Civil Service College and Peking University's joint programme holds lecture on "Urban-rural Relationship and Urbanisation in Contemporary China"

Exploring china's urban-rural dynamics: a fascinating lecture by civil service college and peking university

The Civil Service College (CSC), in collaboration with the Institute for Hong Kong and Macau Studies, Peking University, launched an in-depth programme on "one country, two systems" and contemporary China. As part of the programme, a lecture on the topic of "Urban-rural Relationship and Urbanisation in Contemporary China" was delivered by the Dean of the Department of Sociology of Peking University, Professor Zhou Feizhou, at the CSC today (April 23).

The country upholds the philosophy of people-centred development, acting on the principle that a city should be built by and for its people. It emphasises the need to maintain a people-centred approach, focusing on the public's needs and prioritising liveability in urban development.

Addressing the lecture, the Head of the CSC, Mr Oscar Kwok, said that the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has long been upholding the country's people-centred governing philosophy, emphasising serving the public in a pragmatic manner to make Hong Kong a better place for living and working. The mission of the CSC is to strengthen training to build a civil-service team that is patriotic, loves Hong Kong, has good morals and integrity, and is competent and people-oriented. The CSC has infused the people-first and "one government" service ethos into various programmes, building a service culture driven by the needs of the people and the overall interests of the country and Hong Kong, which exemplifies the implementation of the country's governance philosophy and gives full play to the power and value of "patriots administering Hong Kong".

Around 70 civil servants at the rank of Directorate Pay Scale Point 1 and 2 attended the programme. In addition, about 90 politically appointed officials and other directorate officers enrolled and sat in on the lecture via video conferencing.

The programme was organised to further strengthen training for senior officials and directorate civil servants. It consists of 12 monthly lectures covering a wide range of topics, such as the Communist Party of China and contemporary China, socialism with Chinese characteristics, the theory and practice of "one country, two systems", as well as developments in contemporary Chinese society, economy, national defence, technology, and more. Distinguished scholars from the Mainland will deliver the programme and engage in in-depth discussions with participants.

Civil Service College and Peking University's joint programme holds lecture on "Urban-rural Relationship and Urbanisation in Contemporary China" Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Civil Service College and Peking University's joint programme holds lecture on "Urban-rural Relationship and Urbanisation in Contemporary China" Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Civil Service College and Peking University's joint programme holds lecture on "Urban-rural Relationship and Urbanisation in Contemporary China" Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

High-level meeting with japanese officials: urgent concerns over fukushima's nuclear contaminated water discharge

The Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Mr Tse Chin-wan, met the Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Mr Takahashi Mitsuo, and the Consul-General of Japan in Hong Kong, Mr Kenichi Okada, today (May 3) upon request and discussed about the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water in Japan.

Mr Tse reiterated at the meeting that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government has come to the view that there is currently no guarantee from the Japanese authorities that their purification and dilution system can operate continuously and effectively in the long term, and that the discharge will not pose any potential risks to food safety and marine ecology. Safeguarding food safety and public health in Hong Kong is the responsibility of the HKSAR Government, thus corresponding precautionary measures must be taken. The HKSAR Government will closely monitor developments of the discharge, so as to obtain more monitoring and scientific data in order to further examine the impact of the Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water discharge on food safety, and keep under review relevant counter measures. Should anomalies be detected, the Government does not preclude further tightening the scope of the import ban.

In response to the Japanese Government's earlier decision to discharge nuclear-contaminated water at the Fukushima Nuclear PowerStation into the sea, the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene issued a Food Safety Order which prohibits all aquatic products, sea salt and seaweeds originating from the 10 metropolis/prefectures, namely Tokyo, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Miyagi, Chiba, Gunma, Tochigi, Niigata, Nagano and Saitama, from being imported into and supplied in Hong Kong.For other aquatic products, sea salt, and unprocessed or processed seaweed from Japan that are not prohibited from being imported into Hong Kong, the Centre for Food Safety of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department will conduct comprehensive radiological tests to verify that the radiation levels of these products do not exceed the guideline levels before they are allowed to be supplied in the market.

Besides, all vegetables, fruits, milk, milk beverages and dried milk originating from Fukushima are banned from importing into Hong Kong while such foods originating from the four prefectures nearby Fukushima, i.e. Ibaraki, Tochigi, Chiba and Gunma, are allowed to be imported on the condition that they are accompanied with a radiation certificate and an exporter certificate issued by the Japanese authority. Chilled or frozen game, meat and poultry, and poultry eggs originating from the above five prefectures are allowed to be imported on the condition that they are accompanied with a radiation certificate issued by the Japanese authority which shows the radiation levels do not exceed the guideline levels of the Codex Alimentarius Commission.

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