Director of Audit Leads Delegation to Visit Qinghai, Exploring Green Energy Initiatives and Collaboration Opportunities

Director of Audit leads delegation on duty visit to Qinghai

A six-member delegation led by the Director of Audit, Professor Nelson Lam, began a five-day duty visit to Qinghai on June 22. During the trip, the delegation met and exchanged views with officials of the Qinghai Provincial Government and the Audit Office of Qinghai Province, and visited local new energy-related facilities and organisations.

The delegation was first received by leaders of the Qinghai Provincial Government, including the Executive Vice Governor of Qinghai Province, Mr Zhang Jingang, who welcomed the Hong Kong delegation and introduced the green energy projects in Qinghai, highlighting the collaboration projects between Qinghai and Guangdong Provinces under the National 15th Five-Year Plan. Professor Lam expressed his gratitude for the full support and invitation from the Auditor General of the National Audit Office of the People's Republic of China, Mr Hou Kai, and for the co-ordination and thoughtful arrangements of the Qinghai Provincial Government and the Audit Office of Qinghai Province for this trip, which afforded the delegation the chance to visit Qinghai - the source of the nation's three great rivers and the core hub of the national base of important new energy industries. He said he looks forward to further sharing the gains of this trip with peers in Hong Kong in the future. He also stated that in this year that marks the beginning of the National 15th Five-Year Plan, the Audit Commission hopes to leverage the opportunity to closely interact with provinces and cities in various ways to assimilate the visions, advanced techniques and good practices in audit on the Mainland. This would put the Commission in a position to continuously hone its work and better integrate into and serve overall national development.

In a subsequent seminar, the Director of the Audit Office of Qinghai Province, Mr Chen Zhaochao, gave a briefing on the work of the Audit Office and had an intensive exchange with the delegation on work issues such as audit examinations and the workflow of rectification supervision, and especially on audit topics related to the development of ecological civilisation. Both sides stated their commitment to aligning with the aim and spirit of the Central Auditing Commission under the 20th Communist Party of China Central Committee in building an audit supervision system and delivering the responsibilities of public auditors, with a people-centred mindset.

Professor Lam quoted President Xi Jinping as stressing that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets." The country has been steering the full-scale transformation to a green economy and society, constructing a new energy system and emphasising green, low-carbon development as the foundation for enhancing people's well-being and quality of life. To actively align with these national policies, Hong Kong is championing the development of new energy industries and forging a green, low-carbon living environment. On that note, Professor Lam highlighted that the public consultation for the First Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is under way, and that for Part 6 of the consultation document on "Integrated Development of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, Green Living, and Other Areas", a lot of inspiration could be drawn from Qinghai, which demonstrates a solid and effective integration of greening, technology, new energy, culture and tourism. With "greening" poised to be the next big area for exploration in the auditing industry, according to Professor Lam, and with the recent issuance of a plan by the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration to establish a new energy system during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the delegation was thankful for this timely visit to Qinghai - which has been entrusted with the important strategic mission of building a national hub for clean energy industries - and for visiting the sites of its various national key energy projects, including photovoltaic, clean energy and water resources facilities. Professor Lam described this trip as richly inspiring and informative for the delegation members, as it allowed them to gain first-hand appreciation of the nation's accomplishments and work in areas such as green energy and ecological security, and gave them a vivid picture of the development planning and latest situation of new energy auditing.

Professor Lam looks forward to sharing the takeaways of the Qinghai trip with officers and showing them the success cases of the integration of strategic resources and facilitation of leapfrog development of energy industries in the country. He believes it would motivate them to utilise their strengths, deliver their duties and develop their potential, and, in turn, to fully play their part as professionals in meeting the country's needs, unleashing Hong Kong's prowess and responding to the people's aspirations.

The Director of Audit, Professor Nelson Lam (left), and the Director of the Audit Office of Qinghai Province, Mr Chen Zhaochao (right), are pictured outside the building of the Audit Office of Qinghai Province on June 25. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The delegation visited new energy-related facilities in Qinghai on June 23 and 24 to learn about the latest situation of green development on the national and local levels. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The delegation and the Audit Office of Qinghai Province held a seminar on June 25. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The Director of Audit, Professor Nelson Lam (left), had an exchange with the Executive Vice Governor of Qinghai Province, Mr Zhang Jingang (right), on June 22. Professor Lam expressed his eagerness to share the experience gained from this visit with peers in Hong Kong as a way to tell good stories of China and its provinces and cities. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The delegation of the Audit Commission met on June 22 with officials of the Qinghai Provincial Government and the Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Offices of the National Audit Office of the People's Republic of China, and exchanged views with them on issues of mutual interest. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

DH investigates Serious Untoward Event involving day procedure centre "Heal Fertility Limited" and requests that it stop accepting new cases for reproductive technology procedures

The Department of Health (DH) announced today (July 7) that it had received a notification from the Council on Human Reproductive Technology (Council) regarding a day procedure centre (DPC), "Heal Fertility Limited", in Central that holds a licence from the Council to provide reproductive technology procedures. The DPC has made errors when sending embryo biopsy specimens for testing. The incident constitutes a Serious Untoward Event stipulated in the Code of Practice for Day Procedure Centres (Code of Practice) of the Private Healthcare Facilities Ordinance (Cap. 633) (the Ordinance). The DPC did not report the incident to the DH within 24 hours upon identification, as required. Following a preliminary investigation, the DH has directed the DPC to implement a series of corrective and improvement measures, including the immediate suspension of accepting new cases for reproductive technology procedures.

The concerned DPC is located in One Chinachem Central, 22 Des Voeux Road, Central. The incident involved two couples preparing to undergo reproductive technology procedures. The embryo biopsy specimens they provided for testing were suspected to be replaced by other embryo biopsy specimens. The testing centre discovered the error during the genetic testing process and coordinated with the DPC to repeat the sampling and testing.

The DPC had earlier reported the incident to the Council, the Council notified the DH on the evening of July 3 following an investigation. The DH immediately sent staff to the DPC on the morning of July 4 to conduct an inspection and investigation, and to thoroughly review the relevant workflows and safety measures according to the Ordinance. The investigation revealed that the incident involved misidentification of the test specimens, which constitutes a Serious Untoward Event under the Code of Practice. However, the DPC did not report the incident to the DH within 24 hours upon identification, which constituted a non-compliance to the Code of Practice. According to information provided by the DPC, genetic testing subsequently confirmed that the two couples were biologically related to the embryos stored at the DPC, indicating that the embryos themselves had not been mixed up. The incident involved an error with the biopsy specimens sent for testing, and there is currently no evidence to suggest that any embryos were mixed up or incorrectly implanted.

In view of the preliminary investigation findings, human factors may be involved. To ensure public safety, the DH issued a requirement notice to the DPC on July 6 and required the DPC to take the following measures:

• Immediately stop accepting new cases for reproductive technology procedures until the completion of investigation and full implementation of remedial safeguards;
• Proactively notify persons who have been receiving reproductive technology procedures in the DPC about the incident and provide appropriate medical advice and/or confirmatory testing as necessary;
• Make suitable arrangements so that affected persons do not incur additional costs or suffer financial loss in connection with any counselling, confirmatory testing, or other follow-up actions; and
• Submit an investigation report within four weeks on the root cause analysis, immediate corrective actions taken and the necessary long-term improvement measures.

The DH has provided the Council with the preliminary findings of its investigation. The DH will continue to take the necessary follow-up actions in accordance with the Ordinance and maintain close liaison with the Council to safeguard public safety.

Source: AI-found images