LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 6045

OFFICIAL RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS

Thursday, 13 May 2021

The Council continued to meet at Nine o'clock

MEMBERS PRESENT:

THE PRESIDENT THE HONOURABLE ANDREW LEUNG KWAN-YUEN, G.B.M., G.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE ABRAHAM SHEK LAI-HIM, G.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE TOMMY CHEUNG YU-YAN, G.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE JEFFREY LAM KIN-FUNG, G.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE WONG TING-KWONG, G.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE STARRY LEE WAI-KING, S.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE CHAN HAK-KAN, B.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE CHAN KIN-POR, G.B.S., J.P.

DR THE HONOURABLE PRISCILLA LEUNG MEI-FUN, S.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE MRS REGINA IP LAU SUK-YEE, G.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE PAUL TSE WAI-CHUN, J.P.

THE HONOURABLE STEVEN HO CHUN-YIN, B.B.S.

THE HONOURABLE FRANKIE YICK CHI-MING, S.B.S., J.P.

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THE HONOURABLE YIU SI-WING, B.B.S.

THE HONOURABLE MA FUNG-KWOK, G.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE CHAN HAN-PAN, B.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE LEUNG CHE-CHEUNG, S.B.S., M.H., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE ALICE MAK MEI-KUEN, B.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE KWOK WAI-KEUNG, J.P.

THE HONOURABLE CHRISTOPHER CHEUNG WAH-FUNG, S.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE ELIZABETH QUAT, B.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE MARTIN LIAO CHEUNG-KONG, G.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE POON SIU-PING, B.B.S., M.H.

DR THE HONOURABLE CHIANG LAI-WAN, S.B.S., J.P.

IR DR THE HONOURABLE LO WAI-KWOK, S.B.S., M.H., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE CHUNG KWOK-PAN

THE HONOURABLE JIMMY NG WING-KA, B.B.S., J.P.

DR THE HONOURABLE JUNIUS HO KWAN-YIU, J.P.

THE HONOURABLE HOLDEN CHOW HO-DING

THE HONOURABLE SHIU KA-FAI, J.P.

THE HONOURABLE WILSON OR CHONG-SHING, M.H.

THE HONOURABLE YUNG HOI-YAN, J.P.

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DR THE HONOURABLE PIERRE CHAN

THE HONOURABLE CHAN CHUN-YING, J.P.

THE HONOURABLE CHEUNG KWOK-KWAN, J.P.

THE HONOURABLE LUK CHUNG-HUNG, J.P.

THE HONOURABLE LAU KWOK-FAN, M.H.

THE HONOURABLE KENNETH LAU IP-KEUNG, B.B.S., M.H., J.P.

DR THE HONOURABLE CHENG CHUNG-TAI

THE HONOURABLE VINCENT CHENG WING-SHUN, M.H., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE TONY TSE WAI-CHUEN, B.B.S., J.P.

MEMBERS ABSENT:

THE HONOURABLE WONG KWOK-KIN, S.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE MICHAEL TIEN PUK-SUN, B.B.S., J.P.

PUBLIC OFFICERS ATTENDING:

DR THE HONOURABLE LAW CHI-KWONG, G.B.S., J.P. SECRETARY FOR LABOUR AND WELFARE

THE HONOURABLE MICHAEL WONG WAI-LUN, J.P. SECRETARY FOR DEVELOPMENT

THE HONOURABLE CASPAR TSUI YING-WAI, J.P. SECRETARY FOR HOME AFFAIRS

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MR TSE CHIN-WAN, B.B.S., J.P. UNDER SECRETARY FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

DR DAVID CHUNG WAI-KEUNG, J.P. UNDER SECRETARY FOR INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY

DR CHOI YUK-LIN, J.P. UNDER SECRETARY FOR EDUCATION

DR RAYMOND SO WAI-MAN, B.B.S., J.P. UNDER SECRETARY FOR TRANSPORT AND HOUSING

CLERKS IN ATTENDANCE:

MS MIRANDA HON, ASSISTANT SECRETARY GENERAL

MR MATTHEW LOO, ASSISTANT SECRETARY GENERAL

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GOVERNMENT MOTION

PRESIDENT (in ): Government motion. Proposed resolution under the Buildings Ordinance.

Members who wish to speak please press the "Request to speak" button.

I now call upon the Secretary for Development to speak and move the motion.

PROPOSED RESOLUTION UNDER THE BUILDINGS ORDINANCE

SECRETARY FOR DEVELOPMENT (in Cantonese): President, I move that the motion, as printed on the Agenda, be passed.

The purpose of this resolution is to amend Schedule 8 to the Buildings Ordinance ("the Ordinance") in order to allow a greater number of minor amenity features in that amended Schedule, though they legally remain as unauthorized under the Ordinance, to continue to be used under the "risk-based" principle through an appropriate mechanism.

The prevailing Minor Works Control System ("MWCS") originates from the Building (Minor Works) Regulation which came into operation on 31 December 2010. It provides an effective way for building owners to carry out small-scale building works in a lawful, simple, safe and convenient way, without the need to obtain prior approval of plans and consent from the Building Authority.

Furthermore, under MWCS, certain minor amenity features that are erected in violation of the Ordinance before the commencement of the Building (Minor Works) Regulation on 31 December 2010, but which meet relevant requirements, could also enjoy a validation scheme. The scheme allows the continued use of these features after safety inspection, strengthening and certification of their safety by prescribed building professionals or prescribed registered contractors.

In short, the validation scheme allows the continued use of such technically unauthorized but lower risk features to meet the genuine needs of building occupants and minimize the burden of owners or occupants.

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On 1 September 2020, the Building (Minor Works) Regulation was amended to extend the coverage of MWCS. The amendments proposed by the Government seek to extend the above mentioned validation scheme to cover an additional 11 types of amenity features. Besides, such amenity features, if erected before 1 September 2020, i.e. the commencement date of the amended Building (Minor Works) Regulation, would likewise be tolerated.

Lastly, upon passage of the current resolution, a separate amendment regulation would be tabled to the Legislative Council to amend Schedule 3 to the Building (Minor Works) Regulation to prescribe the 11 types of amenity features.

With these remarks, President, I urge Members to support this motion.

The Secretary for Development moved the following motion:

"RESOLVED that―

(a) the Buildings Ordinance (Cap. 123) be amended as set out in the Schedule; and

(b) this Resolution is to come into operation on a day to be appointed by the Secretary for Development by notice published in the Gazette.

Schedule

Amendment to Buildings Ordinance

1. Schedule 8 substituted Schedule 8― Repeal the Schedule Substitute "Schedule 8

[ss. 2(3), 38(l)(ke)(ic) & 39C(6)(b)(ii)]

Prescribed Building or Building Works

Item Description

1. Signboard of a prescribed type. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 6051

2. Supporting structure for a building services installation, or metal casing for such an installation, of a prescribed type.

3. Supporting structure for a radio base station of a prescribed type.

4. Supporting frame for an air-conditioning unit, or for a light fitting, of a prescribed type.

5. Solid fence wall of a prescribed type.

6. Mesh fence or metal railing of a prescribed type.

7. Pole of a prescribed type.

8. Metal gate of a prescribed type.

9. Canopy of a prescribed type.

10. Retractable awning of a prescribed type.

11. Trellis of a prescribed type.

12. Metal ventilation duct or any associated supporting frame of a prescribed type.

Note on interpretation:

1. In items 1 to 12― prescribed (訂明) means prescribed in a regulation made under section 38(l)(ke)(ic)."."

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): I now propose the question to you and that is: That the motion moved by the Secretary for Development be passed.

Mr CHAN Han-pan, please speak.

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MR CHAN HAN-PAN (in Cantonese): President, in my capacity as the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Proposed Resolution under section 2(3) of the Buildings Ordinance (Cap. 123), I report to the Legislative Council on the salient points of the work of the Subcommittee.

The proposed resolution seeks to amend Schedule 8 to the Buildings Ordinance to designate an additional 11 types of existing unauthorized minor amenity features as prescribed building or building works so that such lower risk features can be retained for continued use under the validation scheme provided in the Minor Works Control System ("MWCS") to meet the genuine needs of building occupants.

The Subcommittee has held one meeting with the Administration to scrutinize the proposed resolution, discussing issues such as the coverage of the validation scheme, approvals required for carrying out the proposed prescribed building or building works and the regulation of unauthorized extensions of squatter structures. The Subcommittee has also invited written views from the public.

Members agree that the Administration's proposals can meet the genuine needs of building occupants, and note that the occupants can carry out the building works relating to the said 11 types of minor amenity features pursuant to the simplified requirements under the Building (Minor Works) (Amendment) Regulation 2020. Some members have suggested that the Administration should consider allowing certain unauthorized features commonly used in buildings but not yet covered in the validation scheme (e.g. water tanks) be retained for continued use after undergoing inspection and necessary strengthening by a prescribed building professional or registered contractor to avoid wastage. The Administration has indicated that it will adopt a risk-based approach to review the validation scheme from time to time to see if more minor amenity features can be included under the scheme.

Some members have suggested that the Administration should consider introducing a squatter control mechanism similar to MWCS to deal with the unauthorized extensions of squatter structures, and rationalizing the squatter control policy. The Administration has undertaken to relay members' views to the for consideration.

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The Subcommittee supports this proposed resolution and will not propose any amendments. I so report.

Meanwhile, I would like to take this opportunity to convey my two requests to the Administration. Firstly, I consider it desirable for this legislative amendment exercise on minor amenity features to allow certain minor building works which may otherwise be deemed as unauthorized to be retained after registration and strengthening works. However, will the Administration establish a mechanism, or consider public or professional suggestions, to specify the legislative amendment intervals (e.g. five-, four- or three-yearly intervals) so as to add new types of minor building works for legal use? This is a good practice and I hope that the Administration will give thought to it.

