FEHD combats unlicensed hawkers selling cooked food
A spokesman for the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) announced today (March 23) that the department has carried out a series of blitz operations across the territory over the past weekend, targeting unlicensed hawkers selling cooked food, with particular focus on crowded areas such as locations where foreign domestic helpers gather. During the operations, FEHD officers arrested four foreign nationals in Central/Western District, Wan Chai District, and Mong Kok District for suspected illegal hawking and causing obstruction in public places. A total of seven prosecutions were initiated. As it is suspected that the individuals involved have also contravened the Immigration Ordinance, the cases have been referred to the Immigration Department for follow-up.
The spokesman said that about 150 kilograms of food items, including desserts, grilled fish, fried snacks, lunch boxes, sauces and instant beverages, were seized during the operations. To safeguard food safety and maintain environmental hygiene, the FEHD will continue to adopt an intelligence-led approach, deploying flexible enforcement strategies, stepping up inspections at high-risk locations, and conducting blitz operations. FEHD officers also distributed leaflets to foreign domestic helpers, reminding them not to engage in unlicensed hawking and explaining the relevant laws and consequences of violations.
The FEHD has long adopted a balanced approach in handling the issue of unlicensed hawkers. However, if the sale of cooked food, food from unknown sources, expired items, or food that is prohibited or restricted for sale is involved, the department will take stringent enforcement actions, including immediate arrests without prior warning, to safeguard food safety and public health. In the first two months of this year, the FEHD initiated 28 prosecutions against such violations and seized over 240 kg of food items in question.
According to the relevant ordinances, unlicensed hawking is subject to a maximum fine of $10,000 and six months' imprisonment. If unlicensed hawking activities also cause obstruction of passageways, offenders may be fined $25,000 or imprisoned for three months. In addition, any person who sells restricted food (including frozen meat, sashimi and sushi) without permission or sells expired food commits an offence and is liable to a maximum fine of $50,000 and six months' imprisonment upon conviction.
The FEHD urges members of the public not to patronise food from unknown sources or illegal street hawkers. The public may report hawkers selling suspicious food to the FEHD. Immediate follow-up actions will be taken.
The FEHD reaffirmed its commitment to relentlessly curbing unlicensed hawking activities, particularly when it involves food sales, and called on the public to work together to safeguard food safety and environmental hygiene.
FEHD combats unlicensed hawkers selling cooked food Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
FEHD combats unlicensed hawkers selling cooked food Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
Speech by CE at Wealth for Good in Hong Kong Summit principal dinner (with photo/video)
Following is the speech by the Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, at the principal dinner of the Wealth for Good in Hong Kong Summit today (March 23):
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
Good evening. And welcome to our principal dinner, on the eve of the fourth annual Wealth for Good in Hong Kong Summit.
I hope you enjoyed the performance – a ground-breaking fusion of culture and technology, featuring human dancers and a troupe of robotic dogs, all performing the auspicious lion dance. What struck me most was how energising it was to see tradition and innovation meet in such an unexpected, and captivating, way.
It's all there for us. We need only be open and enterprising – with the confidence to explore the future while preserving the past.
And, I'm proud to say, Hong Kong has always been that kind of a city. We have succeeded by adopting a reform mindset, bringing the time-honoured and the entirely new and unfamiliar together, to create fresh possibilities.
It's why we've chosen "Building Lasting Legacies" as the theme of this year's Wealth for Good in Hong Kong Summit.
The world is approaching a generational inflection point – a great wealth transfer. Trillions of dollars in wealth are expected to change hands over the coming decades.
But the families in this room know what is truly being transferred cannot be measured solely in dollars. No less essential are your values.
The question is not merely how to preserve what has been built, but how to ensure it endures across borders and generations, through whatever uncertainties that lie ahead.
We have guests here tonight from around the world – from Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, Oceania, the Middle East and beyond.
For many, the future may feel less certain, more complex, than it did when we were at this event a year ago. But rest assured: Hong Kong stands strong and unwavering – a city where capital, institutions and families can keep a firm footing, even as the world around them is shifting.
If you ask what makes a city worthy of a family's trust, worthy of those seeking to build lasting legacies – across generations rather than for short-term gain – I believe the answer lies in four pillars.
First, stability, the critical foundation. Under the unique "one country, two systems" principle, Hong Kong is the only world city that enjoys both the China advantage and the global advantage. We pride ourselves with a long tradition of the common law legal system, and a judiciary that exercises its powers independently.
We enjoy the free flow of people, goods, capital and information, and we have a low and cheeringly simple tax regime – foundations that have long underpinned our success, and will long continue to do so.
Stability has become a critical variable, worldwide, given the protracted Middle East conflict. The HKSAR (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region) Government has been building ties with the Middle East throughout my term of office. I have visited four Middle East countries to date, resulting in substantial governmental ties, business investment and wide-ranging collaboration across the Middle East.
Hong Kong believes in the value of free and open trade, of pursuing mutual opportunities, and of genuine dialogue and exchange.
And, of course, it's "one country, two systems" that connects Hong Kong both to the Mainland and to the international markets. That stable reality ensures that your capital will be safe and secure, and your investment opportunities plentiful in the vast Chinese market.
The 15th Five-Year Plan of our country, China, was approved earlier this month. In this key statement of China's policy plans for the coming five years, our country highlights the commitment to continue its high-standard opening-up, leveraging Hong Kong's service, as well as a pledge to encourage inclusiveness and peace, worldwide.
The Plan, I'm pleased to say, creates even more opportunities for Hong Kong. It supports Hong Kong in boosting its status as an international financial centre.
That includes enhancing our role as a global offshore Renminbi business hub, as well as an international asset management centre and risk management centre.
Hong Kong's assets under management rose 13 per cent, year-on-year, to over US$4.5 trillion at the end of 2024, that is 11 times our GDP. The momentum carried into 2025, with Hong Kong-domiciled funds recording strong net inflows of US$45.8 billionfor the year – a testament to the trust Mainland and international investors continue to place in Hong Kong's market.
The Plan also backs Hong Kong in accelerating the development of the Northern Metropolis and in building an international hub for high-calibre talent. No less important, it proposes that co-operation between Hong Kong and the Mainland be strengthened in numerous areas, including the economy, trade, culture and technology.
The wide-ranging support for Hong Kong in the national strategies of our country, China, which stands as the world's second largest economy and boasts a large and fast-growing consumer market and technology sector, provides more than stability. It provides boundless opportunities for all those who choose to do business with us.
That brings me to the second pillar we provide in the building of lasting legacies – growth.
More and more family offices are turning to Hong Kong. We are now home to over 3 380 single family offices – a 25 per cent increase in the past two years. More than half of them have second-generation members, or beyond, in leadership roles.
This reflects the confidence that ultra-high-net-worth families have in Hong Kong as a base for wealth transfer between generations.
It also underscores our family office advantages, including deep and liquid capital markets, world-class professional services and unrivalled access to the Mainland economy.
And, let me add, the HKSAR Government is working to expand the preferential tax regimes for funds, family-owned investment holding vehicles of single family offices and carried interest. We aim to get the legislative proposals passed by the first half of this year.
The third pillar to building family legacies here is the legacy beyond an investment portfolio – crucially, city life. And what a life we live. Next month, the legendary Hong Kong Sevens returns, where the world comes to play. This year, the Sevens celebrates its 50th anniversary – half a century of epic rugby and non-stop entertainment, on and off the pitch – now for the second year at the fabulous and new Kai Tak Sports Park.
Culture is central to our city life – in the art collected, charities supprted and values made tangible through what a family chooses to cherish.
This month, Hong Kong is hosting more than 100 arts and cultural events. That includes dazzling Art Basel Hong Kong. One of the world's leading art fairs, it opens this Friday and runs through the weekend, featuring some 240 prominent galleries from more than 40 countries and places.
Arts exhibitions and cultural shows are never ending in our West Kowloon Cultural District, one of the world's largest arts and cultural developments. It's home to the Palace Museum, which houses national treasures from Beijing's Forbidden City, and M+ Museum, Asia's first global museum of contemporary visual culture.
Our embrace of the arts extends to the entire lifecycle, including storage and conservation. Just last week, Hong Kong's Airport Authority entered into an agreement with a specialist custodian of art and high-value assets, to operate an art and valuables storage facility.
The two-storey, museum-grade facility is dedicated to the secure storage of art and high-value assets, and is expected to open early next year.
It will be established in SKYTOPIA, a visionary development that is set to realise our aspirations for an "airport city". Located next to Hong Kong International Airport, SKYTOPIA will become a world-class destination integrating art storage and trade, together with yacht and water sports, culture and leisure facilities and much more.
The fourth pillar is our technological future. The robotic dogs we marvelled at just a few minutes ago, are produced by a Shanghai-based start-up that specialises in making humanoid robots. One we surely hope to welcome in Hong Kong, as we continue to dedicate our efforts to building an international innovation and technology hub.
Our technological commitment goes beyond the terrain of planet Earth. A lunar surface operation robot is being developed for China's Chang'E-8 mission to the moon. A Hong Kong institution is leading a global team of aerospace scholars and experts, in designing and building the operation robot.
Last year, rising from number two to number one, the innovation cluster of Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Guangzhou topped the Global Innovation Index, which was released by the World Intellectual Property Organisation. It recognises our synergy with cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in the realisation and transformation of technological research.
And, as mentioned earlier, the Northern Metropolis, an area that neighbours the innovation hub of Shenzhen, is being fast-tracked as a new engine for Hong Kong's innovation and technology future. A series of preferential policies will be implemented, opening doors wide for strategic companies, talent and investors from all over the world.
We will introduce a new, dedicated legislation to speed up the Northern Metropolis' development. The innovative legislation will remove planning barriers, expedite construction and facilitate cross-boundary flow of materials. A public consultation will begin tomorrow.
We are, in short, building the future, and welcoming the world – welcoming you and your families, to join us.
The most enduring legacies are those that illuminate not only what has been built, but what the next generation will carry on.
And Hong Kong looks forward to helping you and your families realise your lasting legacy.
Ladies and gentlemen, I know you will savour this memorable evening, surrounded by breathtaking views of Victoria Harbour and the wonderful company all around you. Savour the cuisine and facilities of this hotel, too, as it has just been crowned No.1 among the world's top 50 hotels last year.
I wish you all a rewarding Summit and a prosperous year for you and your family business and offices. And find good time to enjoy all that Hong Kong, Asia's world city, has to offer.
Thank you.
Speech by CE at Wealth for Good in Hong Kong Summit principal dinner (with photo/video) Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
