Paul Chan Visits Companies in Beijing, Promotes Hong Kong as Global Business Hub

FS visits companies in Beijing

​The Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, who is currently in Beijing, made visits to a number of companies today (March 22). He will also attend the dinner of the China Development Forum this evening.

In the morning, Mr Chan visited a leading pop cultural entertainment company on the Mainland. This company, listed in Hong Kong, operates several popular intellectual property (IP) artistic toys that are well-received both domestically and globally. Mr Chan visited the company's thematic park and met with its senior management to understand their business status and development plans. He expressed his pleasure that the company, as a leading cultural and creative enterprise, has successfully used Hong Kong as a platform to enter both regional and global markets. He welcomed the company's plans to establish more physical sales networks in Hong Kong and to diversify its services. Mr Chan pointed out that to promote the development of Hong Kong as a regional intellectual property trading centre, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government has proposed in the Budget to review the tax deduction arrangements for acquiring IP usage rights, etc., with a view to driving the further development of the relevant industries and ecosystem. He also encouraged the company to fully leverage Hong Kong's advantages in funding, talent and professional services by establishing its international business headquarters and corporate treasury centre in Hong Kong to support their global business development.

Mr Chan then visited another company focused on the research and development of high-precision artificial intelligence products. Their intelligent sensing solutions are widely applied in smart traffic management, self-driving, perception robots and the low-altitude economy. They have been adopted by several cities across the country, including Beijing and Shanghai. The company is planning to establish its international business headquarters and global research and development (R&D) centre in Hong Kong, and is preparing for listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Mr Chan viewed the company's latest high-end products and engaged in in-depth discussions with the company's senior executives and R&D team. He encouraged them to bring their R&D teams and more technological solutions to Hong Kong, and to utilise Hong Kong's international capital, talent and professional services to further expand their business into other markets in the world.

Mr Chan will attend the China Development Forum tomorrow (March 23) and will speak at a thematic seminar during the forum.

FS visits companies in Beijing Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

FS visits companies in Beijing Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

FS visits companies in Beijing Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

FS visits companies in Beijing Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Hong Kong Customs detects smuggling case involving suspected scheduled dried shark fins, electronic products and cigars by fishing vessel

Hong Kong Customs on March 22 detected a suspected smuggling case involving a fishing vessel in the western waters of Hong Kong. A batch of smuggled goods, including suspected scheduled dried shark fins, electronic products and cigars, with a total estimated market value of about $25 million, was seized. A fishing vessel was detained.

Customs mounted an anti-smuggling operation in Tuen Mun that night and spotted a suspicious fishing vessel berthing at a shore where suspected smuggling activities have taken place. Later, the vessel left Tuen Mun and headed towards the waters west of Hong Kong. Customs officers later intercepted the vessel near the waters around Tai O for inspection and found the batch of suspected smuggled goods inside a hidden compartment on the vessel.

During the operation, four male crew members aged between 31 and 53, who were suspected to be connected with the case, were arrested.

They were charged with one count of attempting to export unmanifested cargoes. They will appear at the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts tomorrow (March 25).

Being a government department primarily responsible for tackling smuggling activities, Customs has long been combating various smuggling activities on all fronts. Customs will keep up its enforcement action and continue to resolutely combat sea smuggling activities through proactive risk management and intelligence-based enforcement strategies, and carry out targeted anti-smuggling operations at suitable times to disrupt relevant crimes.

Smuggling is a serious offence. Under the Import and Export Ordinance, any person found guilty of importing or exporting unmanifested cargo is liable to a maximum fine of $2 million and imprisonment for seven years.

Under the Protection of Endangered Species of Animals and Plants Ordinance (Cap. 586), any person importing, exporting or possessing specimens of endangered species not in accordance with the Ordinance commits an offence and will be liable to a maximum fine of $10 million and imprisonment for 10 years upon conviction with the specimens forfeited.

Members of the public may report any suspected smuggling activities to Customs' 24-hour hotline 182 8080 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) or online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002).

Hong Kong Customs detects smuggling case involving suspected scheduled dried shark fins, electronic products and cigars by fishing vessel Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Hong Kong Customs detects smuggling case involving suspected scheduled dried shark fins, electronic products and cigars by fishing vessel Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases