Paul Chan Visits Companies in Beijing, Promotes Hong Kong as Global Business Hub

FS visits companies in Beijing

​The Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, who is currently in Beijing, made visits to a number of companies today (March 22). He will also attend the dinner of the China Development Forum this evening.

In the morning, Mr Chan visited a leading pop cultural entertainment company on the Mainland. This company, listed in Hong Kong, operates several popular intellectual property (IP) artistic toys that are well-received both domestically and globally. Mr Chan visited the company's thematic park and met with its senior management to understand their business status and development plans. He expressed his pleasure that the company, as a leading cultural and creative enterprise, has successfully used Hong Kong as a platform to enter both regional and global markets. He welcomed the company's plans to establish more physical sales networks in Hong Kong and to diversify its services. Mr Chan pointed out that to promote the development of Hong Kong as a regional intellectual property trading centre, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government has proposed in the Budget to review the tax deduction arrangements for acquiring IP usage rights, etc., with a view to driving the further development of the relevant industries and ecosystem. He also encouraged the company to fully leverage Hong Kong's advantages in funding, talent and professional services by establishing its international business headquarters and corporate treasury centre in Hong Kong to support their global business development.

Mr Chan then visited another company focused on the research and development of high-precision artificial intelligence products. Their intelligent sensing solutions are widely applied in smart traffic management, self-driving, perception robots and the low-altitude economy. They have been adopted by several cities across the country, including Beijing and Shanghai. The company is planning to establish its international business headquarters and global research and development (R&D) centre in Hong Kong, and is preparing for listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Mr Chan viewed the company's latest high-end products and engaged in in-depth discussions with the company's senior executives and R&D team. He encouraged them to bring their R&D teams and more technological solutions to Hong Kong, and to utilise Hong Kong's international capital, talent and professional services to further expand their business into other markets in the world.

Mr Chan will attend the China Development Forum tomorrow (March 23) and will speak at a thematic seminar during the forum.

FS visits companies in Beijing Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

FS visits companies in Beijing Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

FS visits companies in Beijing Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

FS visits companies in Beijing Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

TD approves expansion of autonomous vehicles trial in North Lantau and commencement of driverless trial on Airport Island

The Transport Department (TD) announced today (July 23) that a pilot licence for autonomous vehicles (AVs) has been updated in accordance with section 20(3)(b) of the Road Traffic (Autonomous Vehicles) Regulation (Cap. 374AA) to further expand the AV trial in North Lantau, including commencing a driverless trial on Airport Island.

In February, the TD approved AVs on Airport Island trial routes to be monitoredby operators in the remote control centre, in addition to the in-vehicle backup operators. The trials of remote operation to date have met the requirements regarding safety, stability, accuracy and smoothness. Upon examining the test reports and conducting multiple site inspections, the TD is satisfied with the safety performance of AVs, with no abnormalities detected so far. While ensuring road safety, the TD has approved the driverless tests to commence on Airport Island with no in-vehicle backup operators. In addition, for the Tung Chung and Sunny Bay trial, remote backup operators will be introduced on top of in-vehicle backup operators to test remote operations.

The Commissioner for Transport, Miss Winnie Tse, said, "The launch of fully remote testing for Hong Kong's first AV pilot licence trial has achieved the driverless operations. This marks an important step toward realising the goals of driverless, scaled-up and commercialised AV operations as set out in the Policy Address and the Transport Strategy Blueprint, as well as achieving a milestone in accelerating the introduction of autonomous driving locally. I will continue to lead the Autonomous Vehicle Applications Promotion Working Group, working with its members from the industry and different departments, to monitor the progress of various trials and provide the necessary support and co-ordination, promoting the safe development of AVs in a proactive and orderly manner."

The updated details of the pilot licence have been uploaded to the TD's website on AV trials. The TD's pilot AV labels must be displayed on all pilot AVs for identification by other road users. To facilitate easier identification of AVs undergoing driverless trials by drivers and pedestrians, additional labels (see attachment)will be put up on the vehicle body to indicate that a fully driverless test of an AV is in progress.

The TD welcomes interested organisations or enterprises to submit applications for a pilot licence for AVs. Upon receipt of an application, the TD will consider various factors, including the operational design domain and functions of the autonomous driving system, relevant national or international standards/guidelines, and the road testing conditions, based on the Code of Practice for Trial and Pilot Use of Autonomous Vehicles, before approval.

The Transport Department (TD) announced today (July 23) the further expansion of the autonomous vehicles (AVs) trial in North Lantau, including commencing a driverless trial on Airport Island. The TD's pilot AV labels must be displayed on all pilot AVs for identification by other road users. To facilitate easier identification of AVs undergoing driverless trials by drivers and pedestrians, additional labels will be put up on the vehicle body to indicate that a fully driverless test of an AV is in progress. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The Transport Department (TD) announced today (July 23) the further expansion of the autonomous vehicles (AVs) trial in North Lantau, including commencing a driverless trial on Airport Island. The TD's pilot AV labels must be displayed on all pilot AVs for identification by other road users. To facilitate easier identification of AVs undergoing driverless trials by drivers and pedestrians, additional labels will be put up on the vehicle body to indicate that a fully driverless test of an AV is in progress. Photo shows the Commissioner for Transport, Miss Winnie Tse (right), and the pilot proprietor's representative. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases