Hong Kong

Hong Kong Boosts Land Sale Transparency to tame the city’s land prices

Under the city’s previous land tender system, only the winning bid is revealed while the amounts of other bids submitted were not disclosed

Published

3 years ago

March 6, 2018

Daniel Lorenzzo

Hong Kong is learning from its all-time rival Singapore as it seeks to tame the city’s land prices.

In addition to the tender amount of the successful bidder in land sales, the Hong Kong government will now publish the amounts of all failing tender submissions, announced Secretary for Development Michael Wong in a media briefing for land sale programme in the new year.

Under the city’s previous land tender system, only the winning bid is revealed while the amounts of other bids submitted were not disclosed. Starting from April, after all transaction procedures for the successful bid are completed, the government will publish the amounts of the other tender submissions, though without identifying who made which offers.

“In view of the uniqueness of the property market, we think it may be a good time to increase the transparency of the market.”

Michael Wong, Secretary for Development,

The rule change is designed to enhance transparency, similar to Singapore’s practice of publishing an anonymous list of all tender amounts submitted.

2018 Land Sale Programme Tries to Tame Property Bidding

“In the past, there are quite, several sites, where the winning bid far exceeds the upper estimate of the market. In those situations people wonder whether the winning bid is representative of the overall bids received or is an outlier representing only itself, whereas the second or third highest bid falls far behind,” said Michael Wong, Secretary for Development in the media briefing. Source link“

China

Hong Kong’s US-Bound Exports to be Labeled ‘Made in China’

Goods produced in Hong Kong and exported to the US must be “marked to indicate that their origin is China”, according to a notice put out by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on August 11, 2020.

Published

4 months ago

September 11, 2020

Headline Editor

This ‘Made in China’ labeling requirement on Hong Kong products was originally to take effect on September 25. To give Hong Kong exporters more breathing room to switch the labels, the US CBP has extended the enforcement date by 45 days, to November 9.

(more…)

China

Hong Kong : no journalist in the world is free from China’s violent retribution

The new national security legislation China is imposing on Hong Kong could be used not only against journalists operating in Asia’s main financial hub, but against every journalist in the world says RSF

Published

7 months ago

July 3, 2020

Boris Sullivan

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urges democracies to do everything in their power to compel Beijing to withdraw the law that allows it to charge any journalist writing on Hong Kong of endangering national security, an accusation that could result in life imprisonment or even the death penalty if tried in China.

(more…)

Hong Kong

National security law for Hong Kong risks turning city into police state

China’s national security law for Hong Kong will put everybody in the city at risk of arbitrary detention and unfair trial unless underpinned by measures to guarantee protection of human rights, Amnesty International said today