Category: MIL-OSI

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

Hong Kong’s population was 7,518,300 in the middle of the year, up 0.3% from a year earlier, the Census & Statistics Department announced today.

A net inflow of 39,800 Hong Kong residents was recorded during the period from mid-2025 to mid-2026.

There were 29,700 births and 50,100 deaths, resulting in a natural decrease of 20,400.

The Government said that various talent attraction and labour importation measures continued to bring people from places around the world to Hong Kong.

The net inflow of residents offset the impact of natural population decrease, leading to an increase in population in mid-2026 as compared with mid-2025, it added.

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

Primary healthcare services for the elderly will be further enhanced starting October 5, providing more comprehensive care under a new service model as Elderly Health Centres (EHCs) under the Department of Health (DH) are gradually integrated into the district health network, the department’s Primary Healthcare Commission (PHC Commission) announced today.

Under the first phase, nine EHCs—located in North District, Yuen Long, Tuen Mun Wu Hong, Tsuen Wan, Kwai Shing, San Po Kong, Yau Ma Tei, Shau Kei Wan and Aberdeen—will be integrated. Integration of the remaining nine EHCs will be completed within 2027-28.

Once fully integrated, service points will expand from 18 to more than 100, encompassing District Health Centres and Expresses (DHCs) across all 18 districts, alongside designated Hospital Authority (HA) Family Medicine Clinics (FMCs). Overall annual capacity will double from the current 54,000 to over 120,000 elderly individuals.

Seniors with existing follow-up appointments or examinations at the first-phase EHCs can attend as scheduled. From October 5, DHCs will coordinate subsequent follow-up care.

By registering as DHC members for free, elderly patients can enter the treatment phase of the Chronic Disease Co-Care Scheme after assessment and select a community family doctor for follow-up care. Those currently receiving care at both an EHC under the DH and an FMC under the HA will continue their follow-up care at the FMC.

The DH will continue serving members with existing health assessment appointments at EHCs. Starting in December, elderly individuals on the waiting list or interested in EHC services will be served at DHCs under a new, more comprehensive health assessment framework rolled out by the PHC Commission.

Assessment domains will be broadened beyond cognition, mobility and vision to include nutrition, hearing, psychological capacity and urinary health. Healthcare professionals will formulate tailored management plans based on the results, with details to be announced later.

In addition, Comprehensive Social Security Assistance recipients, Old Age Living Allowance recipients aged 75 or above, and valid medical fee waiver holders will be arranged to receive preventive health services and assessments at designated HA FMCs upon DHC registration. Relevant fees will be fully or partially waived depending on eligibility.

The Government will gradually issue letters to EHC members in the coming weeks with details on the service integration and follow-up arrangements.

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

The Independent Committee in relation to the Fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po announced today that it has obtained the Chief Executive’s agreement to extend its reporting deadline to the end of October.

The Chief Executive established the committee on December 12, 2025, to examine the causes of the blaze and formulate recommendations for fire prevention. Its initial mandate was to submit a completed report within nine months of commencing operations.

Following its formal launch on December 19, 2025, the committee conducted on-site inspections at Wang Fuk Court. It also issued two rounds of public invitations for information between January and April this year.

Between March 19 and July 17, the committee held a total of 30 days of evidential hearings to receive oral evidence from 80 witnesses, review expert reports and consider submissions from the legal representatives of the involved parties. It also established relevant facts through written statements and evidence submitted by individuals and organisations.

The committee is currently processing the accumulated evidence and materials, including more than one million files, while concurrently drafting its final report.

Noting that the issues within its terms of reference are complex in nature, numerous and involve many parties, the committee stated that more time is required to conclude its findings and formulate factual, well-grounded recommendations.

Consequently, the committee requested an extension to submit its report, which the Chief Executive accepted.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

     Hong Kong Customs today (August 17) detected a drug trafficking case involving baggage concealment at Hong Kong International Airport and seized about 4 kilograms of suspected cannabis buds with an estimated market value of about $850,000.

     A 55-year-old Mainland male passenger arrived in Hong Kong from Bangkok, Thailand, yesterday (August 16). During Customs clearance, Customs officers found the batch of suspected cannabis buds inside his carry-on baggage. He was then arrested.

     The arrested man has been charged with one count of trafficking in a dangerous drug. The case will be brought up at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts tomorrow (August 18).

     Customs will continue to step up enforcement against drug trafficking activities through intelligence analysis. The department also reminds members of the public to stay alert and not to participate in drug trafficking activities for monetary return. They must not accept hiring or delegation from another party to carry controlled items into and out of Hong Kong. They are also reminded not to carry unknown items for other people.

     Customs will continue to apply a risk assessment approach and focus on selecting passengers from high-risk regions for clearance to combat transnational drug trafficking activities.

     Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, trafficking in a dangerous drug is a serious offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $5 million and life imprisonment.

