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BUSINESSSep 17100 start-ups joining Hong Kong’s flagship tech hub to get top mentorsAround 100 start-ups selected to join Hong Kong’s flagship border tech hub will undergo mentorship programmes ranging from five to eight years, backed by industry heavyweights, the operator has revealed. Vincent Ma, CEO of Loop Hong Kong Park Company, said in an interview on Thursday that the start-ups were chosen to join the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park (HSITP) following a months-long screening process. “We have chosen 100 start-ups to enter our park soon following a few...South China Morning Post
WORLDSep 17Self-funded campuses favoured in Hong Kong’s new university townsTertiary institutions seeking to establish campuses in one of three university towns planned for the Northern Metropolis megaproject will be given “favourable consideration” if they do not require a government loan to build their facilities, Hong Kong’s education minister has said. The government has expanded all three university towns – formally named in Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s annual policy address on Wednesday – and opened applications for interested institutions to submit their...South China Morning Post
BUSINESSSep 17Hong Kong eyeing gold expansion and Northern Metropolis vaults to cement hub statusHong Kong’s plan to raise its gold holdings will further cement the city’s status as an international financial centre, with the possibility of building vaults in the Northern Metropolis megadevelopment, according to authorities. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po also said on Thursday the city was under “no pressure” to raise interest rates following a US rate hike, but stressed authorities would “keep a close watch” on the situation. Speaking at a conference the day after the policy address...South China Morning Post
BUSINESSSep 17Hong Kong will lack 130,000 workers by 2028, fewer than projected due to talent policiesHong Kong will be short of 130,000 workers by 2028, about a third less than originally projected, a reduction the city’s labour chief attributed to the development of artificial intelligence and government policies to import labour and top talent. A day after the release of the city’s first five-year plan and annual policy address, Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han said on Thursday that authorities would exempt start-up founders approved under the Top Talent Pass Scheme from...South China Morning Post
BUSINESSSep 17Hong Kong property market gets reprieve on rates, but position remains precariousHong Kong’s property market dodged an immediate hit from the Federal Reserve’s rate hike on Thursday as major local banks kept their prime rates unchanged, but another increase could puncture the market’s relatively fragile recovery, according to industry insiders. The Fed raised its benchmark rate by a quarter point at its latest meeting on Wednesday in the US, but HSBC and other major Hong Kong banks left their prime rates unchanged. The decision should have no immediate impact on the local...South China Morning Post
BUSINESSSep 17How Hong Kong’s new 5-year plan courts global capital with an eye on market dominanceHong Kong is broadening its equity markets, deepening its offshore yuan business and expanding further into gold trading under its first five-year plan for economic and social development, as the city seeks to defend its standing as Asia’s top financial centre and close the gap with London. Unveiled on Wednesday by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu alongside his 2026 policy address, the blueprint outlines a package of financial plans to “consolidate and enhance Hong Kong’s status as an...South China Morning Post
WORLDSep 17Hong Kong police officer left paralysed in 2005 knife attack diesA former Hong Kong police constable who was left paralysed and bedridden for 21 years following a knife attack during a stop-and-search has died, the South China Morning Post has learned. A source said Jacky Chu Chun-kwok, who was in his fifties, died on Wednesday. Frankie Leung Chun-kit, chairman of the Junior Police Officers’ Association, said on Thursday that the force’s management supported burying Chu in Gallant Garden, a dedicated site at Wo Hop Shek Public Cemetery for public servants who...South China Morning Post
WORLDSep 1722 months’ jail for Hong Kong driver who fatally struck student at traffic junctionA Hong Kong man has been sentenced to 22 months behind bars for driving dangerously and causing a 19-year-old student’s death at a pedestrian crossing two years ago. The District Court on Thursday also disqualified Ernest Au Yeung Shiu-hong from driving for five years and criticised his “extremely dangerous and irresponsible” attitude that led to Lisa Pun’s death on November 7, 2024. Au Yeung, an NGO event organiser, drove his Tesla Model Y past a box junction on On Lok Road in Yuen Long at...South China Morning Post
BUSINESSSep 17Hong Kong airport records 10% passenger growth as cargo falls for a second monthHong Kong International Airport (HKIA) recorded a roughly 10 per cent increase in passenger traffic in the first eight months of the year, while cargo volume declined for a second consecutive month in August amid weak exports. The airport said passenger numbers rose 10.1 per cent year on year to 44.3 million between January and August, while flight movements increased 3.5 per cent to 269,900. Passenger traffic in August reached 5.86 million, up 3.5 per cent from a year earlier, while flight...South China Morning Post
SCI & TECHSep 17Hong Kong’s ‘AI city brain’ will not tap personal data, breach privacy: John LeeHong Kong’s new “AI city brain” will not involve personal data and poses no privacy concerns, the city leader has said, adding that the system will also help improve visitor management during “golden week” holidays. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu also stressed on Thursday the importance of AI education and the need to nurture young people’s AI literacy, citing overseas examples of adolescents who became socially isolated after relying too heavily on the technology. In his annual policy address...South China Morning Post
BUSINESSSep 17HSBC axes $38,000 school fee perk for new Hong Kong bankersLongstanding subsidy had been used to attract senior staff to Asian financial hubFinancial Times
POLITICSSep 17Hong Kong leader John Lee vows to review IVF support for women over 40Hong Kong leader John Lee Ka-chiu has vowed to examine whether the government can better support women aged over 40 who are seeking assisted reproductive treatment, while acknowledging that financial incentives alone would not reverse the city’s falling birth rate. Lee made the pledge during a radio phone-in programme on Thursday, when residents described obstacles to having children, including job insecurity. Among the callers was a woman surnamed Lee, who said a medical condition and a lengthy...South China Morning Post
