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Hong Kong welcomes birth of twin panda cubs

Hong Kong’s Ocean Park welcomes the birth of the first-ever giant panda twins. The city’s beloved giant panda Ying Ying gave birth (Aug 15) to a boy and a girl, a day before her 19th birthday. The birth is a rarity, considering that Ying Ying is the oldest giant panda on record to have successfully given birth for the first time. Gifted by the Central People’s Government to Hong Kong in 2007, Ying Ying and her “partner” Le Le successfully mated at Ocean Park in March this year. Chief Executive John Lee thanked the Central Government for giving the giant pandas to Hong Kong, which fully demonstrates its care and support for the city. Ocean Park’s animal care and veterinary teams, together with experts from the China Conservation and Research Centre for the Giant Panda, are monitoring Ying Ying and her cubs round the clock until they are fully stable. An Instagram page dedicated to the family has been set up.

July’s visitor arrivals rose 10%

The provisional visitor arrivals to Hong Kong in July were 3.92 million, up about 10% from the same period last year. Cumulatively, Hong Kong received about 25 million visitors from January to July this year, a 52% year-on-year increase. Since May, the Hong Kong Tourism Board has been presenting a series of drone shows and pyrotechnic displays to tie in with festivals and events to enrich visitors’ experience and encourage the local public to enjoy the shows, enhancing the overall festive ambience and event appeal. In the coming months, drone shows and pyrotechnic displays will continue to be organised, including a festival-themed drone show on the evening of the Mid-Autumn Festival (Sep 17).

Paris Olympics celebrations set

The Paris Olympics buzz is still electric as Mainland Olympians prepare for a grand city visit to Hong Kong on Aug 29-31, while the Hong Kong Olympic athletes are set to ride high in a celebratory bus parade on Aug 21. The Mainland delegation will attend a welcome reception and welcome banquet hosted by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government, and visit the Hong Kong Sports Institute to exchange with Hong Kong athletes. They will also attend the Mainland Olympians Gala Show and sports demonstrations. In the morning of Aug 21, the Hong Kong athletes, coaches and other delegation members will set off on a bus parade from the New Territories to Tamar Park, next to the Central Government Offices. The athletes will participate in a sharing session with students on their Olympic experiences while Chief Executive John Lee will host a luncheon at Government House to commend the delegation for their outstanding achievements and efforts in Paris.

Ng On-yee wins US Women’s Snooker Open 

Congratulations to Hong Kong’s snooker sensation Ng On-yee on winning the US Women’s Snooker Open title in Seattle (Aug 12), with an impressive 4-0 victory over India’s Anupama Ramachandran in the final. Ng had an impressive showing throughout the three-day event, without dropping a single frame. It was her 21st title on the World Women’s Snooker Tour.

The 2024 World Lacrosse Women’s U20 Championship (Aug 15 – 24) is underway in Hong Kong for the first time, featuring 20 teams from around the world playing a total of 64 games at venues across the city. The home team got off to a great start with a 13-2 victory over Jamaica, before losing to England and Ireland, while defending champions the United States remain unbeaten so far and on course for a place in the finals on Aug 24.

Second quarter economy grows 3.3%

Hong Kong’s economy recorded moderate growth in the second quarter of 2024, with real GDP rising by 3.3% year-on-year, according to the Half-yearly Economic Report 2024 (Aug 16). Total goods exports continued to grow strongly, rising by 7.5% in real terms year-on-year during the second quarter thanks to sustained external demand. Exports of services fell 1.4%, with exports of travel services turning to a contraction amid changes in visitors’ consumption patterns and the strength of the Hong Kong dollar. The labour market stayed tight in the second quarter, with the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate staying low at 3%. Consumer price inflation remained modest in the second quarter, with the underlying Composite Consumer Price Index up 1% year-on-year. Looking ahead, the economy should continue to grow in the remainder of the year amid continued local economic expansion. However, geopolitical tensions and interest rate uncertainties may dampen business confidence and asset markets. The real GDP growth forecast for 2024 as a whole remains at between 2.5% and 3.5%.

