Saturday, May 11, 2024
The weather in Hong Kong is generally cloudy with one or two showers. There are brief periods of sunshine during the day, with highs of around 29 degrees. Blowing a gentle easterly wind. There will be a few showers tomorrow with a brief period of sunshine and a localized thunderstorm or two later into Monday morning. Monday afternoons and Tuesdays were brighter.
News
● According to Xinhua News Agency, on the evening of May 10, local time, Chinese President Xi Jinping left Budapest on a special plane after concluding his state visit to Hungary. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his wife saw them off at the airport. After Xi Jinping's special plane took off, two Hungarian air force fighters took to the air to escort them. On the way to the airport, overseas Chinese and students in Hungary gathered on both sides of the road, waving the national flags of China and Hungary and holding banners with the words "Long live the friendship between China and Hungary" to warmly bid farewell to President Xi Jinping and congratulate the visit on a complete success.
Hong Kong news
●On the morning of May 10, Xia Baolong, Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, met with a delegation of leaders of Hong Kong universities, headed by Cai Ruolian, Secretary for Education of the Hong Kong SAR Government, and composed of presidents of 22 universities in Hong Kong and heads of major consulting institutions in the field of higher education.
Xia Baolong listened attentively to the speeches of the responsible persons of the Education Bureau, the University Grants Committee of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, the University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, the Hong Kong Baptist University, the Education University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Shue Yan University, the Hong Kong College of Technology, and the Institute of Vocational Education in Hong Kong.
● According to the website of the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong, on May 9, Chief Executive John Lee led the principal officials of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government to conduct work exchanges with the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong. The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, the Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, the Secretary for Justice, Mr Paul Lam, and the Deputy Commissioners of the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Mr Li Yongsheng, Mr Poon Yun-tung and Mr Fong Kin-ming, attended the ceremony.
Mr Lee thanked the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for its long-term support to the HKSAR Government in terms of foreign-related affairs, foreign exchanges and cooperation, and safeguarding the rights and interests of Hong Kong people overseas. It is hoped that the Foreign Affairs Office will continue to support Hong Kong's integration into the overall development of the country, consolidate and enhance its international advantages, open up more space for development to the outside world, and tell the story of "one country, two systems" for Hong Kong.
● Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Sun Yuk-han, said in a social media post on the 10th that the current actions and decisions of the Social Workers Registration Bureau seriously deviate from the spirit of the relevant "Social Workers Registration Ordinance", disregard the interests of the society as a whole, and damage the professionalism and credibility of social workers.
●Looking forward to the mainland's plan to exempt Hong Kong stocks from dividend tax, Hong Kong stocks continued to rise on the 10th. The Hang Seng Index soared more than 400 points, approaching the 19,000-point mark, and the main board turnover was 171 billion yuan, up 38% from the 9th, hitting a 10-month high. The net inflow of Beishui was 6.5 billion yuan. The Hang Seng Index rose 488 points for the whole week, rising for 3 consecutive weeks; The HSCEI rose 2.62%; The index edged down 0.2%. Analysts generally believe that if the mainland waives the dividend tax of Hong Kong Stock Connect, it will be good for the investment sentiment of Hong Kong stocks, and it is expected to push up the average daily trading volume of Hong Kong stocks, and the Hang Seng Index is expected to rise above 20,000 points.
● The Housing Authority announced on the 10th that as of the end of March 2024, the average waiting time of general applicants who have been resettled into public housing in the past 12 months has dropped slightly by 0.1 years to 5.7 years, and the average waiting time of elderly one-person applicants has dropped by 0.2 years to 3.8 years.
●To celebrate the 1st anniversary of the establishment of the District Service and Care Team (CCS) in Southern District, the "Southern District Community Care Team 1st Anniversary Celebration Physical and Mental Health @ Southern District Kick-off Ceremony" was held in Aberdeen on 10 October. Mak Mei-kuen said that all the performance indicators of the Southern District Care Team had been met or even exceeded the target, and the performance in emergency services was even better.
