Friday, June 28, 2024
Weather in Hong Kong Mostly fine with isolated showers. There were one or two thunderstorms at first. It was very hot during the day, with a maximum temperature of about 34 degrees in the urban area and two or three degrees higher in the New Territories. Blows mild to moderate south to southeast winds. Looking ahead to the next two or three days, there will be a few showers, but it will still be very hot in some areas.
Hong Kong news
In an exclusive interview with reporters on the 26th, Chief Executive John Lee said that in the past two years, with the joint efforts of the government and all sectors of society, many policies introduced by the current government have achieved results, and some work has progressed beyond expectations. He said that national security risks will not be completely eliminated, and that the Hong Kong National Security Law and the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance are compatible and complementary, and give full play to the institutional advantages of the "dual laws and dual mechanisms" to build an institutional guarantee for safeguarding security and stability and promoting good governance in Hong Kong.
■In order to facilitate the public and visitors to participate in the celebration of the establishment anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the MTR Corporation said yesterday (27th) that it will strengthen the service of six railway lines during the July 1 long weekend (June 29 to July 1), with a total of about 400 additional buses in three days.
■This Saturday (29th) is the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) establishment anniversary holiday, the Transport Department said yesterday (27th) that it is expected that a large number of cross-boundary passengers will use public transport services to go to the Mainland and Macao through various land control points, and the Department will implement special traffic arrangements at Lok Ma Chau Control Point (Huanggang Port) and Shenzhen Bay Port from today (28th) to the early morning of July 2, depending on the on-site traffic conditions.
■According to the website of the Ministry of Commerce, the mainland and Hong Kong, and the mainland and Macao have agreed to increase the duty-free quota for luggage carried by resident passengers entering Hong Kong and Macao under the "Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement" (CEPA) mechanism, and the relevant content will be included in the "CEPA Agreement on Trade in Goods".
■The Department of Health announced yesterday (27th) that the scope of application of the Elderly Health Care Voucher (SHAN) will be extended to the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University (Sun Yat-sen First Hospital) in Guangzhou with effect from today (28th). In addition to the existing hospitals of The University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital and Huawei Lai Chi Court Community Health Service Centre, there is also one service point in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) that can use health care vouchers to pay for outpatient medical care. Starting from the same day, eligible elderly persons are required to enrol in eHealth before they can use the vouchers at designated medical institutions in the Greater Bay Area.
■The Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) and the Senior Citizen Home Safety Association (SCHSA) held a joint press conference yesterday (27th) to remind the public to prepare for the hot weather in summer. The Acting Assistant Director of the Observatory, Mr Cheng Yuen-chung, reminded the public, especially the elderly, that the weather in Hong Kong has continued to be very hot for more than 7 days since the issuance of the Very Hot Weather Warning on 20 June, with the temperature at the Observatory reaching 34.0 degrees on the summer solstice last Friday, the highest temperature this year and the highest temperature recorded on the summer solstice in 1980.
■As the conflict between Hong Kong's taxi industry and ride-hailing continues to escalate, the Government will present the results of the study on regulating the ride-hailing network next month. In an interview with local newspapers, the Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Mr Lam Sai-hung, said that the authorities will first explain the responsibilities of ride-hailing platforms if they need to be licensed next month. We are confident that the current Government will be able to resolve the dispute between taxis and ride-hailing services in the remaining three years of its term.
In an interview with local media, the Secretary for Housing, Ho Wing-yin, said that the case has become entertaining and it is not appropriate for her to discuss it more, but it is a serious case for the Government and will definitely be dealt with seriously. Whenever a suspected case of abuse of public housing is detected, the Resource Enhancement Unit of the Housing Department takes serious follow-up action on the information on television or the Internet. At present, there are 2 retired superintendents and 6 retired police officers in charge of the unit.
■The 24th Plenary of the Hong Kong/Guangdong Co-operation Joint Conference, originally scheduled to be held in Guangzhou yesterday (27th), has been postponed to July with the consent of Hong Kong and Guangdong, and the official date will be announced later.
■Organised by the Hong Kong Computer Industry Association, the Hong Kong Computer & Communications Festival 2024 will be held from 23 to 26 August at Wan Chai Convention and Exhibition. This year's theme revolves around AI and I&T development products, and since 2009, there will be a large scale of 5 exhibition halls and a number of theme pavilions, including the first "Belt and Road Software Expo (Hong Kong) 2024", which will continue to distribute consumption vouchers ranging from $10 to $500 to visitors this year, and $100 consumption vouchers for tourists for the first time.
■The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) published the "Thematic Household Survey Report No. 80" on the 27th. According to the report, the Internet and smartphone penetration rate among households in Hong Kong is high, with the proportion of people aged 65 and above using the Internet increasing from 81.8% in 2022 to 84.2% in 2023. The growing adoption of mobile payment is partly attributable to the Government's Consumption Voucher Scheme.
■The Transport and Logistics Bureau said on social platforms yesterday (27th) that the franchise of the Tai Lam Tunnel will expire at the end of May next year, and the government will repossess the tunnel. In response to the expectations of the public and the transport industry, the authorities will reduce the tolls moderately, and will consult the Legislative Council Panel on Transport on the 12th of next month to listen to their views and seek consensus.
■A research team from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University has successfully developed a new refrigerated truck. The refrigerated trucks not only support a solar-powered refrigeration system, but also have vehicle-linked energy storage and exchange technology, which will help Hong Kong halve its carbon emissions from 2005 levels by 2035 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
■The Lingnan-Yuanpei STEM Summer Academy, jointly organised by Lingnan University (LU) and Yuanpei College of Peking University (Peking University) for the first time, held an innovation and entrepreneurship training camp on the campus of Lingnan University for 7 consecutive days (22-28 June) and a STEM competition yesterday (27 June). A total of 30 outstanding students from the two universities formed 5 competition teams to design different innovation and entrepreneurship solutions for the competition with the theme of "green and intelligent technology".
■The International Symposium on Hong Kong Town Planning hosted by the Kwong Sha Ju Charitable Foundation was successfully held at the Brawood Hall of the Keliwa Crimham Club. With the theme of "A Vision for Hong Kong's Urban Planning and Development", the Symposium provided a platform for international experts and industry professionals to exchange views, discuss relevant issues and build on the outcomes of last year's Summit.
Financial
■The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) yesterday (27th) raised its forecast for Hong Kong's export growth this year from a maximum of 6% in December last year to a maximum of 11%. A HKTDC spokesman said the adjustment was due to a significant improvement in the current business performance of exporters and a more optimistic overall outlook. FAN Yuen-yi, Director of Research at the HKTDC, said there was every reason to believe that this positive trend would continue in the second half of this year and beyond.
■Hong Kong's ready-to-deliver market will usher in "new changes", China's largest third-party instant delivery platform SF City (9699. HK) announced on June 26 that it will launch the same-city instant distribution service in Hong Kong in July, giving full play to the industry experience and operational advantages accumulated in the instant distribution industry for many years to better serve merchants and consumers.
■Since the beginning of this year, trade between Guangdong and Hong Kong has grown rapidly. According to the statistics of the Guangdong Branch of the General Administration of Customs, in the first five months of this year, Guangdong's imports and exports to Hong Kong reached 436.46 billion yuan, an increase of 17.1% over the same period last year (the same below), and 3.5 percentage points faster than the overall import and export growth rate of Guangdong. Among them, exports were 417.01 billion yuan, an increase of 14.6%; imports were 19.45 billion yuan, an increase of 121.1 percent.
■China Guoxin announced the official establishment of three CSI Guoxin Hong Kong Stock Connect Central Enterprise Dividend ETFs, with a total initial offering size of 3.4 billion yuan (RMB, the same below), and a single product of up to 1.165 billion yuan, both of which set a new high for new thematic index ETF products in the whole market this year.
■The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Bank of France (BOF) have announced a wholesale-level central bank digital currency (wCBDC) collaboration, in which the two parties will conduct an in-depth study on the interoperability of wCBDC infrastructure, with a focus on real-time cross-border and cross-currency payments.