BUSINESSSep 17Hong Kong to support rocket, satellite IPOs as SpaceX-led sector takes offHong Kong aims to adjust listing rules to grab a share of initial public offerings (IPOs) by mainland China’s space companies as activity in the sector increases in line with Beijing’s priorities and heightened activity in the sector following the blockbuster June listing by Elon Musk’s SpaceX. That could lead to more head-to-head competition between the Hong Kong stock exchange and the Shanghai Stock Exchange, which is now drawing a majority of such listing applications, including commercial...South China Morning Post
POLITICSSep 17Hong Kong’s first 5-year plan, John Lee’s 2026 policy address: everything you need to knowWe have put together stories from our coverage of John Lee’s 2026 policy address. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. 14 key takeaways from John Lee’s policy address, Hong Kong’s first 5-year plan Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has placed deepening integration with mainland China and developing new economic engines centre stage as he unveiled the city’s first-ever five-year plan alongside the last policy address of his term. 2. Hong Kong...South China Morning Post
BUSINESSSep 17Hong Kong’s 5-year plan, policy continuity offer investors more stability, experts sayLonger-term vision and policies with continuity mapped out in Hong Kong’s inaugural five-year plan, along with the latest policy blueprint, offer investment opportunities and more stability for investors, according to experts and commentators. Hong Kong marked a historic milestone on Wednesday when Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu unrolled the city’s first five-year development plan with his fifth policy address to align with China’s long-term national strategy. The explicit directions Lee set...South China Morning Post
BUSINESSSep 16Hong Kong targets gold trading, FPS-UnionPay link to boost yuan useHong Kong will expand the use of the yuan in areas including gold trading and cross-border payments, as policy blueprints call for the city’s biggest push yet to internationalise the Chinese currency. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu on Wednesday devoted part of the city’s first five-year plan and his annual policy address to developing a gold trading ecosystem and creating a regional intellectual property trading centre in the city. “We will consolidate and enhance Hong Kong’s status as an...South China Morning Post
BUSINESSSep 16Hong Kong aims to raise innovation spending to 3% of GDP by about 2030Hong Kong will strive to raise its expenditure on innovation activities to a level equivalent to 3 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) by around 2030, nearly double the current rate, according to the city’s first five-year plan. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu unveiled the ambitious goal, together with measures to boost frontier technologies, including aerospace research, on Wednesday. Among the 22 indicators laid out in the plan, the government aims to raise the ratio of total domestic...South China Morning Post
BUSINESSSep 16Hong Kong sets 5-year plan to double innovation spending, boost new industriesHong Kong’s leader has unveiled the city’s first five-year blueprint, aligned with China’s national development strategy, setting targets to nearly double innovation spending and raise the share of manufacturing and new industries to 5.5 per cent of the economy. In a historically significant new approach, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu prefaced his annual policy address on Wednesday with a comprehensive set of binding and anticipatory or aspirational longer-term targets for Hong Kong up to the...South China Morning Post
POLITICSSep 16Hong Kong leader vows support for media’s global reach, to review TV practice codeHong Kong’s leader has expressed renewed support for the local media industry, including strengthening its global reach and reviewing the code of practice for television to ensure it keeps abreast with the times. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu made the pledges in both the city’s first five-year plan and the policy address he unveiled on Wednesday. In the section on “Develop an East-meets-West Centre for International Cultural Exchange” under the five-year plan, Lee said: “We will strengthen...South China Morning Post
BUSINESSSep 16Swire Group welcomes Hong Kong’s first Five-Year Plan, Policy AddressThe Swire Group said it welcomed Hong Kong’s first Five-Year Plan and measures outlined in the 2026 Policy Addressthestandard_hk · hong kong
POLITICSSep 16Hong Kong to offer ‘attractive’ merger deals for schools beyond those strugglingHong Kong education authorities will offer a “very attractive” proposal and policy support to encourage schools without survival issues to merge amid the shrinking student population, according to official sources. The government said it might allow aided schools and semi-private Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) schools to merge and operate across two campuses, though all arrangements remained subject to the forthcoming announcement of further details. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu announced that...South China Morning Post
POLITICSSep 16Hong Kong’s new training visa could be available in first quarter of 2027A new visa intended to attract international talent to participate in short-term training programmes in Hong Kong could become available as early as the first quarter of next year, the South China Morning Post has learned. The final policy address of Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s current term also put the spotlight on five existing or soon-to-launch academies that would seek to train overseas professionals and organise international events. They and the new visa category were among a spate...South China Morning Post
BUSINESSSep 16Hong Kong targets film tourism boom and higher-level tennis tournamentsHong Kong will introduce themed tourism routes showcasing the city’s most recognisable filming locations and explore upgrading Victoria Park’s Centre Court to host higher-level tennis tournaments, as authorities seek to significantly increase the sector’s economic contribution under the city’s first five-year development plan. The 2026-30 blueprint aims to raise the tourism industry’s value added from HK$86.2 billion (US$10.9 billion) in 2024 to HK$126 billion by 2030 – an increase of about 40...South China Morning Post
BUSINESSSep 16First building in Hong Kong’s university town project to be ready in monthsThe first building in the 1,000-hectare (2,472-acre) university town project in the Northern Metropolis will be completed by the end of this year, Hong Kong’s leader has said, revealing that the flagship tower is called Loop Academy One. Announcing Hong Kong’s first five-year plan on Wednesday, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu also revealed the official names of the three Northern Metropolis developments: San Tin University Town, Hung Shui Kiu University Town and Ta Kwu Ling University Town. The...South China Morning Post