Hong Kong SFST Discusses Collaboration with Canadian Officials in Ottawa and Vancouver

2025-05-30 11:55 Last Updated At：13:12

SFST meets government financial officials and financial leaders in Ottawa and Vancouver

The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui, met with Canadian financial officials in Ottawa, Canada on May 28 (Ottawa time) and continued his visit to Vancouver on May 29 (Vancouver time).

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SFST meets government financial officials and financial leaders in Ottawa and Vancouver Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

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SFST meets government financial officials and financial leaders in Ottawa and Vancouver Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Mr Hui went to Ottawa on May 28 (Ottawa time) to meet with the Canadian Deputy Minister of Finance, Mr Chris Forbes. They discussed the challenges posed by unilateralism and protectionism, and how Hong Kong and Canada could collaborate to achieve mutual benefits in areas such as the gold market and virtual assets. Mr Hui told Mr Forbes that as the global economic gravity continues to shift eastwards, Hong Kong has been exploring new growth areas and expanding international co-operation, including the development of international gold trading currently pursued by the working group on promoting gold market development.

At his meeting with the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), Mr Peter Routledge, in the morning, Mr Hui shared with him Hong Kong's perseverance in upholding a robust regulatory regime across different financial institutions and financial products to secure global confidence in Hong Kong's high-quality and highly efficient financial market. The OSFI is the Canadian regulator of banks, and also supervises insurance companies, trust companies, loan companies and pension plans. Mr Routledge praised Hong Kong for its advanced development in digital assets that sets an example for other regions.

Mr Hui then met with Senator Mr Woo Yuen-pau at the Parliament Hill. He briefed Mr Woo on Hong Kong's effort in maintaining its status as an international financial centre through various measures. He mentionedthe recent affirmations of Hong Kong's credit ratings by Fitch, S&P and Moody's, all with "stable" outlooks. These affirmations fully demonstrate Hong Kong's resilience in maintaining stability amid increasing global economic and financial uncertainties. In addition, both S&P and Moody's provided positive evaluations of Hong Kong's credit profile, including its substantial fiscal buffers and foreign exchange reserves, a strong external balance sheet, and high per-capita income levels. Mr Hui said, with its effective policy framework and solid financial market built over the years, Hong Kong is definitely a trusted partner for Canada at a time when the global political and economic landscape is fraught with uncertainties.

During his short stay in Ottawa, Mr Hui also paid a courtesy call to the Chinese Ambassador to Canada, Mr Wang Di. Mr Wang said that Hong Kong has its own distinctive advantages which can enable the city to be a bridgehead in driving closer ties between the nation and Canada while fostering co-operation between Hong Kong and Canada.

On May 29 (Vancouver time), Mr Hui started his visit to Vancouver where he met with Mr Mark Scott who is the Board Chair of Fraser Institute, the most influential think-tank in Canada, and some other prominent business figures to update them of Hong Kong's latest financial development. The Director, Head (Policy Research) of the Financial Services Development Council, Dr Rocky Tung, also joined the meeting. Mr Hui welcomed that Hong Kong was ranked as the world's freest economies among 165 economies in Fraser Institute's Economic Freedom of the World 2024 Annual Report. Among the five areas of assessment, Hong Kong topped in the areas of "Freedom to trade internationally" and "Regulation", and came third in "Sound money". Looking ahead, Hong Kong will continue to undertake a series of initiatives covering areas in which it has competitive edges, including stocks, bonds, and asset and wealth management, as well as emerging opportunities such as green and sustainable finance and the development of Web3, with a view to keeping the momentum to boost the high-quality development of Hong Kong's financial market.

Around noon, Mr Hui spoke at a business luncheon hosted by the Hong Kong-Canada Business Association (Vancouver Chapter) at the invitation of its Co-President, Mr Adrian Wan. He also joined a fireside chat to enlighten attendees on the latest financial developments in Hong Kong. When touching on the development of gold and commodity markets, Mr Hui said that in merely four months' time after Hong Kong was included within the London Metal Exchange's global warehousing network in January this year, seven approved warehouses have been approved for establishment to serve global base metals traders and related enterprises. Given the shared interests and commonalities of Canada and Hong Kong, the two places have great potential to co-operate in various financial areas.

Later the day, Mr Hui visited the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) and met its Vice-Chair, Managing Director and Head of Equity, Solutions Group and Global Markets, Mr Ryan Fan, and Vice President of Retail Asian Banking and Vancouver Lower Mainland Imperial Service, Mr Alex Fan, and introduced to them the latest development in areas such as wealth management and digital assets in Hong Kong. The CIBC is a leading financial institution in North America and has already extended itsbanking and wealth management business to Hong Kong.

The day concluded with a business networking reception and seminar "Hong Kong Night" organised by Invest Hong Kong (Canada). Addressing the audience, Mr Hui highlighted the Government's dedication to integrating real economy and Web3 innovations by introducing a licensing regime for fiat-referenced stablecoins issuers in Hong Kong and fostering the development of Web3 and digital assets at high velocity while maintaining a risk-controlled and prudent approach through a robust and balanced regulatory framework.

He also brought to the audiences' attention Hong Kong's determination to expand the financial value chain to sustain the world-class status of the city's financial markets. Two of the forward-looking moves are to build an international gold trading market and create a commodity trading ecosystem in Hong Kong.

He said with Canada's prominent position in the global gold market and the Toronto Stock Exchange being the world's pre-eminent stock exchange for mining companies, it is promising to see room for co-operation between Hong Kong and Canada, making it the East-West financial corridor for the world.

Mr Hui will speak at the Web Summit Vancouver on May 30 (Vancouver time).

Nestlé Hong Kong Recalls Additional Infant Formula Over Bacillus Cereus Contamination Concerns

CFS to follow up certain batches of powdered infant and young children formula with possible presence of Cereulide produced by Bacillus cereus

The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) today (January 10) said that, it took initiative to meet with Nestlé Hong Kong again today, and confirmed the company's today announcement of an additional batch of powdered infant and young children formula suspected to have possibly used the raw material concerned. Nestlé Hong Kong has voluntarily stopped sales, removed from shelves the affected products and has initiated a precautionary recall. The CFS has collected samples of powdered infant and young children formula from the market for Bacillus cereus testing, the test results so far were satisfactory. The Environmental and Ecology Bureau is also closely monitoring the supply situation of other formula milk powder and maintaining communication with other major suppliers. It is noted that there is sufficient formula milk powder to meet the demand.

The spokesman said, the CFS has been actively following up on Nestlé company's voluntary and precautionary recalls of certain batches of its powdered infant and young children formula in certain areas in Europe due to possible presence of Cereulide produced by Bacillus cereus in the individual raw material. According to the latest information from Nestlé Hong Kong today, an additional batch of its powdered infant and young children formula imported into Hong Kong might have used the raw material concerned. The CFS had earlier enhanced surveillance in the market and collected a sample from the above batch for testing of Bacillus cereus. The test result of the sample was satisfactory. Nevertheless, as a precautionary measure, Nestlé Hong Kong has voluntarily stopped sales, removed from shelves the affected products and has initiated a precautionary recall.

Product details are as follows:

Product name (Net weight): NAN PRO 1 2 HMO (800g)

Batch number: 51670742F2

Best-before date: June 16, 2027

Place of Origin: Germany

"The CFS met Nestlé Hong Kong again today, urging them to properly handle the product recall issue and respond to public enquiries, in order to safeguard consumers' legitimate rights and interests. In addition, the CFS and Nestlé Hong Kong have jointly followed up, six suspected affected batches of infant and young children formula products that had not entered the market were marked and sealed. An additional 15 batches are currently en route to Hong Kong and will also be marked and sealed upon arrival. The CFS will continue to closely monitor the recall matters and remain fully committed to ensuring food safety, " the spokesman said.

Nestlé Hong Kong has initiated a recall of the affected batches of the products concerned. For enquiries about the recall, members of the public may contact the company through the following channels:

Consumer services hotline: 2599 8874 / 2797 6031/ 2179 8136 (Monday to Sunday, 9am to 9pm)

Email: consumerservices@hk.nestle.com

WhatsApp: 5283 4139 (NESTLÉ® NAN®) / 2599 8871 (Wyeth® Nutrition)

Online form: forms.office.com/e/BhqMhWfsUG?origin=lprLink

Consumers may choose to bring along the products (brand new or opened) for refund at place of purchase, or at exclusive service counters of Nestlé Nutrition Services from January 13 (Tuesday) onwards, to settle the recall and refund of the batches of the products concerned. Details of the exclusive service counters are as follows:

Kowloon Services Counter

Address: G/F, Park Hovan Commercial Building, 18 Hillwood Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon (MTR Jordon Station Exit D)

Contact number: 3996 8196

Office hour: Monday to Saturday, 11am to 7.30pm; Sunday, 1pm to 5.30pm (except public holidays)

Hong Kong Services Counter

Address: 1/F, Ka Nin Wah Commercial Building, 423-425 Hennessy Road, Hong Kong (MTR Causeway Bay Station Exit B)

Contact number: 3996 8197

Office hour: Monday to Saturday, 11am to 7.30pm (except Sundays and public holidays)

The CFS, through its Food Incident Surveillance System, noted earlier that certain batches of Nestlé powdered infant formula were being voluntarily recalled in Europe due to possible contamination with Bacillus cereus. Upon learning of the incident, the CFS has immediately initiated follow up actions, published food incident posts to inform the public and the trade about the issue, and has been actively following up on the incident and enhanced surveillance.

Over the past three days (as of 4pm on January 9), the FEHD received a total of 18 food complaints and enquiries suspected to be related to the infant and young children formula products, including one anonymous complaint without contact information. The CFS and the Environmental Hygiene Branch have promptly followed up on all cases, including contacting the parties concerned to obtain details and collecting samples for testing. In addition, the CFS has referred the cases to the health department for follow-up. At present, no food poisoning cases related to the formula have been recorded.

Bacillus cereus is commonly found in the environment. Unhygienic conditions in food processing and storage may give rise to its growth. Cereulide is a heat-stable toxin produced in food by some strains of Bacillus cereus. Consuming food contaminated with excessive Bacillus cereus or its heat-stable toxins may cause gastrointestinal upset such as vomiting and diarrhoea.

The spokesman urged members of the public not to let infants and young children consume the affected batches of the products, and to seek medical treatment for infants or young children who felt unwell after taking the products concerned. The trade should also stop using or selling the affected batches of the products immediately.

"The CFS continues to closely monitor the developments of the situation, follow up and take appropriate action," the spokesman said.

Hong Kong SFST Discusses Collaboration with Canadian Officials in Ottawa and Vancouver

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