FSTB and Shenzhen Municipal Financial Regulatory Bureau jointly promulgate Action Plan for Jointly Building Hong Kong-Shenzhen Global Fintech Hub (2025-2027)

The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) and the Shenzhen Municipal Financial Regulatory Bureau jointly promulgated the Action Plan for Jointly Building Hong Kong-Shenzhen Global Fintech Hub (2025-2027) on 19 November 2025, with a view to fully leveraging the strengths of Shenzhen and Hong Kong in fintech, and working together to establish a global fintech centre.

The full text of the Action Plan for Jointly Building Hong Kong-Shenzhen Global Fintech Hub (2025-2027) (Chinese version only) is set out at Annex.

For relevant press release, please visit https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202511/19/P2025111900306.htm.

Government launches Pilot Manufacturing and Production Line Upgrade Support Scheme and enhances existing New Industrialisation Acceleration Scheme

The Innovation and Technology Commission (ITC) launched on 18 Novemeber 2025 the Pilot Manufacturing and Production Line Upgrade Support Scheme (Manufacturing+) under the New Industrialisation Support Scheme of the Innovation and Technology Fund (ITF) and enhanced the existing New Industrialisation Acceleration Scheme (NIAS) to further drive the development of new industrialisation in Hong Kong.

"By launching Manufacturing+ and enhancing the existing NIAS, the Government aims to promote new industrialisation and foster diversified economic development. Announced in this year's Budget, Manufacturing+ seeks to encourage local manufacturing enterprises, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises with no prior experience in smart production investment, to adopt smart production technologies and upgrade their production lines, thereby driving the development of new quality productive forces. As well, the Chief Executive announced in this year's Policy Address that the application threshold for the NIAS will be relaxed and funding would be provided on a matching basis for enterprises to employ relevant technical personnel. This will help attract more enterprises engaging in strategic industries to set up new smart production facilities in Hong Kong, driving high value-added advanced manufacturing," a spokesman for the Commission said.

The spokesperson continued, "The Government will proactively leverage innovation and technology to drive high value‑added manufacturing, promote new industrialisation, and remain committed to providing timely and appropriate support to relevant enterprises."

Under Manufacturing+, the Government will provide funding of up to $250,000 per eligible enterprise on a 1 (Government): 2 (enterprise) matching basis to enterprises operating production lines in Hong Kong to assist them to formulate smart production strategies and introduce advanced technologies into existing production lines. The funding scope covers relevant consultancy fees, costs for purchasing equipment and integrating smart technologies into existing production lines, as well as training and development expenses. To ensure effective use of resources, Manufacturing+ will be overseen by the Committee on Technology Adoption and Production Line Upgrade, with the Hong Kong Productivity Council serving as its Secretariat.

In addition, the application threshold for the NIAS will also be relaxed, with the minimum total project cost lowered from $300 million to $150 million. Enterprises shall contribute no less than $100 million while the matching ratio of 1 (Government) to 2 (enterprise) remains unchanged. Moreover, the ITC will also provide funding on a 1 (Government) to 1 (enterprise) basis for companies approved under the NIAS to employ up to 10 technical personnel required for setting up or operating smart production facilities.

Manufacturing+ and the NIAS accept applications year-round. Details are available on the Innovation and Technology Fund website (www.itf.gov.hk). For enquiries, please contact the Secretariat of the schemes (Tel: 3543 5904; email: enquiry@itf.gov.hk).
 
For relevant press release, please visit https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202511/18/P2025111700438.htm.

Home and Youth Affairs Bureau launches new round of HYAB Funding Scheme for Youth Exchange in the Mainland (deadline: 29 December 2025)

The Home and Youth Affairs Bureau (HYAB) and Youth Development Commission (YDC) jointly launched the 2026-27 (first round) HYAB Funding Scheme for Youth Exchange in the Mainland on 17 November 2025. Eligible non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are invited to submit applications.

The Government attaches great importance to youth development. The HYAB promulgated the Youth Development Blueprint at end-2022; it states that the Government will further strengthen the breadth and depth of Mainland and international internship and exchange programmes with a view to enhancing young people's understanding of the country and supporting their integration into the country's overall development. Through the HYAB Funding Scheme for Youth Exchange in the Mainland, the HYAB and the YDC provide funding for NGOs to organise youth exchange projects on the Mainland for Hong Kong young people to enhance their awareness and understanding of the country's development, foster exchanges with Mainland people and strengthen their sense of national identity. The Pilot Scheme on Subsidy to Grassroots Youth for Participating in Exchange Activities Outside Hong Kong that launched earlier will also continue to provide additional subsidies to grassroots youth with financial needs to participate in exchange projects under the 2026-27 funding scheme.
      
The 2026-27 funding scheme accepts two rounds of applications. Details of the first round are available on the YDC website (www.ydc.gov.hk/en/programmes/ep/ep_fundingscheme.html). Interested NGOs should submit their applications via the e-application system on or before 29 December. The second round of applications will be launched in mid-2026.
 
For relevant press release, please visit https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202511/17/P2025111700232.htm.

New polling arrangements for 2025 Legislative Council General Election

The Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC) will introduce new polling arrangements for the 2025 Legislative Council General Election (LCGE), with a view to facilitating electors in casting their votes and addressing the actual needs of electors.

The Chairman of the EAC, Mr Justice David Lok, introduced the new polling arrangements at a press conference on 14 November 2025. He said that the EAC would continue to enhance various electoral arrangements with the spirit of seeking progress while ensuring stability, with a view to further enhancing election efficiency and providing convenience to different stakeholders. 

Mr Justice Lok said, "In recent years, we have heard views from different sectors of the community, including the Legislative Council, that electors who have to work on the polling day, due to their job nature, working hours and duty arrangements, etc, may not have sufficient time to, before or after work, or during meal breaks, travel to and from their allocated polling stations to cast their votes. These electors are therefore not able to exercise their right to vote."
 
"In response, the EAC will introduce several Designated Polling Stations as pilot arrangements in this LCGE for the electors with specific needs."

Designated Polling Stations

Under the pilot arrangements, there are three categories of Designated Polling Stations:

• Civil Servant Designated Polling Station (CSDPS)
  The Registration and Electoral Office (REO) will set up a total of 10 CSDPSs. This is to facilitate civil servants in disciplined services and those who will have to be on duty near the CSDPSs, so that they can return to their duties as soon as possible after voting.  
   
• Hospital Authority Healthcare Staff Designated Polling Station (HAHSDPS)
  The REO will set up a total of seven HAHSDPSs near the seven largest‑scale hospitals. This is to facilitate healthcare staff who will be on duty at the relevant hospitals on the polling day to cast their votes.
   
• Ethnic Minorities Designated Polling Station (EMDPS)
  The REO will set up two EMDPSs in the proximity of Wan Chai Khalsa Diwan Sikh Temple and Kowloon Masjid respectively to facilitate the ethnic minority electors who will attend religious activities at these two venues on the polling day to cast their votes.

Outreach Polling Station for Residential Care Homes
 
In addition, to facilitate residents in residential care homes for the elderly (RCHEs) and residential care homes for persons with disabilities (RCHDs) to cast their votes of their own will in a familiar, safe and reassuring environment, the REO will set up Outreach Polling Stations for Residential Care Homes at premises where the residential care homes are situated. As a pilot arrangement, the REO will provide the relevant services to 11 RCHEs and four RCHDs, and will also make available the services to the staff of the said residential care homes to facilitate them to return to work after casting their votes.

The arrangements of the abovementioned Designated Polling Stations and Outreach Polling Stations are the same as those of the Ordinary Polling Stations. To ensure impartiality, candidates and their appointed polling agents can apply to observe the polling process at the relevant polling stations on the polling day.

Near Boundary Polling Stations (NBPSs)
 
Moreover, in view of the successful experience of the 2023 District Council Ordinary Election, apart from setting up NBPSs in Sheung Shui, the REO will also set up NBPSs at the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Passenger Clearance Building and Hong Kong International Airport respectively in this election, so that electors who will travel to and from the Mainland and overseas, and those on duty at the two places on the polling day can cast their votes conveniently.
 
