle all applicable fees (if any). To ensure the appropriate use and prevent abuse of healthcare resources, the HA will conduct regular random reviews of approved cases.

(4) The HA established the Designated Financial Assessment Team for Waiver Application (designated team) in November 2025, with an establishment of approximately 180 staff members. This team is deployed across the seven hospital clusters to assist in triaging and processing the medical fee waiver applications. The team is made up of Social Work Officers, Assistant Social Work Officers, Executive Officers and Executive Assistants. Most team members are stationed within the Medical Social Services Units. As of December 2025, the actual expenditure for hiring the staff for the designated team is approximately $9 million. The HA will closely monitor the volume of medical fee waiver applications and increase or redeploy personnel to the designated team as necessary to meet service demands in due course, ensuring efficient resource utilisation and timely processing of citizens’ medical fee waiver applications. 

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

Online reservations for the direction conference to be held on February 5 by the independent committee set up in relation to the fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po will start from 10am tomorrow.

The direction conference will be held at 10am at the City Gallery in Central, where Committee Chairman David Lok will give directions on the subsequent hearings.

The proceedings will be broadcast simultaneously in transmission areas set up on the ground floor of City Gallery and in the Lecture Theatre of the Hong Kong Central Library. A total of about 400 seats will be available for the public.

Individuals who wish to observe the direction conference are required to make an online reservation in advance through the submission of a pre-registration form from 10am tomorrow to 10am on January 25.

The Committee Secretariat will allocate seats on a first-come, first-served basis according to the system’s record of the time that the pre-registration forms are received.

Successful registrants will receive a “Confirmation of Successful Registration” issued by the Secretariat of the Committee by February 3. Each person can only pre-register once. Duplicate registrations will not be processed.

There will not be any presentation of evidence or examination of witnesses in the direction conference.

Source: Republic of China Taiwan

President Lai confers decoration on former Czech Parliament Chamber of Deputies Speaker Markéta Pekarová Adamová
On the afternoon of January 20, President Lai Ching-te conferred the Order of Brilliant Star with Special Grand Cordon upon Markéta Pekarová Adamová, former speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, in recognition of her long-term, outstanding contributions to deepening the friendship between Taiwan and the Czech Republic. In remarks, President Lai indicated that in recent years, cooperation between Taiwan and the Czech Republic in trade, investment, technology, and aviation has continued to deepen, demonstrating that the Taiwan-Czech partnership is not only built on shared values, but also has substantial and long-term economic potential. The president expressed hope that both sides will create more opportunities for cooperation and write new chapters in the deep friendship between Taiwan and the Czech Republic as it continues to grow.
A translation of President Lai’s remarks follows:
Firstly, on behalf of the people of Taiwan, I would like to extend a warm welcome to our dear friend former Speaker Adamová on her return to Taiwan. It was also a great honor for me just now to confer the Order of Brilliant Star with Special Grand Cordon upon her on behalf of our government to thank her for her outstanding contributions to deepening the friendship between Taiwan and the Czech Republic over the years.
I remember the determination then-Speaker Adamová showed three years ago when she led a delegation of more than 160 people to Taiwan, despite facing great external pressure. The visit marked a new milestone in bilateral relations. Speaking during the trip, she emphasized that Taiwan and the Czech Republic were in the same boat. Today, her words still resonate throughout Taiwanese society.
In 2023, then-Speaker Adamová and I visited the Net Zero City Expo together. On that occasion, I cited her remarks, saying that Taiwan and the Czech Republic stand together now and will continue to stand together in any circumstance. Our meeting today at the Presidential Office serves as further proof that the friendship between Taiwan and the Czech Republic has endured over time and distance, growing ever stronger and deeper.
Former Speaker Adamová has long spoken up courageously on the international stage for peace in the Taiwan Strait and for Indo-Pacific security. Within the Czech parliament, she actively championed resolutions in support of Taiwan and our participation in international organizations. She also personally facilitated an exhibition by the National Palace Museum in the Czech Republic. These actions were all concrete demonstrations of solidarity with Taiwan, which our people will always cherish.
In recent years, cooperation between Taiwan and the Czech Republic in trade, investment, and technology has continued to deepen. We have signed numerous MOUs that are steadily yielding positive results. An increasing number of Taiwanese enterprises are expanding their investments in the Czech Republic, and collaboration in aviation and industry continues to strengthen. These achievements demonstrate that the Taiwan-Czech partnership is not only built on shared values, but also has substantial and long-term economic potential. Looking ahead, Taiwan will continue to work with the Czech Republic to create more opportunities for cooperation and write new chapters in our deep friendship as it continues to grow.
I would also like to touch upon former Speaker Adamová’s book, Nejsem z cukru ani ze železa (Made of Neither Sugar nor Iron), published last October. In it, she notes that exchanges between democracies and Taiwan are not designed to provoke China, but rather to fulfill a commitment to democracy and freedom. I am deeply touched by her conviction that democratic countries will not let Taiwan stand alone.
Although she is taking a step back from politics for now, I am confident that former Speaker Adamová will continue to be a key driving force behind Taiwan-Czech cooperation. I want to emphasize once again that Taiwan stands with the Czech Republic and all our democratic partners both now and in the future, and will continue to do so in any circumstance. In closing, I again welcome former Speaker Adamová to Taiwan and wish her a pleasant and productive stay.
Former Speaker Adamová then delivered remarks, saying that it is a great honor for her to receive the Order of Brilliant Star with Special Grand Cordon from President Lai, and that she accepts it with deep gratitude and great respect for Taiwan and its people.
Former Speaker Adamová stated that she comes from Czechia, a nation that knows from its own history how precious freedom is, and how important it is to defend democracy, human rights, and the right of every country to choose its own future. She said that this is why Taiwan holds a very special place in the hearts of the Czech people, who recognize in Taiwan a partner who shares their values, courage, and belief in an open and peaceful world.
The former speaker went on to say that Taiwan is an extraordinary country that is strong, innovative, and resilient, but also open, kind, and deeply human. She said that everywhere she goes in Taiwan, she feels the warmth, dignity, and determination of the Taiwanese people. Taiwan’s society, she said, proves that democracy can flourish even in challenging times, and that freedom is strongest when it is supported by responsibility and mutual respect. She then expressed her sincere support for Taiwan and its peaceful future, and stated that Taiwan deserves to live in security, dignity, and prosperity, free to shape its own destiny and contribute fully to the global community.
Former Speaker Adamová stated that the decoration she received is not only a great personal honor for her, but also a symbol of friendship between Taiwan and Czechia, and a commitment to continue building bridges between our countries, our cultures, and our people. To close, she thanked President Lai once again for the extraordinary honor, and expressed hope that Taiwan will continue to thrive in peace, freedom, and confidence.
Also in attendance at the ceremony were Representative of the Czech Economic and Cultural Office David Steinke and Head of the Taiwan Office of the European Values Center for Security Policy Marcin Mateusz Jerzewski.