Happy Valley Implements Special Traffic Arrangements Today for Race Meeting Crowds

Special traffic arrangements for race meeting in Happy Valley

Special traffic arrangements will be implemented in Happy Valley today (December 10). The arrangements will last until the crowds have dispersed after the race meeting.

A. Traffic arrangements before the commencement of the first race

The following road closure and traffic diversions will be implemented from 50 minutes before the start of the first race for day racing, or from 6pm onwards for night racing:

1. Road closure

Southbound Wong Nai Chung Road between Queen’s Road East and the up-ramp outside the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) will be closed, except for vehicles heading for Aberdeen Tunnel.

2. Traffic diversions

- Southbound Wong Nai Chung Road between Village Road and the up-ramp outside the HKJC will be re-routed one way northbound;

- Traffic along eastbound Queen's Road East heading for Wan Chai and Happy Valley will be diverted to turn left to Morrison Hill Road;

- Traffic along southbound Morrison Hill Road heading for Happy Valley will be diverted via Sports Road and Wong Nai Chung Road;

- Traffic along Queen's Road East cannot turn right to Wong Nai Chung Road, except for vehicles heading for Aberdeen Tunnel;

- Traffic from Cross Harbour Tunnel heading for Queen's Road East will be diverted via the down-ramp leading from southbound Canal Road flyover to Morrison Hill Road to turn right at the junction of Wong Nai Chung Road and Queen's Road East; and

- Traffic from Cross Harbour Tunnel heading for Happy Valley or Racecourse will be diverted via the down-ramp leading from southbound Canal Road flyover to Canal Road East, southbound Morrison Hill Road, Sports Road and Wong Nai Chung Road.

B. Traffic arrangements before the conclusion of race meeting

The following road closure and traffic diversions will be implemented from about 35 minutes before the start of the last race:

1. Road closure

- The up-ramp on Wong Nai Chung Road outside the HKJC leading to Aberdeen Tunnel;

- Southbound Wong Nai Chung Road between Queen's Road East and the up-ramp leading to Aberdeen Tunnel;

- Southbound Wong Nai Chung Road between Village Road and the Public Stands of the HKJC;

- Westbound Leighton Road between Wong Nai Chung Road and Canal Road East; and

- Southbound Morrison Hill Road between Leighton Road and Queen's Road East.

In addition, southbound Wong Nai Chung Road between the up-ramp leading to Aberdeen Tunnel and the Public Stands of the HKJC will be closed from about 10 minutes before the start of the last race.

2. Traffic diversions

- Eastbound Queen's Road East at its junction with Morrison Hill Road will be reduced to one-lane traffic heading for northbound Canal Road flyover;

- Traffic from Cross Harbour Tunnel heading for Wan Chai will be diverted via the down-ramp leading from southbound Canal Road flyover to Canal Road East, U-turn slip road beneath Canal Road flyover, Canal Road West and Hennessy Road;

- Traffic from Cross Harbour Tunnel heading for Happy Valley will be diverted via the down-ramp leading from southbound Canal Road flyover to Canal Road East, eastbound Leighton Road and Wong Nai Chung Road;

- Traffic along southbound Morrison Hill Road will be diverted to turn left to eastbound Leighton Road;

- Traffic along southbound Morrison Hill Road heading for Happy Valley will be diverted via eastbound Leighton Road and Wong Nai Chung Road; and

- Traffic along westbound Leighton Road will be diverted to Wong Nai Chung Road.

C. Prohibition for learner drivers

Learner drivers will be prohibited to turn left from Caroline Hill Road to Leighton Road between one and a half hours before the start of the first race and one hour after the last race. In addition, learner drivers will be prohibited from accessing the following roads within the above period of time:

- Shan Kwong Road between Yik Yam Street and Wong Nai Chung Road;

- Village Road between its upper and lower junctions with Shan Kwong Road;

- Percival Street between Hennessy Road and Leighton Road;

- Canal Road East; and

- The service road leading from Gloucester Road to Canal Road flyover.

D. Suspension of parking spaces

Parking spaces on southbound Wong Nai Chung Road between Sports Road and Blue Pool Road will be suspended from 11am to 7pm for day racing, and from 5pm to 11.59pm for night racing respectively.

All vehicles parked illegally during the implementation of the above special traffic arrangements will be towed away without prior warning, and may be subject to multiple ticketing.

Actual implementation of road closure and traffic diversion will be made by the Police at the time depending on traffic conditions in the areas. Motorists should exercise tolerance and patience, and follow the instructions of police officers on site.

Source: AI-found images

Hong Kong rises to world's fifth-largest trading entity in merchandise trade

According to the report "Global Trade Outlook and Statistics" published by World Trade Organization (WTO), Hong Kong ranked as the world's fifth-largest trading entity in merchandise trade in 2025, two places up from 2024. The total merchandise trade recorded a year-on-year increase of 17.5 per cent to US$1,585 billion, accounting for 3 per cent of the world's total.

The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Algernon Yau, said today (April 2), "The WTO report fully demonstrated that despite the challenges brought about by geopolitics and trade protectionism in the past year, Hong Kong's external trade remained resilient and achieved an encouraging result, making the city the world's fifth-largest trading entity in merchandise trade after the Chinese Mainland, the United States, Germany and the Netherlands. If the European Union is taken as a single trading entity, Hong Kong ranks fourth."

Mr Yau noted that Hong Kong has long adopted free trade and firmly supports and has upheld the rules-based multilateral trading system to provide trading partners with a predictable and transparent market. In addition, leveraging the institutional advantages under the "one country, two systems" framework and the highly internationalised business environment, Hong Kong has become the most important and agile gateway for business and trade in the region.

"The report also showed that a series of measures carried out by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government(HKSARG) for promoting trade, including expanding economic and trade networks, stepping up efforts in attracting enterprises and investment, deepening ties with international markets, exploring emerging markets, enhancing support for small and medium-sized enterprises, and promoting Hong Kong's participation in the Belt and Road initiative and opening up the Mainland market, have achieved fruitful results, enabling Hong Kong to continue to play a pivotal role in international trade," Mr Yau added.

He said, "This year marks the beginning of the country's 15th Five-Year Plan and the HKSARG is also formulating Hong Kong's five-year plan to actively align with it. The 15th Five-Year Plan explicitly supports Hong Kong in better integrating into and serving the overall national development to further consolidate and enhance Hong Kong's status as an international trade centre, leveraging its unique advantages of being backed by the motherland and connected to the world. The HKSARG will continue to promote trade and focus on further assisting Mainland enterprises in going global through Hong Kong as a platform to explore new areas of economic growth in addition to strengthening the aforesaid measures, with a view to fulfilling our roles as a 'super connector' and a 'super value-adder'."

Riding on the good performance last year, merchandise exports continued to show strong performance in early 2026. In February 2026, the values of Hong Kong's total exports and imports of goods both recorded year-on-year increases, at 24.7 per cent and 29.9 per cent respectively. Taking January and February of 2026 together, the value of total exports of goods increased by 29.6 per cent over the same period in 2025. Concurrently, the value of imports of goods increased by 34.1 per cent.

According to the WTO report, Hong Kong ranked as the world's fifth-largest trading entity in merchandise trade in 2025. Hong Kong was the world's fifth-largest exporter and the sixth-largest importer of goods (both were three places up from 2024).

Globally, the world's top 10 merchandise traders in 2025 were basically the same as those in 2024. While the top four traders, namely the Chinese Mainland, the United States, Germany and the Netherlands, remained unchanged in ranking, Hong Kong moved two places up to the fifth position, followed by the United Kingdom, Japan, France, Italy and Mexico.

For commercial service trading, Hong Kong was the world's 22nd-largest commercial service trading entity in 2025. It was the world's 23rd-largest commercial services exporter and the 25th importer (both remained the same ranking as that in 2024). Hong Kong's total trade in commercial services amounted to US$211 billion in 2025, accounting for 1.2 per cent of the world's total and representing a 6.6 per cent increase from 2024.

The "Global Trade Outlook and Statistics" report is available at www.wto.org/english/res_e/reser_e/gots_e.htm.

Photo source: wto.org