Financial Secretary Celebrates World Intellectual Property Day, Highlights Hong Kong's Role in IP and Sports

Speech by FS at World Intellectual Property Day Reception 2026

Following is the speech by the Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, at the World Intellectual Property Day Reception 2026 today (April 21):

Algernon (Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Algernon Yau), David (Director of Intellectual Property, Mr David Wong), consuls-general, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

Good evening. I am pleased to join you tonight in celebration of the World Intellectual Property Day.

Today also marks the second day of the National Intellectual Property Publicity Week. For the first time, Hong Kong has brought the two together in one year, aligning WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization)'s theme of "IP and Sports", while echoing the country's call to strengthen IP (intellectual property) protection in emerging fields and accelerate the development of new quality productive forces.

These two seemingly divergent themes indeed share one same spirit: IP is a key driver of innovation and industry development.

Promoting IP trading

IP is a strategic asset for economic transformation, and a critical bridge that turns creativity into economic value.

There is substantial economic value to be unlocked through IP. Consider the scale of innovation in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) in IP terms. At last count, the GBA had close to 820 000 valid invention patents, nearly one-sixth of the national total, showing the breadth and depth of investable innovation on our doorstep.

With our common law system, a strong tradition of the rule of law, and world-class professional services, Hong Kong is well positioned to build ourselves into a regional IP trading hub. Indeed, our country fully supports Hong Kong’s development in this direction, as reaffirmed in the National 15th Five-Year Plan.

IP trading is, of course, important. But it is only part of the story. Our goal is to unlock the value of IP in full, and to enable it to play a much stronger role across the economy.

Over the years, we have taken proactive steps to realise this vision. The Budget this year takes this further forward. We are advancing the IP agenda on three key fronts: strengthening the tax regime, promoting IP valuation and financing, as well as nurturing talent.

On the tax front, we have advanced a series of reforms over the years. For example, the patent box regime is now in place. Qualifying IP income is taxed at a concessionary rate of 5 per cent, compared to the standard profits tax rate of 16.5 per cent.

We have also recently completed the trade consultation on tax deductions for capital expenditure incurred on IP acquisitions. Our aim is to amend the Inland Revenue Ordinance this year. This will help lower transaction costs and encourage more IP trading activities in Hong Kong.

More importantly, the case for IP trading is to realise the value of IP in the marketplace. We are now connecting the dots to form a full IP value chain, from creation and protection to transaction and financing.

To this end, valuation is the foundation. It provides an objective basis for trading and financing. The HKSAR (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region) Government supports the Hong Kong Technology and Innovation Support Centre to launch a Pilot Patent Valuation Support Scheme to help SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) establish the value of their patent assets, with reference to the national standards, or Guobiao.

Financing is the last mile in unlocking the commercial value of intangible assets. The IP financing sandbox, launched at the end of last year, allows stakeholders to capture the full life cycle value of IP. In essence, when patents can serve as collateral, innovation and technology companies will be able to convert patents into active capital. This will help address the needs of innovative enterprises, particularly the smaller innovations, who are rich in IP assets but lack tangible assets.

On talent, both nurturing specialists and upskilling the existing talent pool are essential. The IPD (Intellectual Property Department) has expanded its team of patent examiners, strengthening our capacity to handle original grant patent applications. Last year, the number of such applications processed increased by more than 30 per cent.

In this year's Budget, I announced the establishment of an Intellectual Property Academy, and allocated $52 million for a two-year pilot scheme. The Academy will commence operations by the end of this year, serving different sectors of the community. It will provide practical, on-the-job training aligned with the Qualifications Framework.

IP and sports

Ladies and gentlemen, when we talk about IP, people often think first of patents and technology. But of course, trademarks, copyright, and designs matter just as much. They are intangible assets that businesses work hard to build.

This is why this year's World IP Day theme - "IP and Sports" - is so relevant. IP is everywhere in sports: in equipment and gear, team and event branding, broadcasting, sponsorship and digital content.

I understand many of you here come from the legal profession. IP is indeed an integral part of the wider matrix of sports legal services. Recently, Hong Kong has made good progress in sports-related arbitration. I encourage you to capture the opportunities of IP in sports too. They sit at the heart of modern sport, and opportunities are abundant as we continue to expand and diversify Hong Kong's sports offerings.

My thanks to the IPD for organising this evening’s reception. I wish you all a rewarding World IP Day and the best of health and IP business in the time ahead. Thank you.

The Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, attended the World Intellectual Property Day Reception 2026 today (April 21). Photo shows Mr Chan (centre); the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Algernon Yau (fifth left); the Director of Intellectual Property, Mr David Wong (fifth right), and other guests at the reception. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, speaks at the World Intellectual Property Day Reception 2026 today (April 21). Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Development Bureau announces tender result for Hung Shui Kiu pilot area under large-scale land disposal

The Development Bureau (DEVB) announced today (August 24) that the pilot area project under large-scale land disposal located in Hung Shui Kiu/Ha Tsuen New Development Area (HSK) in the Northern Metropolis (NM) has the tender assessment completed. With the approval of the Central Tender Board (CTB), the Government decided to award the project to HSK New Development Limited. The successful tenderer scored higher marks than the other tenderer in both non-premium and premium aspects, with an accepted tender price at $1.03 billion.

The six shareholders of the successful tenderer are the subsidiaries of China Overseas Land and Investment Limited, China Merchants Land Limited, China Resources Land Limited, China Tourism Group Corporation Limited, JD.com, Inc. (JD) and Sino Land Company Limited respectively.

The Secretary for Development, Ms Bernadette Linn, said, "The HSK pilot area is the first tender project under large-scale land disposal in the NM, covering a total area of nearly 11 hectares. It is a project of considerable scale with a long investment period. The consortium of the successful tenderer encompasses not only major enterprises that have long participated in local real estate development, but also market leaders that are well-established in other industries with undeniable experience and capability. This demonstrates that a large-scale land disposal project can facilitate co-operation across different business sectors. The six enterprises pool their strengths and join forces to cast a vote of confidence in the NM through concrete actions, setting a new course for the diversified development models in the NM."

The DEVB said that the successful tenderer will be responsible for forming and developing three residential sites, on which some 3 000 flats can be built in total (assuming that each flat is about 50 square metres in size), and also complete site formation to build a smart modern logistics centre on an Enterprise and Technology Park (E&TP) site of permissible gross floor area (GFA) up to 50 950 square metres. The centre will adopt modern and quality design with JD stationing as the leading enterprise. It will commence operation with no less than 15 300 square metres of GFA within 55 months, faster than the minimum requirement of 96 months in the tender documents. The mentioned three residential sites and one E&TP site (namely HSK Town Lot Nos. 18 to 21), with a total area of about 3.6 hectares, will be leased to the successful tenderer for a term of 50 years.

The successful tenderer will also be responsible for forming various remaining sites in the HSK pilot area. Amongst them, two E&TP sites (namely HSK Town Lot Nos. 23 and 24, about 4.5 hectares) and one "Government, Institution or Community" site (about 0.6 hectares) for government facility shall have the site formation completed and handed back to the Government by end 2028. Besides, the successful tenderer will construct an open space, a pedestrian street and a footpath, which need to be completed and handed back to the Government no later than 2030 to 2033 by batches.

Ms Linn said, "After the successful tenderer completes the site formation and hands back the sites to the Government, the Government will grant the two mentioned E&TP sites of 4.5 hectares directly to Hung Shui Kiu Industry Park Company Limited (the Park Company), which is wholly owned by the Government, for development of superstructure and operation. The size of sites granted to the Park Company at a nominal land premium for a term of 50 years will increase by 20 per cent, previously from 23 hectares to 27.5 hectares, which facilitates the introduction of industries with a competitive edge to the NM. This land grant arrangement also enables the Park Company to start working on attracting investments and enterprises for the additional sites, so that enterprises may settle in early after completion of site formation in 2028."

As estimated by the successful tenderer, the implementation of the whole large-scale land disposal project involves an investment of about $16.8 billion, and is anticipated to create over 6 000 employment opportunities.

The successful tenderer will need to enter into a service deed with the Government, submit a performance guarantee and arrange for a bank bond within 14 days, with a view to ensuring the timely implementation of the non-premium proposal and various requirements. As the successful tenderer has not elected to pay land premium in instalments and will settle the accepted tender price in full within 28 days, the Government can receive the full amount of the tender early.

The Northern Metropolis Project Supervision Office established by the DEVB earlier will render full support to the successful tenderer in taking forward the HSK pilot area project to expedite its implementation.

To develop the HSK pilot area, the Government has adopted a two-envelope approach in the tender, with the weighting for premium proposal at 30 per cent and non-premium proposal at 70 per cent. The assessment criteria for non-premium proposal focus on the development of the E&TP sites, including whether strategic industries are developed, whether leading enterprises are introduced, development speed, investment scale, employment opportunities to be created, etc., with a view to attracting high-quality enterprises to establish their presence in the HSK pilot area and promoting the development of industry chains.

The Government launched the open tender on December 30, 2025, which closed on July 3, 2026 with two tenders received. After the Tender Assessment Panel (TAP) assessed the tenders in accordance with the marking scheme in the tender documents, HSK New Development Limited attained the highest marks for both its premium and non-premium proposals with an overall score of 100. The TAP recommended to the CTB to accept the relevant tender, and the recommendation was approved.

Source: AI-found images