LegCo Members Explore Beijing 12345 Citizen Hotline Service Center During Study Visit

LegCo National Affairs Study Visit tours Beijing 12345 Citizen Hotline Service Center

The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:

Members of the Legislative Council (LegCo) continued the National Affairs Study Visit (Study Visit) in Beijing for the fourth day today (July 22). They attended a thematic seminar relating to the National 15th Five-Year Plan and Hong Kong's Five-Year Plan, followed by a visit to the Beijing 12345 Citizen Hotline Service Center (the Center).

In the morning, Members attended a thematic seminar on the key points of the National 15th Five-Year Plan and recommendations for Hong Kong's Five-Year Plan. The National 15th Five-Year Plan outlines the country's development direction for the next five years. The seminar offered an in-depth exposition of the holistic vision, thorough consideration and meticulous planning underpinning the formulation of the National 15th Five-Year Plan. The seminar also provided a detailed analysis of the 15th Five-Year Plan's trajectory, guiding principle and main objectives, while examining China's opportunities and challenges from a global perspective.

Members have benefited greatly from the seminar. Not only have they deeply appreciated the vast opportunities brought by the National 15th Five-Year Plan, they have also gained a more comprehensive and profound understanding of Hong Kong's role under the grand blueprint of the National 15th Five-Year Plan. Members agreed that in assisting the Special Administrative Region Government in formulating Hong Kong's first Five-Year Plan, LegCo must accurately comprehend and grasp the spirit of the Central Authorities on economic affairs. By drawing on the country's successful experience in development, Hong Kong can exert a greater role in the country's modernization, better integrate into and serve the overall national development, and fulfil the country's high expectations for the city.

In the afternoon, Members visited the Beijing 12345 Citizen Hotline Service Center. The Center consolidated Beijing's hotline resources in 2019 and became a one-stop platform for providing swift responses to public complaints. Members inspected the service processes, noting that the Center leverages big data in identifying problems. It also promotes taking initiatives and handling problems before complaints. The Center also makes use of artificial intelligence, achieving a 97% resolution rate. Its services fully demonstrate the people-centred philosophy and governing vision. The Center puts the value of proactively responding to people's aspiration into practice, directly reflecting its determination to tackle the most imminent concerns of the people, making it an exemplar of urban administration. Members considered that the Center's successful experience in feeling the pulse of society can serve as a valuable reference and also be applied to enhancements of LegCo Members' district services, with a view to solving people's problems more efficiently and proactively, thereby improving the well-being of the people.

Members will continue with the Study Visit programme tomorrow (July 23), which includes attending thematic seminars.

Click here to watch the video highlight of today's Study Visit.

Members of the Legislative Council ("LegCo") continued the National Affairs Study Visit in Beijing for the fourth day today (July 22). Photo shows LegCo Members inspecting the service processes at Beijing 12345 Citizen Hotline Service Center to learn about how the center leverages artificial intelligence and big data to promote good governance. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Members of the Legislative Council ("LegCo") continued the National Affairs Study Visit in Beijing for the fourth day today (July 22). Photo shows LegCo Members inspecting the service processes at Beijing 12345 Citizen Hotline Service Center to learn about how the center leverages artificial intelligence and big data to promote good governance. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Members of the Legislative Council ("LegCo") continued the National Affairs Study Visit in Beijing for the fourth day today (July 22). Photo shows LegCo Members inspecting the service processes at Beijing 12345 Citizen Hotline Service Center to learn about how the center leverages artificial intelligence and big data to promote good governance. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Members of the Legislative Council ("LegCo") continued the National Affairs Study Visit in Beijing for the fourth day today (July 22). Photo shows LegCo Members inspecting the service processes at Beijing 12345 Citizen Hotline Service Center to learn about how the center leverages artificial intelligence and big data to promote good governance. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Members of the Legislative Council ("LegCo") continued the National Affairs Study Visit in Beijing for the fourth day today (July 22). Photo shows LegCo Members inspecting the service processes at Beijing 12345 Citizen Hotline Service Center to learn about how the center leverages artificial intelligence and big data to promote good governance. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Members of the Legislative Council ("LegCo") continued the National Affairs Study Visit in Beijing for the fourth day today (July 22). Photo shows LegCo Members inspecting the service processes at Beijing 12345 Citizen Hotline Service Center to learn about how the center leverages artificial intelligence and big data to promote good governance. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Members of the Legislative Council ("LegCo") continued the National Affairs Study Visit in Beijing for the fourth day today (July 22). Photo shows LegCo Members inspecting the service processes at Beijing 12345 Citizen Hotline Service Center to learn about how the center leverages artificial intelligence and big data to promote good governance. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Members of the Legislative Council ("LegCo") continued the National Affairs Study Visit in Beijing for the fourth day today (July 22). Photo shows the President of LegCo, Dr Starry Lee (thirteenth right, front row), and Members posing for a group photo at the Beijing 12345 Citizen Hotline Service Center. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Members of the Legislative Council ("LegCo") continued the National Affairs Study Visit in Beijing for the fourth day today (July 22). Photo shows the President of LegCo, Dr Starry Lee (left) presenting a souvenir to the Deputy Secretary-General of the Beijing Municipal Government and Party Secretary and Director of the Beijing Municipal Administration of Government Services and Data Management, Mr Shen Binhua (right), to express gratitude. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Members of the Legislative Council ("LegCo") continued the National Affairs Study Visit in Beijing for the fourth day today (July 22). Photo shows LegCo Members attending a thematic seminar on the National 15th Five-Year Plan and recommendations for Hong Kong’s Five-Year Plan. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Outcome of 2026 rent review for public rental housing

The Subsidised Housing Committee (SHC) of the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) today (July 23) endorsed the outcome of the 2026 rent review for public rental housing (PRH) in accordance with section 16A of the Housing Ordinance (HO).

"Section 16A of the HO provides that the HA shall conduct a rent review every two years in accordance with the mechanism stipulated therein and vary the PRH rent according to the change in the income index between the first and second periods covered by the review. The report compiled by the Commissioner for Census and Statistics (C for C&S) for the 2026 PRH rent review showed that the income index of the second period of the review (i.e. 2025) was higher than that of the first period (i.e. 2023) by 2.04 per cent. To this end, PRH rent will be adjusted upwards by 2.04 per cent with effect from October 1, 2026, " a spokesman for the HA said.

The extent of the 2026 PRH rent adjustment is mild. The average monthly rent as at March 2026 for PRH tenants was $2,519. Applying the adjustment of +2.04 per cent, the average monthly rent increase per PRH household is about $51, with the amount of monthly rent increase ranging from $10 to $128.

"After excluding the ‘well-off tenants’ and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance households whose rent is paid by the Government, the monthly rent increase for more than 60% of the remaining PRH households will be $60 or less, and about 90 per cent of the remaining PRH households have a monthly rent increase of $80 or below. We believe that the increase is within an affordable level for PRH tenants," the HA spokesman said.

The Government announced in the 2026-27Budget that rates concessions would be provided for the first two quarters of 2026-27, subject to a ceiling of $500 for each rateable property per quarter. In line with established practice, HA will pass on the rates concessions to PRH tenants. The rates concessions receivable by each PRH household in 2026-27 range from about $258 to $1,000.

In addition, rents for newly completed PRH estates are set according to the District Best Rent Levels of respective districts, which are determined per meter square of internal floor area with reference to the location and value of the estates concerned. In light of the 2026 rent review of PRH, the rent adjustments for both existing and newly completed PRH estates will take effect on October 1,2026. The HA will notify all PRH tenants in writing one month before the new rent implementation date. Meanwhile, the Housing Bureau has stated that the monthly licence fee for Light Public Housing (LPH) is set at about 90 per cent of the rents for newly completed PRH estates in the same district. Therefore, the monthly licence fees payable of LPH projects will be aligned and adjusted on October 1, 2026 according to the new PRH rental levels. All LPH occupants will be informed of the relevant details in writing one calendar month before the effective date of the new licence fee.

The HO stipulates the PRH rent adjustment mechanism, which came into effect in 2008. Under this mechanism, PRH rent is reviewed every two years. Section 16A(7)(b) of the HO provides that the C for C&S shall compute the income index for the first and second periods under a rent review. The income index is compiled by comparing the income data of about 24 000 PRH households in each of the periods. The mechanism provides an objective basis for the HA to determine when and to what extent PRH rent should be adjusted, taking into account tenants' affordability. According to the mechanism, there is a 10 per cent cap on the rate of rent increase, whereas there is no floor in the case of rent reduction.

Source: AI-found images