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Source: Assainir, relancer et développer ensemble : les orientations du 18e gouvernement

The Town Planning Board (TPB) today upheld its decision of rezoning the 4.72-hectare site for proposed Global Innovation Centre by the University of Hong Kong (HKU) in Pok Fu Lam from “Other Specified Uses” annotated “Global Innovation Centre” to “Undetermined” in the interim.

The TPB reached the decision at today’s meeting after thoroughly considering 1,861 further representations (FRs), including 30 with further responses to departmental comments as well as the views and responses of the Planning Department, bureaus and departments.

The board members noted that the grounds and views in the opposing FRs were mainly related to designation of “Undetermined” zoning; suitability of the site for the centre; and procedural issues. They also took note that most issues were similar to those raised in the representations and were duly deliberated by the board at the representation stage. 

The TPB considered it prudent to maintain the “Undetermined” zoning for the site at this stage, which would allow time for HKU to review the development proposal for the centre, conduct technical assessments including potential traffic impacts during construction and operational stages, further consult the community and submit a revised proposal for the Government and TPB’s consideration within a reasonable time.

Any proposed development of the site would be effected through rezoning in accordance with section 5 of the Town Planning Ordinance, whereby the public will have the opportunity to submit representations and the board would conduct hearings to deal with the representations.

TBP members agreed that HKU should be invited to report on the latest developments of the project within three months, which should include its decision on site selection with detailed justifications, a development timeline for the project as well as an update on engagement with stakeholders.

They also reaffirmed the importance of constructive engagement with stakeholders and emphasised their expectation that HKU should enhance its engagement with the community.

Source: Assainir, relancer et développer ensemble : les orientations du 18e gouvernement

A 61-year-old female visitor to Hong Kong from the Mainland was today jailed for 54 days by Sha Tin Magistrates’ Courts for working illegally.

 

Immigration officers followed up on an advert on social media in which a service provider offered to submit driving licences applications at the Transport Department on behalf of others.

 

The officers identified a suspect and initiated an operation last Wednesday. On being arrested, the 61-year-old woman admitted that she had come to Hong Kong to submit applications for others and was to receive a monetary reward of $100 for each application.

 

A female Hong Kong resident, aged 33, was arrested on suspicion of employing the illegal worker and is being investigated.

 

The department said it will continue to take resolute enforcement action to combat such offences.

Source: Assainir, relancer et développer ensemble : les orientations du 18e gouvernement

The Electoral Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2025 was published in the Government Gazette today.

The bill amends electoral laws to ensure the smooth running of two important elections due to be held later this year, namely the 2025 Election Committee Subsector (ECSS) By-elections and the 2025 Legislative Council General Election (LCGE).

In particular it seeks to introduce adjustments to the delineation of geographical constituencies for the LCGE; empower the Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC) to use counting machines in LegCo functional constituency elections and consolidate ballot paper accounts for relevant constituencies; and improve arrangements for the publication of ECSS registers.

The Chief Executive announced this week that the date for this year’s LCGE will be December 7, and that the ECSS by-elections will be held on September 7.

The Government said it will continue to liaise closely with the EAC, and will prepare for the elections in accordance with the relevant electoral legislation to ensure that they are held in a fair, just, honest, safe and orderly manner.

The bill will be introduced into LegCo for a first reading on March 26. 

Source: Assainir, relancer et développer ensemble : les orientations du 18e gouvernement

The hard copy loose-leaf edition of the Laws of Hong Kong has been phased out following completion, in the first quarter of this year, of a project to verify all the current consolidated legislation published on Hong Kong e-Legislation (HKeL), the Department of Justice announced today.

The department said the HKeL is now the only official source of Hong Kong’s current consolidated laws, and that the final issue of the loose-leaf edition was issued earlier this month.

Under the department’s verification project, all copies of the current consolidated legislation published on HKeL were subjected to a rigorous verification process. This included checking for accuracy against official copies of legislation in the loose-leaf edition and the Government Gazette.

With the project’s completion, all verified copies published on HKeL have legal status. Users can access and download the verified copies on HKeL free of charge on any device.

The department rolled out the Bilingual Laws Information System website in 1997. The website’s contents initially had no official status and were for information only. The department therefore established Hong Kong e-Legislation in 2017 and subsequently embarked on its verification project.

Besides its ongoing efforts to proceed with back-capturing past printed gazettes and create electronic versions of them for upload to HKeL, the department is gradually converting printed copies of the loose-leaf edition into electronic format for addition to the website.

Source: Assainir, relancer et développer ensemble : les orientations du 18e gouvernement

The Government today launched a scheme to provide convenient immigration arrangements for individuals invited to Hong Kong from countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The policy is aimed at strengthening the city’s economic and trade exchanges, and its cultural co-operation, with the bloc. 

Under the Immigration Facilitation Scheme for Invited Persons, relevant policy bureaus and departments will invite ASEAN nationals who they believe can make considerable contributions to Hong Kong’s economic development, or who they wish to attend important events in the city, to take advantage of expedited immigration arrangements.

The Immigration Department will provide one-stop processing of applications from invitees through an electronic platform, relax the application criteria for self-service immigration clearance, and simplify the information required for visa applications.

Stressing that ASEAN has a long-standing relationship with Hong Kong and is the city’s second largest trading partner, the Government said it attaches great importance to co-operation with ASEAN countries.

It added that self-service immigration clearance services at Hong Kong’s control points will greatly enhance clearance efficiency for invitees.

Click here for details of the scheme.

Source: Assainir, relancer et développer ensemble : les orientations du 18e gouvernement

The Conference on Climate Change & International Trade Law was held in hybrid format in Hong Kong today, attracting about 600 registrations from jurisdictions in the Asia-Pacific, Middle East, Latin America, Europe and Africa.

Jointly organised by the UN Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) and the Hong Kong International Legal Talents Training Academy of the Department of Justice, the conference discussed how international trade law can effectively support the achievement of climate action goals set by the international community.

Secretary for Justice Paul Lam, UNCITRAL Secretary Anna Joubin-Bret and Deputy Director General, Department of Treaty & Law of the Ministry of Commerce Tian Ya gave opening remarks, while Deputy Secretary for Justice Cheung Kwok-kwan delivered closing remarks.

International Law Commission Member Ma Xinmin gave a keynote address, with prominent speakers from around the world joining the panel discussions.

Noting that various local climate change initiatives have demonstrated Hong Kong’s status as an international financial centre as well as a green and sustainable finance hub, Mr Lam said the wide spectrum of issues discussed at the conference illustrates how international trade law can effectively support the climate action goals set by the global community.

​The International Legal Talents Training Academy will continue to work with UNCITRAL in different areas and is planning to co-organise the 6th UNCITRAL Asia Pacific Judicial Summit in Hong Kong later this year.

Source: Assainir, relancer et développer ensemble : les orientations du 18e gouvernement

Secretary for Environment & Ecology Tse Chin-wan wrapped up a trip to Beijing today having agreed with Mainland officials that both sides will work to strengthen co-operation, technological exchanges and talent training in the agricultural sector.

On a visit to the Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Affairs, Mr Tse met Agriculture & Rural Affairs Vice Minister Zhang Xingwang and briefed him on various measures in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government’s Blueprint for the Sustainable Development of Agriculture & Fisheries.

The two sides exchanged views on leveraging Hong Kong’s advantages of enjoying the motherland’s strong support and being closely connected to the world, to develop its potential as an international food hub and expand access to the global market for the Mainland’s high-quality agricultural and fisheries produce. They also discussed the latest developments in restocking and multi-storey livestock farms.

Mr Tse stressed that Hong Kong is a highly developed city that has limited land resources, and in faces challenges in its development of agriculture and fisheries, while China as a whole has a strong foundation in the development, research and application of agro-technology.

Both sides agreed to establish a mechanism to strengthen co-operation, technological exchanges and talent training.

Earlier in the day, Mr Tse met representatives from the China Biodiversity Conservation & Green Development Foundation to discuss issues including green development, ocean governance and biodiversity.

He highlighted that Hong Kong boasts rich marine assets and biodiversity, and will look to increase co-operation with other cities in the Greater Bay Area to strengthen environmental protection and ecological conservation.

Mr Tse also invited the foundation to participate further in Hong Kong’s conservation and environmental education work, to help promote green and sustainable development.

Source: Assainir, relancer et développer ensemble : les orientations du 18e gouvernement

Announcing an overview of Hong Kong’s air quality in 2024, the Environmental Protection Department said today that the city’s air remained good overall and was broadly in compliance with the Government’s Air Quality Objectives.

In recent years, the Government has promoted electric vehicles, green transport and net-zero electricity generation in an effort to improve air quality in Hong Kong.

The department said that in 2024 the percentages of hourly Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) readings recorded by general and roadside monitoring stations that fell within “low” or “moderate” health risk paramaters were 98.7% and 98.9% respectively. The comparable figures for 2014, the year the index launched, were 96.1% and 92.1%.

From 2004 to 2024, the annual average concentrations of respirable suspended particulates, fine suspended particulates, nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide in the ambient air have fallen by 45% to 88%. The annual average concentrations of these pollutants at the roadside have fallen by 36% to 88%.

The annual average concentration of ozone has also steadied over the past few years. The number of hours of reduced visibility has declined by 82% since 2004.

Despite an increase in regional ozone levels, Hong Kong’s air quality has continued to improve over the past 20 years, resulting in a reduction in long-term health risks of more than 50%.

The department said it will update the risk factors assigned to air pollutants with reference to data derived from hospital admissions associated with air pollutants over the past decade.

It will also update its AQHI compilation methods with reference to the latest guideline levels for air pollutants published by the World Health Organization.

The updated AQHI will be made available online from tomorrow.

Source: Assainir, relancer et développer ensemble : les orientations du 18e gouvernement

Secretary for Environment & Ecology Tse Chin-wan today kicked off a visit to Beijing by visiting agricultural facilities and meeting officials.

In the morning, Mr Tse visited the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and toured various facilities to learn about national developments in agro-technology.

In the afternoon, he paid a courtesy call on the General Administration of Customs (GACC) and met GACC Vice Minister Zhao Zenglian. 

Mr Tse expressed gratitude to the GACC for its support in safeguarding food supplies to Hong Kong and its assistance in the implementation of a customs clearance facilitation arrangement in relation to Hong Kong food exports.

He said that the facilitation arrangement, which launched in May last year, is operating smoothly and has significantly shortened the time required for customs clearance. He added that its introduction is appreciated by Hong Kong food manufacturers.

Both sides expressed the hope that the arrangement can be applied to more food categories in the future.

Afterwards, Mr Tse met representatives from the Ministry of Ecology & Environment (MEE), the National Center for Climate Change Strategy & International Cooperation, and the BRI International Green Development Coalition to exchange views on topics such as co-operation on ecological and environmental matters and combating climate change.

He said that with the MEE’s strong support, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government was involved in a successful Side Event at the China Pavilion during the 29th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) last year.

The environment chief added that he hopes to continue telling good stories about Hong Kong’s and China’s efforts to combat climate change at COP30 this year.

Source: Assainir, relancer et développer ensemble : les orientations du 18e gouvernement

The Government welcomed the Legislative Council’s passage of the Air Pollution Control (Amendment) Bill 2024 today.

To more effectively combat unlicensed specified processes operations that may cause serious air pollution, the bill introduces a statutory closure notice mechanism.

At the same time, the amendment exercise optimises the scope of “cement works” and the definition of “premises” under specified processes to avoid misinterpretation or control circumvention, such that the trade could enjoy a clearer and fairer business environment.

The amendment exercise also tightens five existing Air Quality Objectives (AQOs) and adds three parameters newly introduced by the World Health Organization to its Global Air Quality Guidelines.

Among the 15 updated AQOs, seven are set at the most stringent levels of the guidelines, which are on par with those of other advanced economies.

The bill will come into effect on April 11.

The Government said Hong Kong’s air quality has continued to improve through the implementation of local control measures and close collaboration with the Guangdong Provincial Government.

Over the past two years, the city has recorded a 40%-80% decrease in the concentrations of major air pollutants, attaining the best air quality level since its return to the motherland, it added.