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

Source: Hong Kong 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 today (August 18) announced that it has obtained the Chief Executive’s agreement to extend the time for submitting its report.
 
The Chief Executive announced on December 12, 2025 the establishment of the Committee to review the causes of the fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po and related issues, and to make recommendations to prevent similar incidents from occurring again. The target was for the Committee to complete its report within nine months after commencing operations. Following the formal commencement of its work on December 19, 2025, the Committee visited the site at Wang Fuk Court to better understand the situation on the ground. The Committee also issued two rounds of invitations in January to February and in March to April this year respectively to members of the public and organisations for provision of information. In addition, the Committee held a total of 30 days of evidential hearings from March 19 to July 17 this year to hear oral evidence from 80 witnesses, expert reports, and submissions from the legal representatives of the involved parties. The Committee also ascertained the relevant facts through written statements submitted by different individuals and organisations, and evidence submitted in other forms.
 
The Committee is now continuing to process the written evidence and other materials that are still being received. Such materials include more than 1 million files. Drafting of the report has also started. The issues within the Committee’s terms of reference are numerous and complex in nature, and involve many involved parties. As the Committee has to reach its findings and conclusions, and formulate recommendations on the matters within its terms of reference that are grounded in a factual framework, more time is required for it to analyse and study the large amount of information submitted by various parties. In view of this, the Committee has sought the agreement from the Chief Executive to extend the time for submitting its report, and the Chief Executive has given his agreement. Based on the latest progress, the Committee expects to complete its work and submit its report to the Chief Executive by the end of October.
 
The Committee will continue to discharge its duties in accordance with the principles of fairness, openness and impartiality. It will carefully review and consider every item of information received from various parties in preparing its report.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

The Lands Department today issued Practice Note No. 8/2026 inviting in-situ land exchange applications for designated development sites within the San Tin Technopole.

The land exchange arrangement covers approximately 17.7 hectares of land planned for private residential development, about 7.5 hectares for mixed residential and commercial use, and around 8.8 hectares of modern industry sites mainly intended for logistics and storage.

The deadline for submitting applications is October 16, 2026. Applicants must accept the binding basic terms offer with premium by August 17, 2027.

If an application cannot be concluded within the specified timeline, the Government will initiate land resumption procedures to avoid delaying the overall works programme of the new development area.

Applicants may choose standard rates for premium assessment as an alternative to the conventional case-by-case assessment mechanism. The applicable level of standard rates will be announced later.

Furthermore, this round of land exchange applications allows applicants to surrender eligible land they own within designated Northern Metropolis projects to offset the land premium. The Government will calculate the value of the surrendered land based on the applicable ex-gratia compensation rates for land resumption.

The Pilot Scheme on “Pay for What You Build” will also apply to non-residential developments within the scope of this land exchange exercise. 

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

The Government today announced that the AI Efficacy Enhancement Team has facilitated and implemented its first batch of 30 Efficacy Enhancement Projects. The initiatives are being rolled out in phases starting from mid-2026.

Led by Deputy Chief Secretary Cheuk Wing-hing, the team was established following the 2025 Policy Address to co-ordinate and steer departments in applying artificial intelligence (AI) technology, exploring process re-engineering and driving technological reforms.

The initial phase involves 13 government departments and includes 10 high-impact flagship projects. These cover public and business sectors closely connected to daily life, including transport licences, food business licences, leisure and sports facilities, environmental hygiene, complaint handling and environmental protection.

The 30 projects mainly optimise public service queuing and application processing workflows to deliver a faster, more user-friendly experience. In certain cases, the integration of AI has drastically cut waiting or processing times by up to 90%.

Internal government procedures are also being streamlined. Through process re-engineering and AI technology, some workflows have been compressed from several days to just a few hours. Additionally, the time required for case analysis or triage has been shortened by half or more.

Mr Cheuk noted that a dedicated AI task force, comprising experts from the Digital Policy Office and the Census & Statistics Department, is collaborating with leading AI enterprises to support these departments partnerships. “This arrangement ensures AI applications match with the actual operational needs of departments and new developments and trends of AI,” he explained.

“With the objectives of achieving pragmatic implementation and a swift rollout, we are striving to launch Efficacy Enhancement Projects progressively in 2026 and 2027,” he added. “Launching these projects within a short period of time reflects the Government’s determination and execution capability in smart transformation.”

Mr Cheuk pointed out that the first batch of projects has also shown the potential of promoting AI across departments.

“Despite the diverse functions and responsibilities of different departments, there are similarities in daily workplace scenarios, such as online reservations, license applications, audits and assessments, responding to enquiries and environmental monitoring,” he said.

“If a solution could be successfully applied in a pilot department, the relevant experience, technologies and operation models can be extended to other departments and similar work scenarios with suitable adjustments,” he added.