World News by Wild Rose

Hong Kong’s first five-year plan and latest policy address have put demographic sustainability on the public agenda. Among the measures announced are an extension of the newborn bonus scheme and increased financial support for the second and subsequent children. These are welcome steps. But the fertility debate should not be reduced to whether a bonus is large enough to change family decisions. The bigger challenge is whether Hong Kong can remain dynamic and competitive while its younger...

A southbound scheme allowing Guangdong-registered yachts to sail in Hong Kong waters is expected to launch in October, the transport minister has said, with the city continuing preparations and discussions with provincial authorities. Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan revealed the plan on Saturday after the latest policy address and the city’s first five-year plan, both unveiled this week, set out proposals to develop the yacht economy. “The southbound travel scheme for yachts...

Hong Kong is mourning the loss of its first chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa, in a weekend vigil, with tributes pouring in from political and business heavyweights as well as members of the public. Tung, who died at the age of 89 on September 8, led Hong Kong through ups and downs – the Asian financial crisis in 1997, the Sars outbreak in 2003 and a V-shaped rebound in the economy that followed. Saturday’s rituals, held at Hong Kong Funeral Home in North Point, will be followed by a state funeral...

Hong Kong’s leader defended measures in his policy address to boost the economy and improve livelihoods, stressing that businesses must also do their part to remain competitive and survive, even with government aid. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said on Saturday that the livelihood section was the longest and broadest in scope in his policy address when asked about residents who had yet to benefit from the government’s economic policies. “You need to develop the economy first to have the...

Hong 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...

Longer-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...

Hong 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...

A Hong Kong court has ordered the winding-up of an engineering consultant behind a HK$336 million (US$42.8 million) renovation project at the fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court over an unspecified debt. The High Court on Wednesday granted Tong Yiu-kwok’s application to wind up Will Power Architects after the company neither filed a statement in opposition nor sent a representative to explain its position at the hearing. The court did not disclose Tong’s relationship with the firm or the amount of debt...

Hong Kong’s property and technology firms may get a boost from Chief Executive John Lee’s first five-year plan, which calls for a sharp increase in innovation spending and faster development of the Northern Metropolis region.

Hong Kong employers’ hiring sentiment rebounded sharply for the fourth quarter, with far fewer companies expecting to cut jobs as confidence improved alongside stronger economic growth, according to a ManpowerGroup survey. The international human resources company said the city’s seasonally adjusted net employment outlook rose to 14 per cent, up 23 percentage points from minus 9 per cent in the previous quarter. The outlook is calculated by subtracting the percentage of employers expecting to...

In any conversation about Hong Kong’s future, one question often emerges: when will the city pivot away from national security and back to economic development? To most, Hong Kong is fundamentally a commercial hub. After the turmoil of 2019, most reasonable people agreed that restoring public order was imperative. Today, the orchestrators of that unrest and the radicals are largely imprisoned or have fled. While occasional flare-ups and various forms of “soft resistance” persist, society at...

Hong Kong’s inaugural five-year plan will not change the capitalist system and instead fully exploit its advantages to map the city’s long-term development, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has said. In an opinion piece published in the South China Morning Post on Monday, the city leader also stressed that the blueprint, in focusing on the economy, would ultimately “enable citizens to flourish” by creating employment opportunities and upward mobility. Lee will unveil Hong Kong’s first-ever...

Kazakhstan has signed a memorandum of understanding with Hong Kong’s transport authorities to establish a laboratory and discussed low-altitude economy initiatives to help manage traffic jams. Bakhtiyar Mukhametkaliyev, Kazakhstan’s vice-minister of artificial intelligence and digital development, told the South China Morning Post on Wednesday about discussions with the team of Hong Kong’s Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan on the sidelines of the Belt and Road Summit in the...

Hong Kong is committed to being a “trusted partner” in driving Central Asia’s emergence as a global growth engine, according to the city’s leader, who hailed the substantial outcomes achieved since his landmark mission to the region. In a virtual appearance at the South China Morning Post’s China Conference: Central Asia 2026 held in Astana on Monday, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said that a bank in his June delegation had since backed the Development Bank of Kazakhstan with US$785 million...

Hong Kong film actor and director Louis Koo Tin-lok and his production company have been sued for more than HK$149 million (US$19 million) for allegedly failing to repay a loan from an offshore firm seven years ago. The latest lawsuit compounded the legal troubles of the 55-year-old artist, who was sued by a business partner two years ago for allegedly defaulting on the repayment of a HK$8.3 million loan related to a fashion joint venture. Sino Hero Ventures, a company registered in the British...