■SenseTime Technology (020) announced yesterday (27th) the launch of a large model 0 yuan purchase plan, from June 25 onwards to become a new registered enterprise user of SenseTime SenseNova, will receive a number of free services, including a 50 million Token package for newly registered enterprise users, API migration consulting services, etc.
■According to Xinhua News Agency, in order to fulfill the relevant commitments of tariff concessions under the Free Trade Agreement between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the Republic of Serbia, the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council issued an announcement stating that from July 1, 2024, the agreed tax rate will be implemented for some imported goods originating in Serbia according to the Free Trade Agreement between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the Republic of Serbia.
■The carbon fiber metro train "CETROVO1.0 Carbon Star Express Rail" developed by CRRC Qingdao Sifang Locomotive and Rolling Stock Co., Ltd. and Qingdao Metro Group for Qingdao Metro Line 1 was officially released in Qingdao, Shandong Province on the 26th. This is the world's first carbon fiber metro train for commercial operation. Compared with traditional metro cars, the car is about 11% lighter and more energy-saving, leading the metro train to achieve a new green upgrade.
■CNOOC's Offshore Oil Engineering Co., Ltd. announced on the 26th that the Qatar ISND5-2 project undertaken by the company's Offshore Oil Engineering (Qingdao) Co., Ltd. started construction in Qingdao, Shandong Province on the same day. This project is the most abundant and complex international offshore oil and gas field general contracting project contracted by Chinese enterprises, marking a new level of China's offshore engineering general contracting capacity.
synthesis
According to Xinhua News Agency, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held a meeting on June 27 to study the issue of further comprehensively deepening reform and promoting Chinese-style modernization. Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, presided over the meeting. The meeting decided that the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China will be held in Beijing from 15 to 18 July.
On 27 June, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee deliberated and approved the Central Military Commission's "Report on the Results of the Examination of the Li Shangfu Issue and the Opinions on the Handling of the Issue" and the "Report on the Results of the Examination of the Wei Fenghe Issue and the Opinions on the Handling of the Issue," and decided to expel Li Shangfu and Wei Fenghe from the party and terminate their qualifications as deputies to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.
■According to CCTV news, on June 26, local time, the Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism of Laos issued Document No. 29 of the "Implementation Rules for the Visa Policy for Specific Tourists in the 2024 Laos Tourism Year". According to the content of the document, tourists from Chinese mainland (mainland) and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan can obtain a 15-day visa-free policy for ordinary passports through travel companies. The tour needs to be organized by the Lao Tourism Company and approved by the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism. The policy will be implemented from July 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024.
■On the afternoon of the 27th, at a press conference held by the State Information Office, the relevant person in charge of the China National Space Administration revealed that China plans to launch Tianwen-2 around 2025 to carry out asteroid exploration missions; Around 2030, Tianwen-3 and Tianwen-4 will be launched to carry out Mars sample return missions and Jupiter system exploration missions, respectively.
■The EU summit was held in Brussels, the capital of Belgium, on the 27th, and the European Council approved the new leadership of the EU that night. European Council President Michel said on social media on the evening of the 27th that the European Council decided to nominate von der Leyen for a second term as President of the European Commission, elect former Portuguese Prime Minister Costa as the next President of the European Council, and nominate Estonian Prime Minister Kallas as the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
■The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) issued a statement on the 27th, saying that about 35 rockets were fired from Lebanon to northern Israel on the same day, causing a number of fires and power outages. According to the Israeli army's statement, its air defense system intercepted most of the incoming rockets. The early warning system installed on the mobile phone of Xinhua News Agency reporters showed that air defense sirens were frequently sounded in a short period of time in many towns and cities along the Lake Galilee in the north.
■Yemen's Houthi spokesman Yahya Saryea said in a statement on the 27th that the group attacked the cargo ship "Happy Seas" in the Red Sea with drones, unmanned ships and missiles.
Editor: Le Zhao
Proofreader: Zhuo Ling
审核：Oriole
Executive Producer: Yushan