Registration
 
Electors who wish to cast their votes at the NBPSs must register in advance to have their polling stations changed from the originally allocated polling station to the relevant NBPS. Registration details will be uploaded to the dedicated election website later.

The pilot arrangements of the newly introduced Designated Polling Stations and Outreach Polling Stations are only applicable to specific groups of electors. The REO will liaise with the relevant bureaux, departments and groups for the related registration arrangements.
 
Mr Justice Lok said, "As a new pilot arrangement, the EAC and the REO will ensure that all preparatory work will be proceeded smoothly and the relevant electoral arrangements can be conducted in an open, fair, honest as well as safe and orderly manner, and the polling arrangements will become even more user‑friendly. The EAC will conduct a review after the election on all electoral arrangements, including the newly introduced measures for this election. Findings and recommendations of the relevant review will be incorporated in the election report."
 
Polling Hours
 
Mr Justice Lok also announced at the press conference the arrangement of extending the polling hours. He said, "We have also received views recently calling for an adjustment of the polling hours, so as to cater for electors who may not be able to cast their votes during the existing 14-hour voting period due to reasons such as work or duty arrangements, or personal or family matters, or northbound travel plans on the day."

"After due consideration, we will extend the polling hours by starting an hour earlier at 7.30am and ending one hour later at 11.30pm, adding up to a total of 16 hours."

The previous polling hours (i.e. from 8.30am to 10.30pm) stated in the poll cards and relevant information prepared by the REO for sending out to all Hong Kong electors have been amended.  In light of the new polling hours, the REO will send another notice to all Hong Kong electors stating the new polling hours (i.e. from 7.30am to 11.30pm).

"The Government attaches great importance to this LCGE. I thank the EAC and the REO in rolling out a series of new pilot arrangements, with a view to making the election more efficient, user‑friendly, and meeting the needs of the public", the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Erick Tsang Kwok-wai, said at the press conference.
 
EAC members Professor Daniel Shek and Mr Bernard Man, SC, and the Chief Electoral Officer of the REO, Ms Natalie Chan, also attended the press conference on 14 November.
 
Lastly, Mr Justice Lok again appealed to all electors to exercise their civic responsibilities and actively cast their votes on 7 December to create a better future for Hong Kong together.
 
The names and addresses of all polling stations of the 2025 LCGE were published in the Gazette.
 
For relevant press release, please visit https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202511/14/P2025111400965.htm.

Amended imports and exports classification list to take effect in 2026

The Customs and Excise Department reminded importers and exporters on 14 November 2025 that import or export declarations for shipments on or after 1 January 2026, must be completed in accordance with the amendments made to the Hong Kong Imports and Exports Classification List (Harmonized System).
      
The amendments, published in the Gazette on 14 November, will take effect from 1 January 2026.
      
The amendments involve three commodity items, namely chemical products, telephone sets and fishing rods.
      
These amendments will bring the classifications more in line with the latest circumstances through the adoption of more appropriate commodity sub-classifications and descriptions.
      
Importers and exporters can obtain the amended list in the following ways:

(1) by downloading the list from the website of the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) at www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/page_1364.html; or

(2) by calling the Import/Export Declaration and Cargo Manifest Enquiry Hotline of the C&SD at 2877 1818.       

For enquiries about trade classifications, please contact the Trade Classification Section of the C&SD (E-mail: trade-declaration@censtatd.gov.hk).
 
For relevant press release, please visit https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202511/14/P2025111400448.htm.

Innovation and Technology Industry-Oriented Fund invites applications for fund managers (deadline: 16 January 2026)

The ITC announced on 13 November 2025 that applications for fund managers of the Innovation and Technology Industry-Oriented Fund (ITIF) are now open. The deadline for applications is 16 January 2026.

"To dovetail with the national strategy of developing 'patient capital' and further promote the effective collaboration among the Government, industry, academia, research and investment sectors, the Government has set up the ITIF to give play to the guiding and leveraging roles of government funding to channel more social capital to invest in innovation and technology (I&T) industries and support the development of emerging and future industries of strategic importance," a spokesman for the ITC said.

With a funding allocation of $10 billion approved by the Legislative Council, the ITIF will invest in five thematic areas, namely (a) life and health technology, (b) artificial intelligence and robotics, (c) semi-conductors and smart devices, (d) digitalisation, upgrading and transformation, and (e) future and sustainable development. In order to guide market capital participation, the Government will play the role of "setting the stage", in a bid to attract more strategic investors. Each of the strategic investors shall commit no less than $3 billion, as limited partners (LPs), to invest alongside the Government into sub-funds under the various thematic areas. The Government will select eligible professional fund managers to set up the sub-funds. In addition to the contributions from the Government and strategic investors, the fund managers should also bring in other market investors to participate as LPs to make a contribution to the sub-funds. The capital commitment from the Government is capped at $1 billion to each sub-fund and will not exceed 25 per cent of the fund size of each sub-fund. The overall target size of the sub-funds is at least $40 billion.

Each of the selected fund managers shall act as a general partner of the sub-funds and is responsible for setting up a limited partnership fund in Hong Kong, with a minimum fund size of $2 billion (including the contribution of the Government), raising non-government capital for the sub-fund, managing the day-to-day operations of the sub-fund, identifying investment targets according to the investment mandate, providing support to the investee companies and producing regular reports. The assessment criteria for fund managers include the applicant's background, management team's resources, investment strategy and processes, investment performance, company resources, experience and contributions, fundraising capabilities as well as fees, and would seek the advice from the Steering Committee.

Furthermore, the Government welcomes more strategic investors to participate in the ITIF, jointly promoting the development of I&T industries in Hong Kong.

Details of the application are available on the ITIF website (www.itf.gov.hk/en/funding-programmes/promoting-new-industrialisation/itif/index.html). For enquiries, please contact the ITIF Secretariat (Tel: 3863 0956; email: itif-enquiry@itc.gov.hk). For enquiries on becoming strategic investors, please contact the New Industrialisation Development Office (email: enquiry@itib.gov.hk) of the Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau. 
 
For relevant press release, please visit https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202511/13/P2025111300624.htm.
 

Support Measures relating to Liquidity

Dedicated Fund on Branding, Upgrading and Domestic Sales (BUD Fund)

To support enterprises to develop the markets of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) through electronic commerce (e-commerce) business, the geographical coverage of “E-commerce Easy” was expanded to the 10 ASEAN countries on 14 March 2025.

The HKPC as the BUD Fund implementation partner regularly organises seminars/webinars in order to enhance enterprises’ understanding of the BUD Fund, including “Easy BUD” and “E-commerce Easy”. For more details of the BUD Fund, please visit its website (www.bud.hkpc.org/en) or contact the HKPC at 2788 6088.

Upcoming event for November 2025 is as follows:

 
You are welcomed to join the seminar.
 

【Deception Is Illegal  Apply for Funding Truthfully】

We have recently referred suspected fraud cases under the SME Export Marketing Fund (EMF) to the Police and arrests have been made.

The TID reviews all applications to ensure strict compliance with the Guide to Application and the relevant procedures in order to ensure proper use of public money. Any suspected provision of false information will be followed up on accordingly. It is the responsibility of an applicant enterprise to complete an Application Form timely and truthfully and to provide all genuine supporting documents. The TID will take administrative measures as deemed appropriate on party(ies) to an application for any malpractice unearthed in the application process. Serious cases will be referred to the law enforcement agencies for further action.

It is an offence in law to obtain property/pecuniary advantage by deception or assisting persons to obtain property/pecuniary advantage. Any person who does so may be liable to legal proceedings. Applicant enterprises are urged not to violate the law. 

Enquiry
Tel: 2398 5127
Email: emf_enquiry@tid.gov.hk
Website: https://emf.tid.gov.hk