Category: MIL-OSI

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

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

Question:     
(1) whether it has plans to commission experts, scholars or higher education institutions to conduct scientific, in-depth research tailored for Hong Kong’s unique social environment, so as to assess the specific impact of social media on the emotional health, personality development and academic performance of local children and adolescents; if so, of the details and timetable; if not, the reasons for that, and whether consideration will be given to establishing dedicated funding to support such academic research;

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

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

     ​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

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 Government special administrative region – 4

Following is a question by the Hon Judy Chan and a written reply by the Secretary for Development, Ms Bernadette Linn, in the Legislative Council today (January 21):

Question:
 
The Lands Department (LandsD) currently grants short-term tenancies through tendering or direct land grant for non-governmental organisations or social enterprises to use unleased and unallocated government land. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) of the following information on complaints against short-term tenancy site operators received by the Government in the past five years: (i) the number of complaints (and their annual rates of changes), (ii) the reasons for complaints and (iii) the number of cases with follow-up actions taken;
 
(2) of the following information on (i) the number of sites newly granted under short-term tenancies in various districts in each of the past five years and the respective (ii) areas and (iii) uses of such sites involved, with a breakdown by land disposal method (i.e. tendering and direct land grant);
 
(3) of the following information on (i) the number of sites with their short-term tenancies terminated in various districts in each of the past five years and the respective (ii) areas involved and (iii) reasons for terminating the tenancies of such sites, with a breakdown by land disposal method (i.e. tendering and direct land grant);
 
(4) of (i) the number of sites with tenancies renewed by the same tenant upon expiry of the fixed term of the tenancies and the respective (ii) areas and (iii) uses of such sites involved in respect of short-term land tenancies managed by the LandsD in the past 10 years (set out by district); (i) the average renewal term and (ii) the longest renewal term of such sites with tenancies renewed by the same tenant, with a breakdown by land disposal method (i.e. tendering and direct land grant); and
 
(5) as there are views that the prolonged renewal of tenancies of some short-term tenancy sites by the same tenant has runs contrary to the spirit of short-term tenancy, whether the Government has conducted a review on the effectiveness in respect of short-term tenancy sites; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that, and whether it has plans to conduct such a review?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
Under the prevailing land approval policy, the Lands Department (LandsD) may grant short term tenancies (STTs) by way of tender or direct grant to support various social and economic activities and bring rental revenue for the Government. In addition, if an application receives policy support, and is considered in compliance with statutory or administrative requirements upon consultation with the relevant departments, the LandsD may grant STT to a non-governmental organisation and a social enterprise at concessionary or even nil rent for community, organisation, or non-profit making uses. The LandsD is responsible for granting and managing STTs, with fixed terms normally ranging from one to five years, and not exceeding seven years. Upon expiry of the fixed term, STTs will usually be re-tendered for another fixed term, or renewed according to the circumstances. The Government announced in the 2025 Policy Address that it would handle the tenancy term of Government tenancies in more flexible ways, and provide tenancy of a maximum total tenure of 21 years through renewal, which will mainly benefit lands for economic use, in response to the market suggestion of facilitating business and investments by providing a longer tenancy term. The relevant measures will be rolled out within the first quarter of this year.
 
My reply to the various parts of the question raised by the Hon Chan is as follows:
 
(1) As the nature and the type of land involved in each complaint are different, the LandsD does not maintain statistics on cases involving solely STTs. In general, upon receipt of complaints relating to STT sites, the LandsD would carry out investigations, including site inspection, as soon as possible. If any breaches of tenancy conditions are confirmed, such as violation of the user restriction clauses, the LandsD would take follow-up action immediately, including the issue of warning letters requesting the tenants to rectify the breaches, and may, subject to the circumstances, terminate the tenancy in accordance with the tenancy conditions and take back the site.
 
(2) In the past five years, the number of STTs freshly granted by the LandsD for commercial, economic, or social uses is set out in Annex I. The relevant uses include fee-paying public car parks, education, social welfare, religious, recreation, shops, factories, container handling, outdoor or indoor storage, and shipyards.
 
(3) In the past five years, the number of STTs for commercial, economic, or social uses that were terminated and the area involved are set out in Annex II. In general, the major reasons for termination of STTs include taking back sites for long term development (such as public housing development, Government land sale programmes) and termination initiated by tenants on their own considerations. Besides, only a minority of STTs were terminated for breach of tenancy conditions. For example, there were only about four such cases in 2025.
 
(4) and (5) If the sites are still yet to be required for long term development a few years after the expiry of the fixed term of the STTs, the LandsD will normally re-tender the STTs, so as to allow other interested business operators in the market to have a fair opportunity in bidding for the sites, maintaining healthy competition. That said, direct grant STTs which are related to economic activities, with policy support, or special historical background, may be renewed quarterly upon expiry of the fixed term. The LandsD does not maintain statistics on the average term and the average area of the STT sites with tenancies renewed by the same tenant. According to the statistics maintained by the LandsD, among the direct grant STTs, there are some 1 800 cases with cumulative tenancy period exceeding 10 years, the majority of which (around 1 550 cases) fall within a few major categories, including STTs granted for relocation of businesses affected by public works (such as shipyards); STTs converted from Government land licence in early years (usually shops or workshops); and some sites for public utilities or franchise operation (such as franchised bus depot). Among them, the longest STT tenancy term through renewal is 60 years, where the site has been leased for the use of a bus workers’ canteen, to tie in with the operation of the adjacent bus terminal at Tsim Sha Tsui pier. 
 
The Government would take into account a number of considerations in examining whether a site should be granted by way of STT or land lease, including where the site may be available for certain uses only on a short term basis; where the site may be available for supporting certain uses on a long term basis but STTs would allow greater flexibility in changing STT users; and where the site may be available for supporting certain uses on a long term basis but STTs may better meet the development needs of certain economic activities as one-off premium payment would not be required. As regards views that certain STTs may have run for too long, as explained above, there are policy or historical reasons for the relevant STTs. On the other hand, there are views in the market in recent years that tenancies with longer term may facilitate business and investments, which is also one of the considerations for our suggestion to provide Government tenancies for at most 21 years. While we understand the Hon Chan’s concerns about fair competition, we should also take into account various considerations when considering the term of tenancies. When we grant new tenancies in future, we will take into account the relevant factors holistically and strike an appropriate balance.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

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

Question:

     It has been reported that the Hospital Authority (HA) has long faced a severe shortage of nursing staff, and there are no mandatory requirements for the nurse-to-bed ratio in public hospital wards. Furthermore, some frontline nurses are concerned that over the past year, HA’s gradual reduction in the number of locum nurses, personnel whose employment has been extended beyond retirement, as well as clinical preceptors, all of whom possess valuable clinical experience within the nursing grade, will have a significant impact on the training and clinical competence of newly recruited nurses, thereby increasing patient risks. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the respective numbers of locum nurses, personnel whose employment has been extended beyond retirement, and clinical preceptors within HA’s nursing grade at the end of each of the past two years;

(2) of the respective ratios of nurses with over five years’ experience and those with three years’ experience or less in HA at present, and whether HA has formulated the relevant standard ratios; whether HA has plans to increase the ratio of nurses with over five years’ experience; if so, of the details of the plans; if not, the reasons for that; and

(3) of the ratio of HA’s clinical nurses to the number of hospital beds at present; whether HA has plans to formulate a target ratio and implementation plan; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

President,

     With our high-quality healthcare professionals and highly efficient healthcare system, Hong Kong boasts a number of world-leading health indicators. We are among one of the regions with the longest life expectancies (Note 1) and lowest infant mortality rate in the world (Note 2). The public current health expenditures in Hong Kong only accounted for 4.3 per cent (Note 3) of its Gross Domestic Product in 2023-24. Compared with other economies with a similar degree of population ageing, Hong Kong’s related expenditure ratio is among the lowest. On the other hand, we were able to provide over 90 per cent of the city’s healthcare services and achieve a high service quality on par with international standards, demonstrating the remarkable efficiency of our public healthcare system.

     Nevertheless, Hong Kong’s healthcare system is facing various structural challenges. With an ageing population and a surging prevalence of chronic diseases, quality and highly subsidised public healthcare services have attracted huge service demand, exerting immense pressure on the healthcare system. In light of the above, the Hospital Authority (HA) is actively implementing various measures to attract, train and retain manpower, while leveraging information technology to enhance efficiency.

     My reply to the question raised by Dr the Hon Lam is as follows:

(1) First of all, healthcare professions are the cornerstone of the local healthcare system. The Government has consistently invested heavily in enhancing the training quality, including increasing government-funded training places based on manpower situations and projections to meet the rising demand for healthcare services. To enhance manpower of local nurses, the number of relevant training places in institutions has steadily increased by nearly 60 per cent from about 3 200 in the 2016/17 academic year to about 5 000 in the 2024/25 academic year.

