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WorldOct 6Hong Kong temperatures drop to 23 degrees Celsius on Tuesday morning, lowest this autumnTemperatures in Hong Kong dropped to about 23 degrees Celsius (73 Fahrenheit) on Tuesday morning, the lowest so far this autumn. According to the Hong Kong Observatory, the cooler weather was caused by a dry northeast monsoon. “A dry northeast monsoon will bring mainly fine weather to the coast of Guangdong in the next couple of days. It will be windier and slightly cooler in the morning over the region,” the forecaster said. “The monsoon is expected to moderate slightly in the latter part of...South China Morning Post
BusinessOct 5Russian gold floods Hong Kong as Western sanctions redraw bullion tradeThe surge underscores how Russia's gold trade has been rerouted after its invasion of Ukraine in 2022 shut its producers out of major Western markets.CNBC
BusinessOct 5How a Hong Kong property investor still made US$30 million – after a 40% price cutAmid concerns over rising interest rates and a weak retail property market, a long-time investor has sold a portfolio of prime street shops in Tsim Sha Tsui – held for more than four decades – and locked in a profit of nearly HK$237 million (US$30.2 million) despite accepting a deal more than 40 per cent below his original asking price. The portfolio of retail shops in Cheung Lee Commercial Building and the podium of Wing Lee Building, both on Kimberley Road, changed hands for HK$256.8 million,...South China Morning Post
PoliticsOct 5Hong Kong must scrap housing plan and preserve golf courseThe hotly contested court battle over government plans to build 12,000 public flats on Hong Kong’s oldest golf course has played its final round. The government decided not to appeal against a ruling that held its approval of an environmental impact assessment (EIA) report on the project to be unlawful. This is better than pursuing a further attempt to persuade the courts to uphold a fatally flawed process. Now, a broader review of the plans can be undertaken in light of the Court of Appeal’s...South China Morning Post
PoliticsOct 5Bid to turn 14 subsidised Hong Kong sale flats into subdivided homes raises abuse concernsThe owners of 14 subsidised sale flats have applied for a grace period to comply with Hong Kong’s new regulatory regime for subdivided homes, the housing minister has revealed, raising concerns that public resources were being abused. The cases were disclosed on Monday at a Legislative Council housing panel meeting when lawmaker Mark Chong Ho-fung asked Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho Wing-yin about the use of subsidised sale flats as subdivided units for renting. Chong said flats sold under the...South China Morning Post
HealthOct 5Hong Kong IVF clinic cleared to resume all services after embryo specimen mix-upA Hong Kong fertility clinic that had most of its services suspended for mishandling embryo biopsy specimens from two patients has been cleared to fully resume all treatments after implementing improvement measures. The Council on Human Reproductive Technology said on Monday that Heal Fertility in Central could resume all 17 treatment services covered by its licence from Tuesday, after members reviewed the findings of a follow-up inspection and confirmed the clinic had properly implemented the...South China Morning Post
BusinessOct 5Mainland Chinese arrivals to Hong Kong surged at start of ‘golden week’ holidayMainland Chinese arrivals to Hong Kong surged at the start of the National Day “golden week” holiday before easing towards last year’s levels, with a lawmaker attributing the early rush partly to the city’s fireworks display and tourists making the most of a shorter break. Immigration Department figures showed that 277,304 mainland visitors arrived on October 1, up 19.1 per cent from 232,751 on the first day of last year’s holiday and 25.1 per cent from the 221,644 recorded in 2024. “The...South China Morning Post
BusinessOct 5Adrian Cheng, former scion of Hong Kong’s NWD, expands K11 brand in XiamenAdrian Cheng Chi-kong, former heir apparent to Hong Kong’s New World Development (NWD), is expanding his K11 cultural retail business in mainland China, launching a venture of his own as his family’s property group grapples with heavy debt. Xiamen K11 Select, developed by Cheng’s K11 by AC Group along with state-owned Xiamen Rail Transit Group in the city in the southeastern province of Fujian, has attracted more than 2 million visits since its opening on September 22, with sales rising 32 per...South China Morning Post
PoliticsOct 5Hong Kong lawmakers say 5-year tax incentive too short to entice major innovative firmsHong Kong lawmakers have backed the government’s proposed tax incentives for large innovative companies, but many said on Monday that the planned five-year concession period is too short to attract major firms to establish headquarters or expand operations in the city. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu in his policy address last month said the government planned to submit a bill introducing preferential profits tax rates of either 5 per cent or 8.25 per cent, which was half of the city’s standard...South China Morning Post
BusinessOct 58 more firms from Belt and Road Initiative countries apply for IPOs in Hong KongEight more companies from countries belonging to Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative have applied to list in Hong Kong, the city’s trade promotion chief has revealed. Frederick Ma Si-hang, chairman of the Trade Development Council, also said on Monday the city’s economy would benefit from improving China-US ties. Speaking on the sidelines of the Global Youth Powerhouse Summit, Ma said interest in Hong Kong’s capital markets from Central Asia had surged after a high-level delegation led by Chief...South China Morning Post