Generative AI sandbox for finance sector launched

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), in collaboration with the Hong Kong Cyberport, has launched (Aug 13) the new Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) Sandbox for the finance sector. Chief Executive of HKMA Eddie Yue said the new sandbox is a pioneering initiative that promotes responsible innovation in GenAI across the banking industry. It will empower banks to pilot their novel GenAI use cases within a risk-managed framework, supported by essential technical assistance and targeted supervisory feedback. Banks are also encouraged to make full use of this resource to enhance effective risk management, anti-fraud efforts and customer experience.

Secretary for Environment & Ecology attends APEC meeting

Secretary for Environment & Ecology Tse Chin-wan attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Energy Ministerial Meeting (Aug 15 – 16) in Lima, Peru. He said during a discussion session that the HKSAR Government has set “net-zero electricity generation” as one of the four decarbonisation strategies in the Hong Kong’s Climate Action Plan 2050, with a target to cease using coal for daily electricity generation before 2035 and increase the share of usage of zero-carbon energy in electricity generation to around 60 per cent to 70 per cent by 2035. A programme to explore photovoltaic technology applications on the facades of government buildings will be launched. To prepare for opportunities presented by the development of hydrogen energy, the Strategy of Hydrogen Development in Hong Kong was announced in June. He pointed out that Hong Kong can become a demonstration platform for hydrogen technologies to assist the development of the hydrogen industry in different regions.

Hong Kong won a gold and two silver awards at the sixth APEC Energy Smart Communities Initiative (ESCI) Best Practices Awards Program in Lima, Peru (Aug 13).  A total of 62 projects from 13 APEC member economies vied for 10 awards in this year’s programme. Power-hawk inspector, a drone-based power grid defect inspector with embedded AI, won the gold award. The two silver awards went to E&M AI Lab: Driving Digital Transformation in Building Facilities Management, and Renewable Energy and Retired EV Battery Solution for Smart Grid Integration.

Sewage surveillance programme wins gold

Hong Kong’s sewage surveillance programme won the Gold Award in the 2024 International Water Association’s (IWA) Project Innovation Awards under the “Performance Improvement & Operational Solutions” category. The Environmental Protection Department said that the conferral of such an award fully recognises the HKSAR Government’s innovative spirit and outstanding technological achievements in using sewage surveillance to help combat the COVID-19 epidemic. The programme detected the viral concentration of the SARS-Co V-2 virus in the sewage network through a non-intrusive way, covering about 80% of Hong Kong’s population during the COVID-19 epidemic.

Mid-year population saw net inflow of 13,800 residents

Hong Kong’s population was 7,531,800 in the middle of the year, down 0.1% from mid-2023 but up 0.1% from the end of 2023. There were 34,400 births and 52,400 deaths from mid-2023 to mid-2024. Over the same period, a net inflow of 13,800 Hong Kong residents was recorded. The sizeable inflow of people to Hong Kong was in step with the various measures on talent attraction and labour importation. Following the full resumption of normal travel, many Hong Kong residents living abroad began returning to the city for short durations, resulting in a notable increase in the population in mid-2023 compared to a year earlier. 

Chief Executive John Lee led his team of principal officials to attend a district forum (Aug 19) to listen to the public's views on the upcoming Policy Address. He said he and his team take the views of the public seriously and will continue to be innovative and proactive in addressing the concerns of Hong Kong people, and unite all sectors in society to build a vibrant economy and strive for development. The public consultation for the Policy Address was launched on Jul 16 and will continue to gather input from organisations and individuals in different sectors over the coming month.

The Basic Law (BL) is the constitutional document of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). It provides the guarantees to maintain our existing way of life, including socio-economic development, the rights and duties of Hong Kong people, the rule of law and other areas. Article 23 of the BL stipulates that the HKSAR shall enact laws on its own to prohibit any act of treason, secession, sedition, subversion against the Central People’s Government, or theft of state secrets, to prohibit foreign political organizations or bodies from conducting political activities in the HKSAR, and to prohibit political organizations or bodies of the HKSAR from establishing ties with foreign political organizations or bodies.

Q: Will defendants charged with offences under the Basic Law Article 23 legislation be sent to the Chinese mainland for trial?

A: Such defendants will not be sent to the Chinese mainland for trial. Article 55 of the Hong Kong National Security Law (on the exercise of jurisdiction over a case concerning offence endangering national security by the Office for Safeguarding National Security of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region) is only applicable to the four categories of offences stipulated under the Hong Kong National Security Law. It is not applicable to the offences enacted under the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance.