The Health Bureau submitted a paper to the Legislative Council proposing that private healthcare institutions be required to provide bilingual Chinese and English price lists in a specified format, and to provide patients or their representatives with fixed prices or price ranges before services are rendered; licensed private hospitals must provide a cost estimate before patients are admitted. The government plans to submit regulations and draft a code of practice to the Legislative Council by the end of this year, with phased implementation starting in the second half of next year.
The Land Registry posted a notice today to resume about 16.9 hectares of private land in Tuen Mun for the San King Road and Hong Po Road Development Scheme. The scheme includes public housing and associated infrastructure, and will provide about 20,400 public housing units upon completion. The resumed land will revert to Government ownership on 16 January next year.
Why read this: The notice specifies the area of land resumed, the number of private lots involved and the handover date, allowing readers to check the timetable for compensation arrangements.
Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn said reinforcement bars at the Anderson Road residential project were not installed in accordance with the Buildings Ordinance, and the Buildings Department has prosecuted the contractor and professionals since last year. If the developer fails to complete the project on time, the government can collect premium under the land lease. She also said efforts are being made to complete the investigation into the lift incident at the new building of Queen Mary Hospital as soon as possible and submit a report to the Chief Executive, while the One Stanley case in Stanley remains under investigation.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority urges the public to stay alert to fraudulent mobile applications purporting to be The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, as well as fraudulent websites and online banking login screens purporting to OCBC (Hong Kong). The HKMA reminds the public that banks will not direct customers to make transactions through hyperlinks in SMS or emails, nor will they ask for sensitive information such as login passwords. Anyone who has provided personal information or made transactions should contact the relevant bank and report the case to the Information Centre of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Hong Kong Police Force by calling 2860 5012.
The Land Registry posted a notice of resumption and compulsory acquisition on 15 October, resuming about 16.9 hectares of private land for the Tuen Mun San King Road and Hong Pui Road development scheme, including public housing development and associated infrastructure works. The resumption involves 320 private lots, which will vest in the Government on 16 January 2027, and the scheme will provide about 20,400 public housing flats upon completion.
Why read this: The notice sets out the area to be resumed, the number of lots involved and the date of vesting, allowing readers to check whether they fall within the affected scope, and states the target for public housing flat supply.
Translation is not available yet. Showing the Traditional Chinese version.
The government announced that another new drug for metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer has been approved for registration under the '1+' drug approval mechanism, bringing the total number of new drugs approved under the mechanism to 23. The drug has already been approved by the mainland China drug regulatory authority. After the Registration Committee under the Pharmacy and Poisons Board assessed the clinical data and sought the views of local experts, it concluded that the drug meets the standards of safety, efficacy and quality. The Department of Health has notified the applicant of the approval result.
Hong Kong Customs, in its capacity as vice-chair of the World Customs Organization Asia Pacific region, hosted the three-day 36th World Customs Organization Asia Pacific Regional Contact Meeting in Macao, which concluded successfully on 15 October. More than 80 representatives from customs administrations and World Customs Organization regional bodies across the Asia Pacific region participated. Hong Kong Customs was re-elected as vice-chair of the Asia Pacific region in June this year, beginning a new two-year term.
Sun Dong attended the opening ceremony of the International Applied Training Ground for Embodied Intelligence on 15 October and said the training ground is Hong Kong's first platform focusing on real-world applications of embodied intelligence and humanoid robots, with the first seven technology partners taking up residence. The government will inject an additional $1 billion into the Artificial Intelligence Subsidy Scheme and expects to launch the $10 billion Innovation and Technology Industry-Oriented Fund within this year.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced the 'ART' framework on 15 October to promote the responsible use of artificial intelligence in the banking sector, building an accountable, resilient and trustworthy A.I. ecosystem. Measures include updating the Regulatory Guidance on the Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence, building an A.I. training data-sharing platform with Cyberport and the University of Hong Kong, and testing agentic A.I. Over 60 per cent of use cases in the second phase of the GenA.I. Sandbox involve agentic A.I.
Why read this: The framework sets out three measures: regulatory guidance, a data-sharing platform and the GenA.I. Sandbox++, and discloses that over 60 per cent of use cases in the second phase involve agentic A.I., allowing readers to check industry progress.
Translation is not available yet. Showing the Traditional Chinese version.
The Education Bureau today released the online version of the Kindergarten and Kindergarten cum Child Care Centre Overview, providing basic information on about 930 kindergartens and kindergarten cum child care centres across Hong Kong to enhance school transparency. The overview lists approved tuition fees for the 2026/27 school year, the list of kindergartens participating in the Kindergarten Education Scheme, approved tuition fees after deduction of government subsidies, and the attainment status of quality assurance reviews completed, as well as information including the number of principals and teachers at each school, teacher-student ratios, curricula, application fees and registration fees.
Secretary for the Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan said the government is comprehensively reviewing the existing regulations on controlling dogs, and is striving to complete the legislative amendments within next year.