Hong Kong and Shenzhen Collaborate on Advancing Medical Innovation and Healthcare Reforms

Secretary for Health meets Director of Development and Reform Commission of Shenzhen Municipality

The Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, met with the Director of the Development and Reform Commission of Shenzhen Municipality, Dr Guo Ziping, today (April 23) to have an in-depth exchange on areas such as the development of Chinese and Western medicine and medical devices in the two places.

Professor Lo said at the meeting, "The Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC Central Committee) on Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively to Advance Chinese Modernization adopted by the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee pointed out the need of further reforming the medical and healthcare systems, and improving the mechanisms for supporting the development of innovative drugs and medical equipment. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government strenuously works in line with the national objective of further reforming the medical and healthcare systems, and will promote Hong Kong's development into an international health and medical innovation hub by complementing technological innovation with institutional innovation. We will fully utilise the institutional advantages of 'one country, two systems' and our professional strengths in the healthcare sector, thereby enabling the innovative medical technologies to go global and attract foreign investment, and develop new quality productive forces in biomedicine.

"To achieve this goal, the HKSAR Government will expedite the reform of the approval mechanism for drugs and medical devices and enhance the translation of innovative biomedical research results into clinical applications, such as jointly establishing the Greater Bay Area (GBA) Clinical Trial Collaboration Platform in concerted efforts by the GBA International Clinical Trial Institute in the Hong Kong Park of the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Co-operation Zone and the GBA International Clinical Trials Center in the Shenzhen Park; establishing the Real-World Study and Application Centre; preparing for the establishment of the Hong Kong Centre for Medical Products Regulation to progress towards the 'primary evaluation' approach; and taking forward at full steam the preparatory work for legislating for the statutory regulation of medical devices.

"At the same time, the HKSAR Government is also committed to developing Hong Kong into a national bridgehead for the internationalisation of Chinese medicine, including fostering international research collaboration on herb-drug interactions, promoting the development of standards, testing and scientific research of Chinese medicines through the the Government Chinese Medicines Testing Institute, as well as encouraging more large-scale international and regional conferences, exhibitions and mega events on Chinese medicine to be held in Hong Kong. The HKSAR Government will also encourage the Chinese medicine sector to make good use of policies benefitting Hong Kong, such as the arrangement of streamlining approval procedures for Hong Kong-registered traditional proprietary Chinese medicines for external use or oral use to be registered and sold on the Mainland to expedite the development of the Chinese medicine industry and open up new markets."

Professor Lo emphasised that the HKSAR Government will continue to push forward co-operation with Guangdong Province and the Shenzhen Municipality in areas such as cross-boundary healthcare services, training of healthcare staff, medical technology exchanges and Chinese medicine development under the principles of complementarity and mutual benefits in a bid to build a "Healthy Bay Area" and further contribute to the overall development of the nation through joint endeavours.

Secretary for Health meets Director of Development and Reform Commission of Shenzhen Municipality Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Secretary for Health meets Director of Development and Reform Commission of Shenzhen Municipality Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Secretary for Health meets Director of Development and Reform Commission of Shenzhen Municipality Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Civil service unites in call for voter registration

​The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, together with representatives from the four civil service central consultative councils, jointly visited several floors of the Queensway Government Offices today (May 13) to appeal to colleagues to actively register as voters and to cast their votes in the Legislative Council (LegCo) General Election to be held on December 7 this year to fulfil their civic responsibility.

The Acting Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Clement Woo, and the Permanent Secretary for the Civil Service, Mr Clement Leung, were also present to appeal to colleagues to activelyregister as voters. They also distributed leaflets on voter registration and updates of particulars to visitors of the building to convey the message.

Mr Chan said, "As the backbone of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, civil servants bear the responsibility of implementing and supporting the administration in accordance with the law. Today, together with the representatives from the four civil service central consultative councils, I visited colleagues in different government departments to appeal to those who are eligible but have not yet registered as voters to activelydo so, and to remind those who have already registered as voters to check the accuracy of their registration details through the online system and submit an application to update their details in a timely manner if necessary, to ensure their voting rights are not affected. We also appeal to our colleagues to convey this message to their families and friends to get well prepared for the LegCo General Election to be held at the end of this year and to vote enthusiastically to fulfil their civic duties and elect patriotic, capable, and dedicated legislators devoted to serving the people, Hong Kong and our country."

The 2025 Voter Registration Campaign is under way. Eligible persons/bodies who have not yet registered as voters are advised to submit registration applications to the Registration and Electoral Office (REO) as early as possible on or before the statutory deadline of June 2. Registered voters who have any change in their residential address or other registration particulars should also submit applications for change of particulars to the REO on or before June 2. Both applications for new registration and change of particulars can be submitted through the "iAM Smart" app, or by email, mail or fax with the completed specified forms. For details, please visit the Voter Registration website (vr.gov.hk).

Civil service unites in call for voter registration Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases