Appointments to Financial Reporting Review Panel
The Financial Secretary has, under the authority delegated by the Chief Executive, appointed two new Convenors and one new member to the Financial Reporting Review Panel (FRRP) and re-appointed nine incumbent members for a term of three years from July 16, 2024, to July 15, 2027.
The appointments and re-appointments, made in accordance with the Accounting and Financial Reporting Council Ordinance (Cap. 588) (AFRC Ordinance), are:
New Convenors
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Mr William Lo Chi-chung
Professor Phyllis Mo Lai-lan
New member
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Mr Mak Kwong-fai
Re-appointed Members
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Ms Bella Chhoa Peck-lim
Ms Caroline Chiu Su-yuen
Ms Irene Chu Ngar-yee
Mr Benny Chung Koon-chung
Ms Bernardine Lam Sin-yu
Mr Gilbert Lee Man-lung
Ms Alva Lee Yi-ling
Mr Benjamin Lo Man-chuen
Mr Simon Ng Wing-fai
A spokesman for the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau today (July 12) said, "The Accounting and Financial Reporting Council (AFRC) is a key regulator for corporate governance of companies listed in Hong Kong. One of the statutory functions of the AFRC is to initiate enquiries concerning non-compliance with legal, accounting or regulatory requirements in a listed entity's financial reports.
"The FRRP, a statutory body established under the AFRC Ordinance, is indispensable to the discharge of the AFRC's statutory functions of enquiries. The work of the FRRP will benefit from the rich experience and professional knowledge of the members."
"We would like to take this opportunity to express our heartfelt appreciation to the five outgoing Convenors and six outgoing members for their valuable contribution to the work of the FRRP in the past years," the spokesman added.
When an enquiry case arises, the AFRC may appoint one Convenor and four or more members from the FRRP to form a Financial Reporting Review Committee which will enquire into the relevant non-compliance of the case. The Committee will submit an enquiry report on the case to the AFRC for consideration and, where appropriate, follow-up action.
Source: AI-generated images
Volume and price statistics of external merchandise trade in June 2024
Further to the external merchandise trade statistics in value terms for June 2024 released earlier on, the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) released today (August 13) the volume and price statistics of external merchandise trade for that month.
In June 2024, the volume of Hong Kong's total exports of goods and imports of goods increased by 6.8% and 5.6% respectively over June 2023.
Comparing the first half of 2024 with the same period in 2023, the volume of Hong Kong's total exports of goods and imports of goods increased by 7.6% and 3.7% respectively.
Comparing the second quarter of 2024 with the preceding quarter on a seasonally adjusted basis, the volume of total exports of goods and imports of goods increased by 1.7% and 0.4% respectively.
Changes in volume of external merchandise trade are derived from changes in external merchandise trade value with the effect of price changes discounted.
Comparing June 2024 with June 2023, the prices of total exports of goods and imports of goods increased by 3.6% and 2.7% respectively.
As regards price changes in the first half of 2024 over the same period in 2023, the prices of total exports of goods and imports of goods increased by 4.2% and 3.8% respectively.
Price changes in external merchandise trade are reflected by changes in unit value indices of external merchandise trade, which are compiled based on average unit values or, for certain commodities, specific price data.
The terms of trade index is derived from the ratio of price index of total exports of goods to that of imports of goods. Compared with the same periods in 2023, the index increased by 0.9% in June 2024 and 0.4% in the first half of 2024.
Changes in the unit value and volume of total exports of goods by main destination are shown in Table 1.
Comparing June 2024 with June 2023, increases were recorded for the total export volume to the USA (32.9%), Vietnam (31.0%), Taiwan (28.8%) and the mainland of China (the Mainland) (6.8%). On the other hand, the total export volume to India decreased by 21.0%.
Over the same period of comparison, the total export prices to the USA (6.8%), the Mainland (4.6%), Taiwan (4.1%) and Vietnam (1.0%) increased. On the other hand, the total export prices to India decreased by 2.6%.
Changes in the unit value and volume of imports of goods by main supplier are shown in Table 2.
Comparing June 2024 with June 2023, increases were recorded for the import volume from Korea (29.7%), Singapore (10.4%), the Mainland (8.5%) and Taiwan (5.1%). On the other hand, the import volume from Japan decreased by 6.0%.
Over the same period of comparison, the import prices from all main suppliers increased: Korea (6.1%), Singapore (4.3%), the Mainland (2.9%), Taiwan (1.0%) and Japan (1.0%).
Further information
Details of the above statistics are published in the June 2024 issue of "Hong Kong Merchandise Trade Index Numbers". Users can browse and download the report at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/EIndexbySubject.html?pcode=B1020006&scode=230).
Enquiries on merchandise trade indices may be directed to the Trade Analysis Section of the C&SD (Tel: 2582 4918).
Source: AI-generated images