     As for human resources management, the HA introduced the policy of Extending Employment Beyond Retirement (EER) in 2021, allowing serving healthcare staff to extend their service up to the age of 65 after reaching the retirement age of 60. This enables the retention of experienced healthcare professionals to continue taking up clinical duties in public hospitals, thereby alleviating manpower pressure and supporting training and knowledge transfer. On the other hand, the HA has also established the Locum Office to actively recruit part‑time healthcare staff and adopt more flexible hiring strategies. In addition, to nurture junior nurses, the HA has strengthened its preceptorship programme by recruiting experienced nurses as preceptors to provide clinical guidance for junior nurses, facilitating them to get familiarised with the ward procedures and environment.

     Following the passage of the Nurses Registration (Amendment) Ordinance on July 26, 2024, the HA has launched a series of promotional activities to attract non-locally trained nurses (NLTNs) to join the HA. Moreover, the HA has also been actively collaborating with various non-local partners to roll out nurse exchange programmes. As at the end of October 2025, a cumulative total of 170 NLTNs had practised or participated in exchanges in the HA under Limited Registration or Special Registration pathways.

     These measures have begun to yield results. The attrition rate of full-time nurses has improved, with the 12-month rolling figure falling from a peak rate of 10.9 per cent as at end-March 2023 to 6.0 per cent as at end-October 2025. The number of HA nurses counting on full-time basis has increased from a low level of 28 865 as at March 2024 to 30 533 as at October 2025, recording an increase of 5.7 per cent in one and a half year. 

     With the gradual decline in the attrition rate and the increase in the number of full‑time nurses in recent years, the number of locum nurses, whose role is to fill short‑term vacancies, has therefore decreased. For the past two years (i.e. from end-October 2023 to end-October 2025), the numbers of locum nurses, EER staff and clinical preceptors in the HA’s nursing grade are set out in Annex 1. While the number of locum nurses slightly decreased from 1 450 to 1 372 in two years, the numbers of EER staff and clinical preceptors did not decrease as indicated in the introduction of the question, in fact, they increased. The number of EER staff increased from 729 to 1 090 and that of clinical preceptors rose from 149 to 181. In contrast with temporary or locum arrangements, full‑time nurses are able to provide more stable and continuous services within clinical teams, which is conducive to the continuity of patient care plans. The HA will continue to arrange temporary or locum nurses to support designated specialties having regard to service needs.

(2) As at end‑October 2025, the distribution of HA’s nurses by years of service is set out in Annex 2. The data shows that among the 33 683 nurses in the HA, 9 463 nurses were working for less than three years, representing 28.1 per cent of the overall nursing manpower; while 20 049 nurses had five years of service or more, representing nearly 60 per cent of the overall nursing manpower. There were 12 878 more experienced nurses with ten years of experience or more, representing 38.2 per cent of the overall nursing manpower. Most of these nurses serve on the frontline and assist in training less‑experienced nurses to facilitate professional succession. The Government is particularly thankful to nurses of public healthcare system who embody the spirit of Nightingale for their commitment, dedication and professionalism in taking care patients in the frontline amidst manpower pressure in the past. The HA will continue to implement various measures to recruit and retain nurses, with a view to ensuring service quality and facilitating professional succession. Meanwhile, the HA will also provide nurses with diversely structured and innovative training programmes, including providing more opportunities of simulation and specialty trainings, to enhance the development of professional nursing services.

(3) In order to meet clinical service demand and operation needs, the HA has also recruited 19 106 nursing supporting staff including ward assistants, patient care assistants and so on to support nurses for providing clinical care of patients. 

     As at end‑March last year, the HA had a total of 30 824 hospital beds. As healthcare staff supporting inpatient services in the HA also undertake other duties (such as specialist out-patient services), the demand for nursing manpower varies across different hospitals and inpatient specialties. Therefore, computing a ratio of number of staff supporting in-patient services to that of overall hospital beds separately is not appropriate. 

     Apart from closely monitoring manpower situations, the HA will continue to actively leverage information technologies, including areas like artificial intelligence, smart wards, smart clinics, smart support and digital workplaces, with a view to enhancing clinical and administrative workflows, and the effectiveness of resource utilisation.

     Thank you, President. 

Note 1: Average life expectancy at birth in 2024 is 82.7 for male and 88.2 for female.
Note 2: Infant mortality rate in 2024 is 1.7 deaths per 1 000 registered live births.
Note 3: Excluding expenditures relating to COVID-19.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region