●With the completion of large-scale housing estates or public housing estates in remote areas, the construction of new railways and stations has started or will be built soon. The MTR held a press conference on the 10th to introduce the progress of various new railway projects, among which the Hung Shui Kiu Station of the Tuen Ma Line, which connects the Tuen Mun South Extension, is expected to be completed in 2030, which is the first time that a MTR station has been built on an existing viaduct in Hong Kong. The main works will commence this year, and preparatory work has commenced, including the removal of the viaduct retaining wall before the commencement of construction.
●The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health announced the latest number of dengue fever cases on the 10th, and appealed to the public to pay attention to environmental hygiene, mosquito prevention and personal protection measures at all times, whether they are travelling locally or abroad. Between 3 and 9 May, the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) recorded an imported case of dengue fever in which the patient had visited Malaysia during the incubation period.
●The Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau will organise a delegation to Beijing and Guizhou from May 12 to 17 for the annual exchange of visits between the HKSAR Government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since 1999, the HKSAR Government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have established an arrangement for reciprocal visits once a year to strengthen communication and exchanges. The annual exchange of visits was suspended from 2020 to 2022 due to the pandemic, and officially resumed last year.
● Xia Baolong, Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, recently met with the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Yang Yunxiong in Beijing. Li Huiqiong, a member of the Legislative Council of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of the People's Republic of China, mentioned in response to the relevant concept on the 10th that this year is the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, and hopes that the central government will once again send "Panda BB" to Hong Kong, so that Panda Yingying and Lele will have new companions.
●The Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Kevin Yeung, continued his visit to Beijing on the 10th, attending the unveiling ceremony of the "Palace Museum-Hong Kong Cultural Exchange Base" at the Palace Museum in Beijing in the morning, and witnessing the signing of the cooperation agreement on the "Wanfang Dissemination of Chinese Civilization and Cultural and Technological Talent Training Program".
●The Buddha's birthday is the eighth day of the fourth lunar month every year, and this year's Buddha's birthday date is May 15. Organised by the Buddha's Light International Hong Kong Association and the Hong Kong Buddha's Light Workshop, the 2024 Birthday Carnival will be held on 15 May at Courts 4 to 6 of Victoria Park.
●A 92-year-old mother-in-law has been sleeping on the streets of Sham Shui Po for about 4 years, which has recently attracted attention on mainland social platforms such as Xiaohongshu. She revealed that she was born as a daughter, and she had a 400-square-foot property in Mong Kok, but because she had no children and no daughters, she lived alone and wanted someone to chat with her, so she slept on the streets. (Related links: Miss Qianjin was born, 92-year-old mother-in-law has been sleeping on the street for 4 years, the real reason is ...... ）
●Hong Kong Express Sanya-Hong Kong route opened on the 10th, the route uses A320/A321 aircraft to operate, and the schedule is every Monday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. So far, the flights on the Sanya-Hong Kong route have been reduced to 11 flights per week.
●The HKMA said that it has recently received enquiries from members of the public suspected of fraudulent cross-boundary wealth management connect schemes, with some members of the public alleging that they have suffered investment losses, and some fraudsters have subsequently claimed that government departments can intervene to help recover the losses as long as they open a Northbound account under the so-called cross-boundary wealth management connect scheme and pay a fee. In addition, some members of the public have received false advertisements purporting to be launched by the HKMA for high-interest time deposit products on social media to lure them to deposit funds into the Northbound accounts of the so-called Cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect Scheme through fraudsters claiming to be relationship managers.
● A spokesman for the Hong Kong government said that the overall business sentiment of SMEs and their expectations for the business situation in the next month softened in April, and the overall employment situation weakened slightly. The spokesman also said that the complex external environment will continue to affect business sentiment in the short term, but further economic growth should support business sentiment and the authorities will closely monitor the situation. The Census and Statistics Department announced on the 10th that the current trend index of business income of small and medium-sized enterprises fell from 45.5 in the contraction area in March to 43.8 in April, and the outlook trend index of business income in the next one month (May) was 46.3.
● In March this year, the HKMA announced nine support measures, and the HKMA's Executive Director Chu Lap-kiu revealed that more than 3,000 SMEs benefited in the first month, and borrowed money "quickly, more and more flat". Standard Chartered SME Bank held a seminar on SMEs to grasp the new opportunities of e-commerce financial management on the 10th, bringing together economists and experts in the e-commerce industry to share the latest market trends and business experience with SMEs.
synthesis
According to a report by China News Service, recently, Lan Moke and other US officials have vainly claimed that UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 "does not recognize, is equal to, or reflects the consensus on the one-China principle," and the United States has also attempted to mislead international public opinion. Yang Tao, Director General of the Department of North America and Oceania of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, held a briefing on the 10th to clarify China's position on UN General Assembly Resolution 2758. He said: The one-China principle is clear, that is, there is only one China in the world, Taiwan is a part of China, and the Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legitimate government representing the whole of China.
● China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment announced on the 10th that from May 8 to 9, the Sino-US "Working Group on Strengthening Climate Action in the 20s of the 21st Century" meeting was held in Washington, D.C. The meeting was co-chaired by China's Special Envoy for Climate Change Liu Zhenmin and the U.S. President's Senior Advisor on International Climate Policy, John Podesta, and was attended by officials from both countries.
● China's monetary policy implementation report for the first quarter of 2024 released by the People's Bank of China on the 10th said that it is necessary to reasonably grasp the relationship between the two largest financing markets of bonds and credit, guide the reasonable growth and balanced delivery of credit, maintain reasonable and abundant liquidity, and keep the scale of social financing and money supply matching the expected targets of economic growth and price levels.
● On the evening of the 10th, Beijing time, ZEEKR Intelligent Technology (hereinafter referred to as "ZEEKR"), a subsidiary of Geely Holding Group, was officially listed on the New York Stock Exchange with "ZK" as the stock code. Only three years after the brand was launched, ZEEKR has become the fastest IPO new energy vehicle company in history. On the first day of listing, ZEEKR opened at $26 per share, reaching as high as $29.36 per share, and as of the close, ZEEKR reported $28.26 per share, up 34.57% from the issue price, with a market value of $6.898 billion.
The United Nations General Assembly held an emergency special session on 10 June local time and adopted a resolution on Palestine, affirming that Palestine meets the requirements of the UN Charter and recommending that the Security Council reconsider Palestine's application for membership in the United Nations. In the vote on the day, 143 votes were in favour, 9 against and 25 abstentions, and the resolution was adopted. The United States, Israel, etc. voted against. Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, said in his speech after the vote that China welcomes this historic resolution.
● Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on the 10th appointing Mishustin as the new prime minister of the federal government. According to the announcement published on the Kremlin website on the 10th, the order said that in accordance with Article 83, paragraph 1 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, Putin appointed Mishustin as the prime minister of the Russian Federal Government. The order shall take effect on the date of signing.
● According to CCTV News, according to a CNN report on May 10 local time, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States said that the solar storm that appeared this week will begin to have an impact on the Earth's magnetic field on the same day and last until the 12th. According to the report, solar storms could have a variety of effects on life on Earth, as well as affect power grids as well as satellite and high-frequency radio communications.
● According to CCTV News, the Alberta Wildfire website in Canada released information on May 10 local time showed that as of 9 o'clock on the 10th, the area of wildfires burning 28 kilometers southwest of Fort McMurray had reached 25 hectares and was out of control, and the Fort McMurray Forest area was facing the danger of "extreme" wildfires.
● According to Xinhua News Agency, Argentine Railways posted on social media on the 10th that two trains collided on a railway bridge in the capital Buenos Aires that morning, injuring at least 90 people. The source said that the accident occurred at 10:31 local time, and the cause of the accident is under investigation.
● On May 11, Beijing time, French striker Mbappe (Hong Kong translation "McBabie") released a video announcing that he will not renew his contract with Paris Saint-Germain and will leave the team this summer, and this weekend's game will be his farewell game at home in Paris. Fabrizio Romano said that the news of Mbappe's arrival at Real Madrid will be announced soon, and his salary is similar to that of Bellingham and Vinicius. At the moment, Mbappe has already found a house in Madrid.
● On May 10, local time, the family foundation of James Simons, a well-known American mathematician and hedge fund manager, announced that James Simons passed away at the age of 86. Simmons received the Oswald Wiblen Prize from the American Mathematical Society in 1976. He pioneered quantitative trading, and he is also known as the "King of Quantitatives".