My second request concerns the issue of squatters. In the case of squatters, an unauthorized extension of negligible size is sufficient to cause law enforcement actions and demolition. This policy makes an interesting contrast with the present arrangement for minor amenity features. Although both minor amenity features and squatters fall under the purview of the Development Bureau, the former, even if unauthorized, can be retained whereas the latter will be demolished even if the relevant unauthorized extension is of negligible size. I urge the Administration to rationalize this situation by addressing the issue of squatters in particular. Mr Steven HO will soon move a motion on this issue, and I believe we can discuss it again then. This is an imminent problem that warrants the attention of the authorities.

President, I so submit.

MR TONY TSE (in Cantonese): President, the problem of unauthorized building works ("UBWs") remains daunting in Kong. Of course, the best way to solve this problem at root is that everyone abides by the law and does not erect UBWs, and consults the relevant government departments or professionals in case of doubts. In that case, the problem of UBWs will naturally be solved. In order to combat UBWs, the Government cannot simply step up its efforts on inspection, enforcement and imposing fines. It must also impose penalties with deterrent effect on owners who profiteer from UBWs to reduce their profit margin.

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Under the current legislation against UBWs, the enforcement actions are time-consuming and the penalties have low deterrent effect. Therefore, many unscrupulous owners of UBWs have no regard for public safety but care only about their own profits. Even if they were found to have UBWs during the inspection of the Buildings Department, they will employ the stalling tactic and will not remove their UBWs until the last minute. On the other hand, some owners may not know much about UBWs. They have simply constructed UBWs for the sake of convenience without considering the consequences.

The Buildings Department implemented a 10-year UBWs crackdown programme from 2001 to 2010, targeting particularly on the "actionable" UBWs posing imminent dangers. During that period, nearly 300 000 removal orders were issued and 400 000 UBWs were removed. The result was remarkable. Yet, UBWs are like the grass which can never be wiped out, but will grow again with the spring breeze.

At the end of 2010, the Minor Works Control System ("MWCS") was introduced under the Buildings Ordinance to enhance building safety and increase the user-friendliness of the building control regime to facilitate compliance. I consider it a sound measure. Under MWCS, the existing requirements to seek prior approval for building plans and consent from the Building Authority to carry out minor works which are smaller in scale and pose a lower level of risk will be dispensed with to save money and time for engaging an authorized person. Back then, 118 items of building works (e.g. building works related to the supporting frame for air-conditioners and drainage repair) were included under MWCS. Meanwhile, a validation scheme was established for minor features installed without prior approval and before the implementation of MWCS to be retained on the condition that they were confirmed safe after inspection by prescribed building professionals or registered contractors. No demolition order would be issued in this case.

The validation scheme may not be perfect. Yet, on the premise of safety, it can, first, meet the genuine needs of occupants; second, minimize the burden of owners or occupants in seeking rectification; and third, avoid wastage. I therefore support the validation scheme.

This proposed resolution proposes to extend the past practice by including under the validation scheme an additional 11 types of minor features (e.g. supporting structure for a radio base station, solid fence wall and mesh fence LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 6055 of a prescribed type) designated after the recent amendment of the Building (Minor Works) Regulation. In my view, this proposal is worth supporting on the premise of safety.

While remedial action like this may not be desirable, from a practical point of view, it is most important for the Government to ensure that the minor features in question will not pose risks to public safety. Yet, as I just said, it would be best for everyone to be law-abiding, stop constructing UBWs, consult professionals about the legality of suspected UBWs and ensure that such suspected UBWs will not undermine building safety to create a safe living environment.

President, I so submit.

MR WILSON OR (in Cantonese): President, DAB supports the proposed resolution under section 2(3) of the Buildings Ordinance ("the Ordinance") introduced by the Development Bureau. The main purpose of this resolution is to incorporate certain items of unauthorized building works ("UBWs") into the Minor Works Control System ("MWCS") initially provided in the Ordinance to meet the genuine needs of building occupants.

UBWs are nothing new to people, but upon further enquiries, we notice that the people do not have a deep understanding of UBWs. By definition, "any additions or alterations to buildings without the prior approval of the Buildings Department or not following the simplified procedures under MWCS are regarded as UBWs. In other words, signboards, canopies, flat roof structures, roof top structures, supporting frames for air-conditioners, lighting towers, and drainage misconnections in subdivided units (about which Members are very concerned recently) without prior approval are regarded as UBWs.

What is the actual situation? Some building occupants have constructed certain features, but since they are regarded as UBWs, the occupants will receive demolition orders from the Buildings Department requiring them to demolish the features. However, it does not necessarily mean the building structures of the features do not meet the legal requirements; the occupants will receive orders only because they have not submitted the applications. Since the features are not lawfully constructed, they have to be demolished. After demolition, the 6056 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 occupants may formally apply for constructing the same feature. This is not only very environmentally unfriendly, but also a waste of time and ineffective. Thus, the Government has introduced this resolution.

I think instead of spending lot of effort and money to demolish some minor features, a pragmatic approach is to allow them to exist for the time being. Apart from meeting the genuine needs of the building occupants, this approach can also greatly reduce the manpower costs of inspecting and following up demolition works by law enforcement officers, allowing the relevant departments to allocate resources for handling the more important tasks. The main concern is how to ensure the safety of buildings. I believe members of the public or builders of the features are responsible for handling and following up the matter. After this amendment exercise, the public can engage professionals, such as structural engineers or registered contractors, to validate if their minor household features comply with the safety requirements of the law, which is very important.

Thus, I think that it is an important initiative for the Government to remove the restrictions this time to allow property owners to conduct checks to assess or validate the safety of their building works, and promptly remove any potential risks of UBWs. It is good that property owners can conduct checks on their own initiative. It will not only allow the Government to use its resources properly, but also create more job opportunities for professionals. It is thus a triple-win approach. Therefore, I think the general direction of the proposal is correct and worthy of support.

President, I believe you know that incidents have occurred from time to time in which canopies or balconies collapsed, jeopardizing the safety of pedestrians and resulting in injuries and deaths in the more serious cases. President, even in the less serious cases, it would also send a chill down people's spine. If one is not careful enough and has neglected to check the conditions of the building, accidents can happen any time. However, to ensure the safety of buildings, we cannot rely on inspections by staff members of the Buildings Department alone. Frankly speaking, they cannot inspect all of the buildings; thus, I think it is more important for property owners to conduct checks on their own initiative.

President, I would hereby remind the Secretary to pay attention to two tasks after the legislation comes into effect. First, the Secretary should enhance publicity work. As the Secretary may be aware, there were always mistakes and LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 6057 omissions in the publicity work of the Government in the past. The Government had either turned a well-intentioned measure into a disservice or failed to grasp the opportunity to attract publicity. I hope that the Secretary will enhance the public's knowledge in this area.

Second, the Secretary should bear in mind that after the passage of the Bill, it is still necessary to monitor the safety of buildings on an ongoing basis, since public interests and public safety cannot be compromised at all. I hope that the Secretary will strengthen law enforcement and utilize the spare resources to take decisive law enforcement actions against UBWs, which will actually affect public safety and public interests so that the problems can be properly solved.

President, I reiterate that DAB and I support this motion. Thank you, President.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Does any other Member wish to speak?

(No Member indicated a wish to speak)

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): If not, I now call upon the Secretary for Development to reply. Then, the debate will come to a close.

SECRETARY FOR DEVELOPMENT (in Cantonese): President, I thank the Subcommittee formed on this resolution under the chairmanship of Mr CHAN Han-pan for its support of the resolution. I am also thankful to them for their valuable advice given during the deliberations as well as their selfless devotion of time and efforts.

President, a further increase in the number of types of minor amenity features which could be tolerated enables the public to benefit from a simple and feasible validation scheme, while at the same time takes into account the "risk-based" principle. It is a pragmatic and people-friendly arrangement. This point has been clearly indicated by Mr CHAN Han-pan, Mr Tony TSE and Mr Wilson OR who made his speech just now. The Government believes and hopes that the community can support this arrangement of ours.

6058 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021

Mr CHAN Han-pan has mentioned whether it is possible to include more features in the validation scheme. As mentioned earlier, our basic principle is still "risk-based". The Buildings Department will review the actual situation from time to time. If it is found that more features can be included, we will do so. Mr CHAN Han-pan has mentioned whether a timetable can be drawn up on the number of years between each validation. We will take that into further consideration.

As for squatter structures, I wish to point out clearly that under the current policy, we do not allow any illegal extension or expansion of surveyed squatter structures, because this practice, if allowed, is potentially open to abuse and may cause great harm. Therefore, the Lands Department must be very careful when handling the policy in this respect. However, in any case, we are still willing to consider carefully whether there is room for the proper handling of the squatter facilities.

Mr Wilson OR has mentioned the importance of publicity, with which I very much agree. Regarding the minor works validation scheme, a lot of information is currently available on the web page of the Buildings Department. Should there be any changes, they will properly communicate with and explain to the relevant professionals. We will step up our efforts in this respect. I also agree very much with Mr Wilson OR's earlier remark that the structural safety of buildings is very important. For this reason, when we notice that there are problems with the unauthorized building works in respect of building safety and even fire safety, not only the Buildings Department but also the Fire Services Department will definitely take law enforcement actions resolutely.

President, with these remarks, I sincerely implore Members to support this motion.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): I now put the question to you and that is: That the motion moved by the Secretary for Development be passed. Will those in favour please raise their hands?

(Members raised their hands)

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PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Those against please raise their hands.

(No hands raised)

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): I think the question is agreed by a majority of the Members present.

I declare the motion passed.

MEMBER'S MOTION ON SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Member's motion on subsidiary legislation.

Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance to extend the period for amending two items of subsidiary legislation made under the Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance, which were laid on the table of this Council on 28 April 2021.

I now call upon Dr CHIANG Lai-wan to move the motion.

PROPOSED RESOLUTION TO EXTEND THE PERIOD FOR AMENDING SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION (L.N. 52 AND L.N. 53 OF 2021)

DR CHIANG LAI-WAN (in Cantonese): President, I move that the motion, as printed on the Agenda, be passed.

Dr CHIANG Lai-wan moved the following motion:

"RESOLVED that in relation to the―

(a) Prevention and Control of Disease (Requirements and Directions) (Business and Premises) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulation 2021, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 52 of 2021; and

6060 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021

(b) Prevention and Control of Disease (Prohibition on Group Gathering) (Amendment) (No. 3) Regulation 2021, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 53 of 2021,

and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 28 April 2021, the period for amending subsidiary legislation referred to in section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1) be extended under section 34(4) of that Ordinance to the meeting of 16 June 2021."

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): I now propose the question to you and that is: That the motion moved by Dr CHIANG Lai-wan be passed.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): I now put the question to you as stated. Will those in favour please raise their hands?

(Members raised their hands)

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Those against please raise their hands.

(No hands raised)

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): I think the question is agreed by a majority of each of the two groups of Members present, that is, those returned by functional constituencies and those returned by geographical constituencies through direct elections.

I declare the motion passed.

MEMBERS' OTHER MOTIONS

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Member's motion with no legislative effect.

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Mr LAU Kwok-fan will move a motion on "Driving the development of North with port economy".

Mr YIU Si-wing will move an amendment to the motion.

This Council will proceed to a joint debate on the motion and the amendment.

Later, I will first call upon Mr LAU Kwok-fan to speak and move the motion. Then I will call upon Mr YIU Si-wing to speak, but he may not move the amendment at this stage.

The joint debate now begins. Members who wish to speak please press the "Request to speak" button.

I now call upon Mr LAU Kwok-fan to speak and move the motion.

MOTION ON "DRIVING THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW TERRITORIES NORTH WITH PORT ECONOMY"

MR LAU KWOK-FAN (in Cantonese): President, the title of my motion today is "Driving the development of New Territories North with port economy". Here, I would like to first clarify that the "New Territories North" that I refer to today is the entire northern New Territories. If in terms of administrative districts, it includes North District, District and Tuen Mun District. The coverage is wider than that of the New Territories North being studied by the Government, as the latter includes only and .

Taking into account the Boundary Control Point commissioned last year, we have a total of seven land boundary control points between Hong Kong and , including Shenzhen Bay in the west and in the east. All these control points are located in the northern part of the New Territories, close to the Shenzhen's "port economic belt" where the economy is the most developed and the economic growth momentum is the strongest. Yet, despite the close proximity to the "port economic belt", our northern New Territories remains barren and can hardly catch up with Shenzhen's development.

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Please look at the satellite pictures in my hands. In 1985, Shenzhen was in its early stage of development. Apart from slight developments in , Futian was full of farmland, same as our northern New Territories. In 2002, Futian began to develop after the establishment of a port and Lo Wu kept up with its impressive development. Yet, our northern New Territories was still full of farmland. When it came to 2010, Futian was quite developed, not to mention Lo Wu, but northern New Territories remained unchanged. Most recently in 2021, Futian and Lo Wu have become so prosperous that they are full of commercial, economic and technological activities. By contrast, our northern New Territories does not even have a fish pond. Apart from one single formed site in the Loop, there is nothing else but deserted farmland and fish ponds. In this 3D photo, the contrast between Futian/Lo Wu and the New Territories is even clearer. I showed these pictures because I want to illustrate how different the development is on the two sides of the river along the port belt. The so-called "Shenzhen's speed" means it has development every year and then major changes every five years, which is hard to catch up with. Conversely, from the photo just shown to Members, we can see that after 40 years, northern New Territories on this side of Hong Kong has basically "remained unchanged for 50 years".

Although the Government has already sought funding from the Finance Committee for the development of New Territories North to carry out a detailed planning and engineering study, this seemingly novel development can actually be traced back to the development of the Ping Che/Ta Kwu Ling New Development Area ("NDA") proposed before the return of sovereignty in the Territorial Development Strategy Review. The development of this NDA, though included in the development plans in 1998 and 2008, was subsequently shelved and was eventually included in "Hong Kong 2030+" again only until 2018. The Government has even put together old development plans in areas such as Ping Kong, , and , and repackaged them into the New Territories North development today. When Shenzhen, which is just a river away, keeps developing, Hong Kong keeps engaging in endless studies. What a waste of time.

My motion today is about driving the development of the northern New Territories with port economy. However, this development can indeed drive the economic development of the entire Hong Kong rather than merely the New Territories. That is because the northern New Territories will become the new core region of Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area ("GBA"). I have put forward many concrete suggestions in my motion, including infrastructure LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 6063 development and the building of transportation networks. For example, I have proposed that the Northern Link, which is a rail link, should be extended to Liantang and or even every single control point. I have also requested the Government to take the initiative to relocate its departments and organizations to New Territories North. Yet, all these are just hardware support. Most importantly, the Government should change its organizational structure and mindset, as well as show its determination.

President, administratively speaking, the development of new towns or NDAs in the New Territories is usually the work of the Civil Engineering and Development Department ("CEDD") and was the work of the Territory Development Department in the past. Presently, NDA development in New Territories North, i.e. North, North and , is all taken charge by CEDD. Therefore, in today's motion debate, I would like to highlight that there must be a new body to plan, manage and take forward the development of New Territories North. The reason is simple. The development of New Territories North is more than developing a new town, but also shoulders the responsibility of promoting the transformation of industries and the development of new industries. In addition, it also warrants close interaction with Shenzhen and other GBA cities. The new body is not only responsible for formulating industrial policies, but also needs to engage in exchanges and cooperation with the Mainland. Therefore, it is not something that CEDD can handle on its own.

In fact, to deal with major and strategically important development projects, it is a common practice for Hong Kong or overseas countries to set up designated task force comprised of professionals from all sectors to take up the transformation of an entire district. Marina Bay in Singapore and Canary Wharf in London are some of the overseas examples. Here in Hong Kong, we have also set up the Energizing Kowloon East Office and the Lantau Development Advisory Committee to follow up on the transformation of Kowloon East and the overall development of Lantau respectively. Given that northern New Territories is bigger than Kowloon East or Lantau in terms of area and population, the relevant designated task force may not necessarily be large in scale. However, it must gain the policy support of the senior government officials and is capable of overseeing and coordinating various Policy Bureaux. As the working target of the designated task force is to promote the transformation of New Territories North into a core development region of Hong Kong, its fundamental duties should include championing the strategic 6064 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 development plan and blueprint of the entire northern New Territories (including NDAs in New Territories North); coordinating the development of various NDAs in the northern New Territories and, when necessary, exploring and proposing strategic amendments to revise outline zoning plans, as well as facilitating projects which are conducive to the transformation of the district and providing one-stop consultation and coordination services.

President, in order to develop the northern New Territories into a new core development region of Hong Kong, not only hardware such as land and infrastructure is necessary, we also need an innovative mindset and complementary policies because the development involves the integration of the systems of Shenzhen and Hong Kong. The competitive edge of New Territories North is the presence of many ports linking Hong Kong with Shenzhen, and port areas are often the hub where talents and capital cluster. Unfortunately, the flows of talents and capital are sometimes hindered by the two systems between Hong Kong and Shenzhen. Talents and capital are precisely the keys to the industrial development (especially the innovation and technology development) of New Territories North.

Recently, the Central Authorities has issued the Implementation Plan for Comprehensive Pilot Reform in Shenzhen to Build the City into a Pilot Demonstration Zone for Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, in which policies such as "more autonomy shall be given to Shenzhen in the reform of key fields and sectors" and "more efforts shall be made to encourage cooperation between Shenzhen and Hong Kong at a higher level" are mentioned. Now that the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park in the Loop is the key cooperation project between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, the two governments may creatively explore how to facilitate the flows of talents and capital of the two places in the Loop. For instance, can Hong Kong allow eligible Mainland personnel (especially innovation and technology talents) to move in and out of the Loop through special access? Apart from hardware facilities, the Government should also plan early for its software facilities to facilitate exchanges of people and capital flows, so as to tie in with the development of New Territories North.

President, New Territories North is sitting exactly on the prime location between Hong Kong and Shenzhen under the development framework for GBA. It is not only an ideal place for in-depth cooperation between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, but also an area for population growth and source of land supply in LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 6065 future. I hope that the authorities can grasp the development opportunities in GBA and properly plan and develop this piece of valuable land, with a view to providing opportunities for the development of local industries and meeting people's housing and career aspirations.

President, I so submit. Thank you.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mr LAU Kwok-fan, please move your motion.

MR LAU KWOK-FAN (in Cantonese): President, I move that the motion, as printed on the Agenda, be passed.

Mr LAU Kwok-fan moved the following motion: (Translation)

"That there are seven land control points along the boundary between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, most of which are located in New Territories North; but at present, these control points in New Territories North merely serve as a cross-boundary transport infrastructure facility for residents commuting between the two places, and their surrounding areas have remained barren and undeveloped; the vast area of land in the northern New Territories can become a major source of land supply for Hong Kong in the future, offering a long-term solution to Hong Kong's problem of land shortage and serious supply-demand imbalance in lands for residential, economic and community uses; at the same time, with its advantageous location, New Territories North serves as a major hub for the convergence of people and goods flows between Hong Kong and Shenzhen and even the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, thus New Territories North possesses the potential to become a new core development region in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area; in this connection, this Council urges the authorities to:

(1) set up a dedicated organization to expedite the planning and development for New Territories North; by capitalizing on its geographical advantage accorded by its location at the convergence of the 'port economy belt' and 'Eastern Knowledge and Technology Corridor', develop New Territories North into a new core development region with the convergence of talents and capital 6066 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021

from Hong Kong and Shenzhen and the dominance of innovative technology and high-end education; and develop new towns radiating from such control points;

(2) conduct studies on the setting up of government departments, public organizations and higher education institutions in New Territories North or their relocation to the region, so as to inject economic impetus into new development areas in New Territories North and dovetail with industries' development;

(3) expedite the construction of the Northern Link and extend it to various control points, such as Heung Yuen Wai Boundary Control Point and Huanggang Port, and conduct studies on connecting Hong Kong's railways to ; and, at the same time, under the principle of according priority to building transport infrastructure, draw up planning for the construction of another north-south railway connecting new development areas in New Territories North to the urban centres of Hong Kong, so as to provide a prerequisite for development of New Territories North;

(4) while balancing conservation needs, through a fresh consolidation of green belt areas, agricultural lands and brownfield sites in northern New Territories and expediting the land rezoning and development processes, expeditiously proceed with land rezoning in port areas as a means to release lands for economic and residential uses, and the reprovisioning of agricultural and brownfield operations; and

(5) improve the existing rehousing and compensation policy to provide affected households with in-situ rehousing, and offer assistance to brownfield operators and fisheries and agricultural practitioners for resuming operation and production or upgrading and restructuring."

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): I now propose the question to you and that is: That the motion moved by Mr LAU Kwok-fan be passed.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 6067

MR YIU SI-WING (in Cantonese): President, I have added the proposal of developing tourism in Sha Tau Kok Town in my amendment. I hope that Members will support it.

Since 2012, the Government has opened closed areas such as Robin's Nest and Ta Kwu Ling in stages to develop ecotourism. However, for security reasons, and Sha Tau Kok Town are still classified as closed areas. In fact, the location of the area is rather unique; it has historical and educational significance and is suitable for developing boundary tourism and marine tourism.

Located along the boundary of Shenzhen and Hong Kong, Sha Tau Kok Town and Chung Ying Street on the Hong Kong side are not open up to the public and people find them very mysterious. Chung Ying Street is a street with very special features. As the boundary of Shenzhen and Hong Kong, it has no barrier walls or fences and is completely open with only the Stone Obelisk marking the boundary. To the north of Chung Ying Street is Shenzhen, and to its South is Hong Kong. The patrolling of boundary control officers of both Guangdong and Hong Kong on the same street is a classic scene of Chung Ying Street.

After its opening up and reform, the Mainland has granted limited access to Chung Ying Street which has hit a record high of receiving 100 000 visitors per day. The visitors mainly shopped in Chung Ying Street. With the development of the Mainland economy, Chung Ying Street has gradually lost its edge as a shopping destination. At present, there are only a few shops in operation. Due to low people flow, security is no longer a problem. As for tourism resources, San Lau Street which parallels to Chung Ying Street is made up of 22 shop-houses. It is currently the longest street with shop-houses in Hong Kong and has been classified as a Grade 2 historic building. Since their completion in 1934, these houses have not been altered and retained their original appearances. It is indeed a pity if the street area with such a high historical value is left unused.

On the periphery of Sha Tau Kok Town, there are plenty of world-class green tourism resources with many spots of geological interests, including Lai Chi Wo, Yan Chau Tong, and . These places attract many tour groups and hikers during festive seasons and the holidays. In recent years, Lai Chi Wo has been successfully revived as a tourist hotspot in Hong Kong. 6068 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021

However, travelling to these tourist spots is very inconvenient at present. We have to take a ferry trip of at least one and a half hours from Ma Liu Shui in the New Territories, but it is a lot closer if we start off from Sha Tau Kok. Since Sha Tau Kok has all along been designated as a closed area, members of the public must have sufficient grounds before applying for a closed area permit ("CAP"). Similarly, access to Chung Ying Street is granted only to residents of Sha Tau Kok. If other members of the public wish to enter Chung Ying Street, they must access via Shenzhen.

Although "kaito" ferry services to Kat O and Ap Chau are provided at the Sha Tau Kok Public Pier, they are available to holders of CAPs only. Currently, the authorities of Shenzhen and Hong Kong have adopted quite different approaches in developing Chung Ying Street. The Shenzhen authorities have designated Chung Ying Street as a patriotic tourist spot and established the Zhongying Street Historical Museum. They have also restored the Tin Hau Palace and the Ng Ancestral Hall in Chung Ying Street, thereby developing Chung Ying Street into valuable and educational tourism resource. On the contrary, the Hong Kong authorities have failed to make any planning and left the place unattended for a long time. As a result, the place looks very backward. The SAR Government has the responsibility to reflect on ways to turn the declining situation around.

President, people flow is the primary prerequisite for developing Sha Tau Kok. I suggest that in the early stage, CAPs can be granted with quotas. Members of the public and tour groups can apply for CAPs to obtain limited access to tour around Sha Tau Kok Town and travel to Kat O, Lai Chi Wo and the tourist spots in the periphery via the Sha Tau Kok Public Pier, thus creating a green tourism route. In the future, restrictions can be gradually relaxed in the light of visitor flows and demands. This will help revive the tourism resources and improve the economy of the area. Why would the Government decline to do so?

President, I so submit.

SECRETARY FOR DEVELOPMENT (in Cantonese): President, I thank Mr LAU Kwok-fan for moving the motion and Mr YIU Si-wing for proposing the amendment. From the perspective of the Government, great importance is attached to the potential for future development of the northern New Territories, LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 6069 particularly the land in the surrounding areas of the boundary control points. Next, in response to the proposals of the two Members, I will explain in gist the Government's future planning of the northern New Territories.

According to the territorial development strategy of "Hong Kong 2030+: Towards a Planning Vision and Strategy Transcending 2030" ("Hong Kong 2030+") released in 2016, the northern New Territories is another strategic growth area apart from the artificial islands in the Central Waters.

The New Territories North strategic growth area covers a development area of more than 1 400 hectares, including land in the surrounding areas of the control points of , , and Heung Yuen Wai, which has potential for high density development. Our planning concept is precisely to build new towns and ancillary infrastructure by means of comprehensive planning and utilizing land available in the area, including brownfield sites and agricultural lands to meet the long-term social and economic development needs of Hong Kong.

As far as the San Tin/Lok Ma Chau Development Node ("the Development Node") is concerned, the preliminary estimate is that it covers about 320 hectares. With San Tin Station of the Northern Link under planning, the area can be used for medium to high density development and is expected to provide about 31 000 residential units. As the public housing ratio is about 70%, the development can accommodate about 84 000 residents and provide about 64 000 job opportunities. To the north of the Development Node, there are about 50-odd hectares of land. We propose to designate it as an enterprise and technology park for enterprises to operate and for technology and innovation development. This will dovetail with the development of the nearby Innovation and Technology Park at the Lok Ma Chau Loop to create synergy.

In addition to the Development Node, the development of New Territories North also consists of two other components, namely, new town in New Territories North and the Man Kam To Logistics Corridor. These two components added up to give a total area of about 1 140 hectares. Our preliminary estimate is that it can accommodate no less than 200 000 residents and provide about 134 000 job opportunities. To tie in with the development trend of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, we will explore how to plan for development of new industries and new job opportunities in the region to enhance economic vitality in Hong Kong and create job opportunities 6070 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 for the region, so as to reduce excessive concentration of jobs in the urban areas. In order to save time, we have particularly reserved about 56 hectares of land in advance for the development of science parks or industrial estates in the surrounding areas of the Heung Yuen Wai Point in the new towns of New Territories North. The Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation will soon launch related engineering and technical feasibility studies.

President, in order to drive the development of New Territories North, the Government has commenced the procedures for making a funding application to the Legislative Council to undertake investigation and detailed works design for the Development Node, as well as commencing planning and engineering studies for the new towns of New Territories North and Man Kam To Logistics Corridor. We have already consulted the Panel on Development on the funding application the day before yesterday. I would like to express my sincere thanks to members for they have basically expressed a positive attitude towards the funding application at the meeting. We plan to consult the Public Works Subcommittee of the Legislative Council on the funding application in June. I hope that Members will continue to support the funding application. In fact, the support of Members is a huge driving force to us.

Mr YIU Si-wing asked whether the closed area of Sha Tau Kok can be opened up to develop boundary tourism. President, closed areas have been established to provide a buffer zone to assist law enforcement agencies in keeping the boundary between HKSAR and the Mainland intact and to combat illegal immigration, smuggling and other cross-boundary criminal activities. It has been the SAR Government's policy all along to limit the extent of closed areas to that required in maintaining public order. Thus, after balancing the security risks, the SAR Government has significantly reduced the land area of closed areas from about 2 800 hectares to about 400 hectares from 2008 to 2016. At present, the only covers the boundary patrol road of the Police and areas to its north, the boundary crossing facilities, Sha Tau Kok Town, and parts of Mai Po. The major considerations of the Government in keeping these places within the frontier closed area are the actual situation in the region and its security risks.

President, Mr LAU Kwok-fan also asked whether a dedicated organization or department can be set up to handle issues concerning the development of New Territories North. In fact, mechanisms have been put in place both within and outside the Government to drive the development. Under the current design, the LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 6071

Development Bureau is the spearhead. Other departments involved include the Planning Department and the Civil Engineering and Development Department. Since development of a lot of valuable sites will be involved, the Financial Secretary and the Chief Executive have personally expressed their concerns about the development. At present, we have no plans to create an additional supporting department to deal with the matter because the financial conditions in the future will be met with challenges. However, we are willing to explore more possibilities with Mr LAU Kwok-fan to further enhance the existing mechanisms for driving the development.

President, the development of the New Territories involves a variety of issues, including how to strike a balance between conservation of nature and development and how to provide adequate ancillary transport infrastructure. Different Policy Bureaux and departments have worked closely together to promote the development of New Territories North and other places effectively. Colleagues of the Transport and Housing Bureau, the Innovation and Technology Bureau and the Environment Bureau and I will listen carefully to Members' speeches and where appropriate, give appropriate responses and provide additional information later.

Thank you, President.

UNDER SECRETARY FOR TRANSPORT AND HOUSING (in Cantonese): President, I thank Mr LAU Kwok-fan for proposing the motion on "Driving the development of New Territories North with port economy". The current-term Government advocates the infrastructure-led, capacity creating planning approach in order to motivate development of land by provision of transport infrastructure. Subsequent to the Secretary for Development's opening remark, I will supplement a few points in respect of the Northern Link ("NOL") project, cross-boundary railway planning and the "Strategic Studies on Railways and Major Roads beyond 2030".

In December last year, the Government invited MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") to conduct the detailed planning and design of NOL. Considering the time required for the detailed planning and design of the project, the construction of NOL Phase 1 (i.e. Kwu Tung Station on the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line) is expected to commence in 2023 for completion in 2027 to support the first substantial population intake of the public housing in the Kwu Tung North New 6072 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021

Development Area, while the construction of NOL Phase 2 (i.e. the Main Line connecting with Kwu Tung Station) is expected to commence in 2025 for completion in 2034 to provide impetus for growth in the area covering San Tin, Ngau Tam Mei and Au Tau. The Government will continue to follow up with MTRCL to ensure that it will closely monitor the works progress, with a view to completing the project for providing services as soon as possible.

According to the recommendations of the Railway Development Strategy 2014, besides the major railway line between the Kam Sheung Road Station and the new station at Kwu Tung, a bifurcation may be added to the proposed NOL to directly connect the Kam Sheung Road Station and the existing , subject to the growth in the cross-boundary transport demand.

According to Shenzhen's redevelopment plan of the Huanggang Port, the redeveloped Huanggang Port will become a transport hub. If the bifurcation of NOL is linked up with the Huanggang Port via the Lok Ma Chau Loop, then it will strengthen the connectivity among downtown areas, cross-boundary control points and the Lok Ma Chau Loop. Besides, it will also provide another transport option for the public and visitors travelling to and from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area ("GBA"). We also note that the Shenzhen authorities has announced that the land adjacent to the redeveloped Huanggang Port will be reserved for facilities connecting the bifurcation of NOL, this will add flexibility to the planning and addition of the bifurcation of NOL.

Given that the improvement works of the Huanggang Port can fuel the demand for cross-boundary transport, we have requested MTRCL to study the feasibility and effectiveness of constructing the bifurcation of NOL, so as to allow the Government to consider the way forward on a timely basis.

As railway projects involve huge capital investment, the Government has to make prudent planning. We will study the need as well as the technical and financial feasibilities of constructing the bifurcation of NOL, and adjust the development timetable according to the detailed study, assessment on the latest demand and availability of resources.

Apart from the bifurcation of NOL, as the Chief Executive has said in her 2020 Policy Address, the SAR Government will improve the infrastructure of land boundary control points between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, which includes LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 6073 exploring with Shenzhen the enhancement of the Lo Wu control point in due course and studying the proposals on transport link. As for other land boundary control points between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, including those of Shenzhen Bay, Heung Yuen Wai, Man Kam To and Sha Tau Kok, they are currently connected via different road infrastructures with no space reserved for railway connection during planning. Except for the Heung Yuen Wai Control Point, which is currently use for cross-boundary cargo clearance only, members of the public may use different means of public transport to access other control points for crossing the boundary.

In fact, with the commissioning of the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link ("XRL"), the travelling time between Hong Kong and other GBA cities has been greatly shortened. The Government will explore with the relevant Mainland authorities different measures to enhance the XRL service, with a view to strengthening the connectivity between Hong Kong and other GBA cities. In the long run, the Government will closely monitor the long-term cross-boundary transport needs in view of the development of GBA, and explore the needs for and benefits of new cross-boundary infrastructure projects.

In order to ensure that the planning of large-scale transport infrastructure will complement or even reserve capacity to meet the overall long-term development needs of Hong Kong, the Government commenced the Strategic Studies on Railways and Major Roads beyond 2030 in December 2020. Based on the final development strategy of the "Hong Kong 2030+: Towards a Planning Vision and Strategy Transcending 2030" ("Hong Kong 2030+") planning study, the study will explore the future layout of Hong Kong's railway and major road infrastructure, and conduct preliminary engineering and technical assessments for their alignments and supporting facilities. Amongst the priorities of this study is how to enhance the connectivity between the New Territories North new development area advocated in Hong Kong 2030+ and the urban areas.

The study will also examine the impact of the proposed transport infrastructure on the existing transport network and formulate the corresponding strategies. Meanwhile, the study will also take into account the Planning Department's Cross-Boundary Transport Model And Forecasts and its proposed cross-boundary link projects, so as to examine the implications of such links on the transport system of Hong Kong. We anticipate that the study on railways and the study on major roads will take approximately 38 months and 27 months 6074 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 to complete respectively. The two studies will be carried out concurrently. When there are preliminary results of the studies, we will consult the Legislative Council in due course.

President, I so submit.

MR FRANKIE YICK (in Cantonese): President, faced with the problem of shortage of land for housing and industrial development, the Liberal Party supports the Government to expedite the development for New Territories North.

The Lok Ma Chau Control Point has been opened for more than 40 years, but the Government has all along only regarded it as an infrastructure for controlling cross-boundary flow of people and goods, and never considered developing the land in the surrounding areas with the concept of port economy. On the other hand, the which adjoins the Huanggang Port, has developed rapidly and now become a new central business district of Shenzhen. From the satellite pictures shown by Mr LAU Kwok-fan earlier on, it can be seen that Futian is prosperous and bustling whereas San Tin in Lok Ma Chau is remote and barren. Separated only by a river, there is a world of difference between the two places.

In order to enhance the benefits of port economy, the Shenzhen Municipal Government commenced a redevelopment project at the Huanggang Port in 2019 and planned to redevelop the port into one with co-location arrangement for visitors control only, i.e. the function of goods control would be cancelled and the land released would be developed into the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Co-operation Zone. However, Hong Kong has just begun to draw up further designs for the development of Lok Ma Chau and the gradual completion of which will at least take 8 to 10 years. Thus, the Government should review the current planning process of the new development area to identify any room for compression in order to speed up the progress, otherwise Hong Kong will only remain in a backward position.

With the commencement of the redevelopment project, the Shenzhen Municipal Government has also adjusted its cross-border freight arrangements. In order to implement the customs clearance pattern of "East in East out, West in West out", the governments of Hong Kong and Shenzhen have introduced 24-hour customs clearance at the Liantang/Heung Yuen Wai Port opened just last LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 6075 year and the Shenzhen Bay Port. The logistics industry welcomes this measure. In order to cope with the new customs clearance pattern, the Liberal Party hopes that the Government can draw up better plans for land use arrangement.

Affected by the works of the Hung Shui Kiu New Development Area, brownfield operators in the area are gradually moving out. The Government originally planned to build multi-storey buildings in Hung Shui Kiu to accommodate some of the affected brownfield operations, but it failed to effect a seamless transition. The Town Planning Board stated last year that applicants for the planned relocation could be given a conditional green light, but unfortunately, in less than a year, the lot originally proposed to be used as a warehouse relocation was rezoned for public housing development. Due to difficulties in finding land, some operators have chosen to close their business after obtaining ex gratia compensation from the Government. This will undoubtedly shrink back-up and logistics industries that support port operations and affect the long-term development of the shipping and logistics industry in Hong Kong.

According to the current planning, the Government will only reserve 8 hectares of land in San Tin/Lok Ma Chau of New Territories North for logistics use and the development of the Man Kam To Logistics Corridor. This is far from adequate in meeting the logistics industry's demand for land. Particularly, in view of the booming development of e-commerce, the demand for large automated warehouses is increasing. Since the Liantang/Heung Yuen Wai Port is an important "West in West out" cross-border cargo port, in order to enjoy the convenience of the port facilities and enhance the efficiency of cross-border freight, the industry hopes that the Government can reserve enough land near the port for logistics development. If it is feasible in planning, I suggest the Government to accord priority to the Hung Shui Kiu brownfield logistics operators currently affected by the land resumption to relocate to these sites to enable them to continue with their operations, so as to avoid disruptions to the businesses supporting the logistics industry and port operations.

Finally, let me remind the Government to uphold the principle of according priority to transport infrastructure development in developing New Territories North. The Liberal Party supports the Government's development of the Northern Link to dovetail with the development of New Territories North. However, Kwu Tung Station will not be completed until one year after the first batch of residents has moved in, which is indeed unsatisfactory. Thus, I hope 6076 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 that the Government and MTR Corporation Limited will explore speeding up the construction of the Northern Link. Regarding the development of Ping Che, Ta Kwu Ling, Hung Lung Hang, Queen's Hill, etc., as the is saturated and the Tolo Highway is often congested during peak hours, the Government must expeditiously make planning for new road networks and transportation infrastructure to cope with future development.

President, with these remarks, I support the motion on "Driving the development of New Territories North with port economy".

MR TONY TSE (in Cantonese): President, I thank Mr LAU Kwok-fan for proposing the motion on "Driving the development of New Territories North with port economy" at this meeting. In the first 100 years or so after the opening up of Hong Kong, local development mainly concentrated in the south, especially the two sides of Victoria Harbour. I guess it was mainly because Hong Kong had relied on seaport economy and thrived on sea trade. Also, as the British had forced to lease and cede different parts of Hong Kong by military means, they had to tightly secure the northern border between Hong Kong and the Mainland of China. Therefore, neither key economic facilities nor commercial activities were developed in the leased land of the New Territories.

Subsequently, as the population of Hong Kong continued to grow, little room was left on and in Kowloon for further development. The Government then began to develop new towns in the New Territories, but there were mainly residential units and factories. While some industries had relocated to the north, most of the economic activities and job opportunities still concentrated in southern Hong Kong. Many New Territories residents have to travel long way to work in the urban areas every day, creating increasingly serious problems of traffic congestion, pollution and high transport costs. As for the northern New Territories and the port areas, they were hard to develop because, just as the Secretary said, a lot of land there had been designated as frontier closed area to guard against smuggling and illegal entry.

However, after Hong Kong's economic restructuring following our return to the Motherland and China's rapid development after 40 years of reform and opening up, the gap between the Mainland and Hong Kong has been narrowed in terms of economic development and living standard. There are hence barely any LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 6077 illegal immigrants from the Mainland since then. Conversely, our reliance on Mainland's economy and tourists, as well as the significant increase in the number of Hong Kong residents travelling to and from the Mainland every day or every week via different ports before the epidemic, have prompted the SAR Government to build additional land boundary control points and cross-boundary transport infrastructure facility, reduce the land coverage of the frontier closed area and reconsider the development plan of Hong Kong in a holistic manner.

In response to the intensified suppression of China from the Western anti-Chinese forces, including the United States, China has established the development strategy featuring "dual circulation", which takes the domestic market as the mainstay. Hong Kong must speed up its development, shift the focus of development to its northern and western parts, and promote the port economy to better capitalize on the massive opportunities brought by the rapid development of Shenzhen, Zhuhai and the entire Greater Bay Area, with a view to injecting new impetus into and giving a new direction to Hong Kong's economic and social development.

Regarding the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Western Corridor, the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and the Liantang/Heung Yuen Wai Boundary Control Point which have been successively commissioned in recent years, as well as the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park in the Lok Ma Chau Loop, the co-location arrangement at the Huanggang Port, the Lantau Tomorrow Vision and the New Territories North new development area which are either under construction or planning, I believe all of them develop towards the same direction. However, same as many other remarkable development plans and policy initiatives, the speed of the Government was too slow. Development project to the north of Shenzhen River, which can be completed in three to five years, will probably take Hong Kong seven to eight years or even 10 to 20 years to complete. President, opportunities do not wait. Hong Kong will lag further behind if it does not hurry up to catch up with Mainland's development.

Moreover, the SAR Government should strengthen its communication and coordination with Shenzhen, the government of Guangdong Province and the relevant Central Government ministries, instead of simply focusing on its own concerns or the situation to the south of the Shenzhen River. It has to consider with the overall picture of the country in mind and support the planning and 6078 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 development of the Mainland. Of course, it will be most desirable for the mechanisms of the two places to tie in with each other and plan jointly for development. Hong Kong officials give people an impression that they do not know much about the proposed developments of the Mainland and could only learn them from news reports. If this is true, the Secretary must take action to expeditiously improve the situation.

President, as time is running out, I cannot respond to all the proposals in the original motion and Mr YIU Si-wing's amendment. In principle, I agree with all of them, especially those about speeding up the development of transport infrastructure in the North District and across the border and expediting the land rezoning and development processes. Yet, as regards the proposal of relocating government departments to the North District, I think it deserves careful consideration.

President, I so submit.

MR WONG TING-KWONG (in Cantonese): President, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong ("DAB") made proposals on the development of the border area years ago and published a study report titled "Options for and discussion on all-direction development of the Hong Kong-Shenzhen border area" in 2004. We subsequently proposed to make use of the construction of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge to develop a bridgehead economy. In 2007, we introduced "an all-year-round capital of international exhibitions and sales" and published a study report titled "Setting up a Commercial Centre in Lok Ma Chau South" in 2013, in which I had advocated the development of a shopping mall near the Lok Ma Chau border area. Since then, more concrete actions have been taken. To increase the level of concern for developing the economy of the border, I proposed a motion on "Promoting the economic development of Lok Ma Chau and Lantau Island" at the Legislative Council meeting on 8 January 2014, and the motion was passed.

Speaking of the efforts devoted to the construction of the Boxes in San Tin, the experience was not simple at all. To identify suitable site, we had conducted site inspection on the area of San Tin and Lok Ma Chau. What we saw was a huge piece of land with patches of muddy land, stone roads and many fish ponds in particular. There were some scattered cottages, trees and reeds scattering in LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 6079 the walled village, and several large electric cables stretching along the sky. Under the burning sun, there was nothing but only few birds flying above our heads. Not much infrastructure could be seen. At that time, I thought it was not easy to succeed. Luckily, as destiny would have it, a piece of 420 000-square metre land was leased from Henderson Land Development Company Limited and Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited at nominal rent for the construction of the Boxes. I still remember that the SAR Government responded positively and specially convened an inter-departmental meeting for that purpose. Apart from the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau as well as the Development Bureau, representatives from more than 10 government departments also attended the meeting to understand the relevant proposal and express views of the Government.

Despite the fact that the proposal was supported by the Government, it was not easy to make the relevant applications to various government departments. We had to attend to all sorts of things and have dealings with various departments. For instance, the period of the tenancy granted by the Lands Department for temporary land use was only three years at most, meaning that the tenancy had to be renewed every three years. As the application was time-consuming, we had to start going through the procedures six months in advance. Moreover, we had to deal with the application procedures in relation to environmental assessment, fire safety, water supply, electricity supply, sewage, transportation, etc. It was difficult to get through the relevant procedures as the requirements were very strict. It was not easy to satisfy all the conditions. I recall that when Typhoon Mangkhut hit Hong Kong that year, even a sapling blown down by the typhoon could become a barrier for approval. However, as time went by, we overcame the difficult problems one by one and I learned a lot in the course of it. Unfortunately, due to a change in policy, this atmosphere was lost in the community and the Boxes had failed to yield the most desirable results in the end.

I think it is necessary for Hong Kong to continue to develop port economy. Particularly, when the economy of the Mainland is expanding rapidly, Hong Kong should seize the opportunity of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area development to develop the economy of the border. We must strive for room for self-development and bring all our advantages into full play. Only in this way can we achieve a win-win situation and ensure the continuous development of Hong Kong.

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President, with these remarks, I support the original motion and the amendment.

MR CHAN CHUN-YING (in Cantonese): President, the Government has identified the region of New Territories North and North East New Territories, i.e. San Tin/Lok Ma Chau, Kwu Tung and Fanling North, for the development of the next large-scale new development area, which will become a key land planning project for Hong Kong. I am grateful to Mr LAU Kwok-fan and Mr YIU Si-wing for proposing the motion and the amendment respectively, thus giving us a chance to present to the Government our views on the development of the region. I support the original motion and the amendment.

While New Territories North is located on the periphery of Hong Kong's territory, it is also situated adjacent to the bustling and Futian District of Shenzhen. I expect the Government to broaden its perspective during the planning process and take a comprehensive account of all factors including the core business districts of Shenzhen, such as Luohu and Futian, so that New Territories North will be sufficiently attractive to draw talents, technologies and resources from Shenzhen and the Mainland cities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area ("GBA").

Let us take the example of the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park in the Lok Ma Chau Loop ("the Loop"). The Park will become the largest innovation and technology ("I&T") platform in Hong Kong. It covers a total gross floor area of 1.2 million sq m, with 67 buildings to be developed in two phases. Upon the completion of the whole project, 50 000 jobs will be created and its economic contribution can reach $50 billion per annum. Under the current plan, the first phase involves the development of the western part. The InnoCell in that part is expected to provide only about 100 residential units, which I believe fall far short of the accommodation demand of research and development ("R&D") personnel and their families.

In order to develop New Territories North into an R&D ecosystem for attracting R&D talent, the Government's plan must incorporate features to facilitate movement of people and accommodation, including relaxing the clearance restrictions within the region to accommodate the work pattern of the personnel from the two places, especially the living needs of R&D personnel. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 6081

This will enable them to engage in R&D with peace of mind and gladly develop their careers in Hong Kong, thereby achieving the objective of developing an I&T corridor.

Earlier on, the Research Director of the One Country Two Systems Research Institute expressed his views on the development of the New Territories during a media interview. He stressed that Hong Kong should capitalize on the opportunities brought by the 14th Five-Year Plan to establish its position as an international I&T hub. Upon the implementation of the co-location arrangement at the Huanggang Port in Shenzhen, the land released from the Lok Ma Chau border area should be incorporated into the existing Loop. Moreover, the Loop, the land to the south of Man Kam To Boundary Control Point and the land to the south of Liantang/Heung Yuen Wai Boundary Control Point should be linked up to form a "little Silicon Valley" in order to attract I&T giants such as and to relocate their R&D centres there, which will gradually become the heart of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao I&T hub. I consider these suggestions worthy of further study by the Government.

Besides, the Government should develop transport infrastructure in the region in parallel. In particular, a mass transit railway system is indispensable. The first resident intake of the San Tin/Lok Ma Chau project is expected to take place in 2032. Unfortunately, the proposed Northern Link and San Tin station will only be completed in 2034. Since two years is not a short time, I hope that the Government can expedite the construction of the Northern Link, and further extend the network eastwards and westwards to cover the whole New Territories North and North East New Territories.

At the same time, a north-south express railway should be developed for connecting the New Territories and the urban areas. New Territories North will have a substantial population increase upon the development. Moreover, the capacity of the existing East Rail Line is near saturation. The Government has to conduct studies on constructing a north-south express railway for establishing an express, direct connection between New Territories North and Hong Kong Island as well as the existing core business districts in the urban areas.

As I have just said, the planning for New Territories North should also take into account the major cities of GBA. Apart from linking the railway system with the various boundary control points, the SAR Government and the Shenzhen 6082 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 authorities should actively promote the connection of the railways of the two places with a view to achieving seamless connection and facilitating cross-boundary clearance.

For example, there are currently two connecting points between Hong Kong and Shenzhen railway systems, which are Lok Ma Chau MTR station/Futian Checkpoint station in Shenzhen and /Luohu station. After the Northern Link is extended eastwards and westwards in the future, the authorities of the two places should explore how the system can be linked with Hung Shui Kiu, Heung Yuen Wai Boundary Control Point, Liantang, etc. In his motion, Mr LAU Kwok-fan urges the Government to conduct studies on the setting up of government departments in NTN or their relocation to NTN. Is this development mode applicable to Hong Kong though it has been widely adopted in many regions? We, G6 Members, think this question is open to discussion.

Mr YIU Si-wing suggests making use of the Sha Tau Kok Public Pier to develop marine tourism and Chung Ying Street to develop boundary tourism. This will give Hong Kong's tourism industry another development direction, and I express support for this suggestion.

I so submit. Thank you, President.

IR DR LO WAI-KWOK (in Cantonese): President, first, I would like to thank Mr LAU Kwok-fan for his original motion and Mr YIU Si-wing for his amendment. Various sectors of society are very concerned about how to promote the development of New Territories North.

President, the supply of land and housing is undoubtedly the biggest livelihood problem that plagues Hong Kong. According to the latest data released by the Hong Kong Housing Authority, as at the end of March this year, the average waiting time for general applicants to be allocated public housing in the past 12 months was 5.8 years, which is a record high in nearly 22 years. For a long time, we have also noticed two very contradictory phenomena. On the one hand, there is a serious shortage of land supply, which affects the supply of housing; on the other hand, there is indeed a lot of land in Hong Kong that has been abandoned for a long time, resulting in a failure to use land to the fullest.

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I think the coexistence of these two phenomena is caused by a lack of forward-looking overall planning in Hong Kong all along. For a long time, the authorities have tied their own hands and feet. For example, there are seven land ports along the boundary between Hong Kong and Shenzhen. The enormous flow of people and goods near these ports actually contain huge development potential for developing port economy. However, the Hong Kong authorities have for a long time limited themselves by the concept of "border" or "closed areas", and thus failed to drive border development with port development planning.

President, the focus of our discussion today is developing New Territories North. At the meeting of the Panel on Development chaired by me on 10 May, we were briefed on the latest developments in New Territories North by officials of the Development Bureau. The authorities completed the Preliminary Feasibility Study on Developing the New Territories North in 2018 and recommended to develop New Territories North with comprehensive planning, so as to develop modern industries and industries that need to operate near the ports. The Government has identified three areas with development potentials. It recommended that the San Tin/Lok Ma Chau Development Node ("the Development Node") project be launched as a priority to tie in with the opportunities brought by the proposed Northern Link and San Tin Station, with a view to developing the region into a high-density commercial and residential area. The northern part of the region will be reserved for technology and corporate use to dovetail with the development of the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park in the Loop.

Meanwhile, given that the Huanggang Port will implement the co-location arrangement after its redevelopment, the land released on Hong Kong side which adjoins the northern part of the Development Node will be included in the comprehensive planning. It is expected that the Development Node will produce about 31 000 residential units (among which about 70% will be public housing units) that can accommodate about 84 000 residents and generate around 64 000 job opportunities. This will also help in solving problems of housing, economic development, employment, etc.

As for the remaining phases of development of New Territories North, which covers the new towns of New Territories North and the Man Kam To Logistics Corridor, the Government has also recommended that relevant planning 6084 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 and engineering studies be conducted as soon as possible to expedite the supply of land. This will provide an even larger area for accommodating a bigger population, and has great economic development potential.

President, to properly develop New Territories North, the provision of ancillary transport infrastructure is very important. Although the Northern Link is a planned project, the progress of development is a bit too slow. It is currently expected that the project will only be completed in 2034; the first phase of buildings of the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park will be completed in 2024; the first batch of residents will move into the new town of Kwu Tung North in 2026 and the first batch of residents will move into the Development Node in 2032. If the Northern Link will only be completed in 2034, it will not be able to tie in with the above mentioned pace of development. The authorities must try to speed up the progress of the Northern Link. In addition, the authorities must expeditiously commence without delay the work on designing the north-south road and railway network connecting the New Territories and the urban areas; solving the congestion problems of the Tolo Highway as well as further improving the railway and road planning between the various ports.

President, with these remarks, I support the original motion of Mr LAU Kwok-fan and the amendment of Mr YIU Si-wing.

MR HOLDEN CHOW (in Cantonese): President, to start with, I would like to thank Mr LAU Kwok-fan for proposing the original motion and Mr YIU Si-wing for proposing the amendment. I speak in support of the original motion and the amendment.

President, our motion is about the development of New Territories North. As we all know, the development of New Territories North has become increasingly important. Mr LAU Kwok-fan has proposed in his original motion that New Territories North should be developed into a region with the convergence of talents and capital from Hong Kong and Shenzhen and the dominance of innovative technology to become an industrial centre. I strongly agree to this proposal for it ties in with Hong Kong's new role under the National 14th Five-Year Plan.

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To develop New Territories North, it is indeed necessary to collaborate with Shenzhen, whose development has thrived in recent years. Our collaboration with Shenzhen is marked by the establishment of the 87-hectare Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park ("HSITP") in the Lok Ma Chau Loop ("the Loop"). This development plan in the Loop has already been discussed by the Legislative Council and will soon commence. Recently, the Government has introduced a proposal to the Panel on Development, proposing that San Tin/Lok Ma Chau will be further developed to provide sites for different industries, including a 57-hectare enterprise and technology site.

President, noting the development of the Loop and the latest development of San Tin/Lok Ma Chau, I hope that the Government will make best-laid plans and a clear division of labour between the two areas as they are both enterprise and technology industrial regions. As far as we understand it, the Government has planned to develop the Loop by focusing more on the development of the biotechnology industry, wet laboratories, etc. As for San Tin/Lok Ma Chau, what kinds of industries will be set up there? Will there be a division of labour between the two areas?

Re-industrialization has been a hot topic in Hong Kong lately. In the process of re-industrialization, the production lines of certain traditional industries can actually be upgraded to become smart production lines. So, can the Government earmark part of the 57-hectare enterprise and technology site in San Tin/Lok Ma Chau to provide traditional industries with land support for its technological upgrading, thereby supporting Hong Kong's re-industrialization? I urge the Government to consider this suggestion seriously.

President, the development plan of New Territories North has partially commenced, which includes the provision of transport facilities. Upon the redevelopment of Huanggang Port, the implementation of co-location arrangement will certainly bring more convenience to the public and dovetail with the transport plan of "East in East out, West in West out" between Hong Kong and Shenzhen. The implementation of co-location arrangement at the redeveloped Huanggang Port will release 20 hectares of land, and we surely hope that the Government will formulate better land use plan for the released land. Yet, I must say that the problem with the planning of the Government often lies in its failure to provide timely ancillary transport facilities. The construction of the Northern Link is a concrete example. While we have been urging the 6086 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021

Government time and again to expedite the construction of the Link, the timetable provided by the Government is still that it will not be completed until 2034. Can the Northern Link catch up with the accelerating pace of planning? I doubt it. Therefore, I consider it important for the Government to make the relevant transport arrangements in a more effective and efficient manner.

Lastly, I think that land should be reserved in HSITP in the Loop and the enterprise and technology site in San Tin/Lok Ma Chau for the accommodation of technology talents working there in future. I note that Mr LAU Kwok-fan has already made some good suggestions in this regard at the meetings of the Panel on Development. I hope that the Government will listen to these views.

President, I speak in support of the original motion and its amendment. I so submit.

MS YUNG HOI-YAN (in Cantonese): President, first, I would like to thank Mr LAU Kwok-fan for proposing the motion on "Driving the development of New Territories North with port economy" and Mr YIU Si-wing for proposing the amendment. I support both the motion and the amendment.

President, in 2020, China has clearly proposed to accelerate the establishment of the new development pattern "featuring dual circulation which takes the domestic market as the mainstay while enabling domestic and foreign markets to interact positively with each other". The Premier also reiterated the development strategy of "dual circulation" in his Government Work Report this year. China must develop a strong domestic market, comprehensively promote consumption, open up room for investment, drive the development of facilities of a trading superpower and further develop the new development pattern of "dual circulation of the domestic and foreign markets". Under the 14th Five-Year Plan, China's development pattern is closely related with Hong Kong and has a significant impact on us. The Premier also mentioned the economic layout of five regions in the Government Work Report, among which is the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area ("GBA"). To establish a comprehensive market in GBA, measures must be implemented to facilitate the flow of talents, capital, skills, technology, goods, etc. This is an important subject which Hong Kong should explore in depth.

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Currently, there are seven control points along the boundary between Hong Kong and Shenzhen. We should make good use of the geographical advantages of the land near the ports to meet Hong Kong's demands of land and promote economic development, and drive the development of a Hong Kong-Shenzhen port economic belt to strengthen the economic connections and interactions between Hong Kong and Shenzhen. These efforts will directly affect the overall development of Hong Kong in the future.

President, the ports not only stand on the foremost front line to connect Hong Kong and Shenzhen, but also act as an important link in the internal and external circulation. The authorities of the Shenzhen/Lo Wu region have all along attached great importance to the development of a port economic belt. In November last year, they issued the development plan for establishing Lo Wu as a pilot region in the Shenzhen/Hong Kong port economic belt. The plan clearly indicates that the Hong Kong/Shenzhen port economic belt will be an essential belt in the "one core, two regions, three belts" new development pattern and the bridgehead for Hong Kong-Shenzhen cooperation. As regards Hong Kong, the "Hong Kong 2030+: Towards a Planning Vision and Strategy Transcending 2030" has recommended to develop a Northern Economic Belt in the northern New Territories extending from Lok Ma Chau in the west to Heung Yuen Wai. The Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park in the Lok Ma Chau Loop and the New Development Area in New Territories North fall on this development axis. Since Hong Kong is part of China, when our officials of the SAR Government design the Northern Economic Belt, they must consider how flows of people, goods, capital, information, etc. can be interfaced with Shenzhen and how the Northern Economic Belt can be further developed into a port economic belt on which we can rely to alleviate the current livelihood problems in the North District brought by parallel traders.

Since the country has included Hong Kong in the GBA development, officials of the SAR Government must change their mindset, keep abreast with the times and integrate Hong Kong's development into the country's development. While driving the development of the Northern Economic Belt, it is also necessary to further integrate Hong Kong into the country's "dual circulation" development. I believe with the cooperation between New Territories North and Lo Wu to create a Hong Kong-Shenzhen cooperative new growth area, cooperation will gradually be extended from south to north to the loop area of Futian, the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Cooperation Zone, etc. to form a strong pillar of Hong Kong-Shenzhen cooperation.

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President, when the Legislative Council discussed whether funding should be given to support the development of the Science and Technology Park in the Lok Ma Chau Loop, I once pointed out that there was a lack of overall planning in the Loop, and the major infrastructure and supporting facilities were not developed in tandem. Thus, it would be difficult to attract young Hong Kong people to stay there for development. Therefore, I suggest that the Government must draw up a good planning for the entire North District, improve the supporting facilities in the Loop, provide at least some more entertainment, catering and other facilities there, reconsolidate the existing resources in the district, and combine entertainment, tourism and other facilities in the Loop with those of the entire North District including Sha Tau Kok to form a "North District Metropolis". When I attended a forum on the development of New Territories North and integration with GBA on Tuesday, I reiterated that the development of New Territories North should not be limited to innovation and technology development in the Loop, but should develop in many respects so as to give people the idea of "working, living and entertaining in the North District". At the same time, I also suggest that the Government must strengthen communication and cooperation with the Shenzhen municipal authorities to jointly drive the development of New Territories North and the port economic belt.

President, with these remarks, I support the motion. Thank you.

MR KENNETH LAU (in Cantonese): President, I speak in support of Mr LAU Kwok-fan's original motion and Mr YIU Si-wing's amendment.

The shortage of land is a difficult problem that has always plagued Hong Kong and huge amount of land is needed for housing supply and the development of new industries. As there is now saturation of urban land after years of development, land in the New Territories, which accounts for more than 80% of the land area in Hong Kong, will be the major source of land supply in the future.

Unfortunately, when the SAR Government carried out land planning in the past, it always regarded the land in the border areas in the New Territories as remote land and failed to make good use of it. However, with vigorous promotion of the development of the Greater Bay Area ("GBA") by the Central Government, cooperation between Hong Kong and Shenzhen will only increase. The border area in the New Territories adjoining Shenzhen has transformed from LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 6089 a previously desolate and inaccessible area on the periphery into a bridgehead for Hong Kong's integration into the development of GBA, and become an area with superb development potential. The Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park, to be jointly developed on the Lok Ma Chau Loop located near the boundary crossings by the governments of the two places, will be an important part of their joint development of port economy and the planning of GBA. Upon completion of the redevelopment of the Huanggang Port Control Point in Shenzhen in the future, the co-location arrangement will be implemented there. More than 20 hectares of land at the Lok Ma Chau Control Point will then be released. The San Tin/Lok Ma Chau Development Node currently under study is also of a large scale occupying a vast area of around 340 hectares of land. If the Government can make plans for the land with new mindset instead of creating a replica of the tragic city, I believe it can give full play to the potential of the Loop and the Huanggang Port Control Point and become a new area of economic growth for Hong Kong in the future.

Mr YIU Si-wing's amendment is about opening up the closed area of Sha Tau Kok Town for the development of tourism, and this viewpoint is consistent with the proposal of Heung Yee Kuk. In fact, Sha Tau Kok has rich tourism resources. The Sha Tau Kok Town and the nearby islands such as Kat O and the Yan Chau Tong Marine Park are tourist attractions with tourism value. We may also cooperate with the in Shenzhen to establish the Sha Tau Kok Shenzhen-HK international tourism & consumption cooperation area and make it a world-class tourism project. However, for security reasons, the SAR Government has declined the opening up of the closed area of Sha Tau Kok Town for many years. As illegal immigration and smuggling activities have substantially reduced with the improved economic standards of Shenzhen, I think the authorities should abolish the closed area of Sha Tau Kok Town as soon as possible to stimulate the local economy and improve the quality of life of the residents. If the SAR Government still has doubts, it might as well consider tackling easier issues first. It can, under the premise of maintaining the closed area of Chung Ying Street, open up most of the Sha Tau Kok Town on a pilot basis first and then the rest of it when smooth operation has been achieved in the future.

President, GBA has presented Hong Kong with unprecedented opportunities. We must seize these opportunities and make good use of the border areas to promote continuous progress in Hong Kong. President, I declare that my family owns land in San Tin and Ta Kwu Ling. I so submit.

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MR CHAN HAK-KAN (in Cantonese): President, I speak in support of Mr LAU Kwok-fan's original motion and Mr YIU Si-wing's amendment.

President, it can be said that it is both timely and too late for the two Members to propose the motion and the amendment today. It is timely because we had a discussion on the development and planning of New Territories North at a meeting of the Panel on Development three days ago and the Government would like to apply for funding for study. It is indeed very appropriate to have a debate today to allow all Members to express their views on the issue. But if we look from a broader perspective, it is actually too late for us to discuss how to develop New Territories North only until today.

I often showed this photo from the Planning Department, and Members can see that there are fish ponds, grasslands, deserted woods and agricultural land everywhere but at their back stood many tall buildings. As I have said time and again, the area shown in the front part of the photo that does not have much development belongs to Hong Kong, but the area at the back is well developed with many buildings, and that is Shenzhen. As we can see, the development of the North District in Hong Kong has been lagging behind in the past 20 to 30 years while Shenzhen has benefited from its close ties with Hong Kong and achieved very good development. We are actually lagging 20 to 30 years behind.

However, Hong Kong has its own advantages. If we propose today to develop the North District immediately disregarding the red tape, we can definitely catch up. As long as we go in tandem with the policies of the Central Authorities, the development of the Greater Bay Area ("GBA") and the 14th Five-Year Plan, not only can we develop industries and housing in the North District, it will also help enhance Hong Kong's status, drive economic development and solve deep-seated problems of our society.

President, when it comes to the planning and development of the North District, I must reiterate one point that I have often mentioned, i.e. the backward mindset of the Government in planning, which has placed all offensive facilities in the border area of the North District. Some have criticized me for caring only the interests of the district represented by me and adopting a not-in-my-backyard attitude by avoiding unwanted facilities. I highlight this point not only because of the project itself, but also to point out the Government's two major problems with planning: first, planning mismatch; second, planning fails to respond to changing demands.

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About planning mismatch, I have repeatedly expressed that the Government originally intended to develop new and high technologies in New Territories North, establishing a number of logistics centres and developing the Loop into a science and technology park. However, it subsequently intended to construct some offensive facilities in the North District such as 200 000 columbarium niches. This is planning mismatch.

Second, as it may take government officials 20 years from planning to implementation, so is it appropriate to continue to establish the facilities concerned at certain locations? If it is the reluctance of the Government to go through the town planning process again that has prompted it to continue to develop offensive facilities that are unsuitable to be established in the North District, then it is the Government's failure to respond to changing demands, integrate into the overall development of the country or dovetail with the development of GBA and the 14th Five-Year Plan. Therefore, as far as planning is concerned, I opine that the Government should not continue to develop inappropriate projects in the border area of the North District due to procedural issues.

At the meeting of the Panel on Development held on Monday, I asked the Permanent Secretary whether other Policy Bureaux would disagree if there were plans to develop new and high technologies in the North District. The Permanent Secretary replied that it was the aspiration of the entire Government to develop new and high technology projects in the new development area in the North District and there was no objection at all. In other words, no more offensive facilities will be established in the North District so that this piece of land with potential will not lose the meaning of development.

President, I very much hope this is the last time I showed this picture here. I hope that 5 or 10 years later, the relevant picture will show that the two places have achieved outstanding results in urban development and conservation. Thank you, President.

MR MA FUNG-KWOK (in Cantonese): President, I speak in support of the original motion and the amendment. Regarding the development of New Territories North, the study on "Hong Kong 2030+", which was published in 2016, proposed New Territories North as an option for the long-term social and economic development of Hong Kong, and proposed a conceptual spatial 6092 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 framework such as a Northern Economic Belt and Eastern Knowledge and Technology Corridor, the convergence of which is the New Territories North Development Area. Two years later, the Preliminary Feasibility Study on Developing the New Territories North identified three potential development areas, namely the San Tin/Lok Ma Chau Development Node, the New Territories North New Town, and Man Kam To Logistics Corridor, which will undoubtedly be a major highlight of Hong Kong's future development.

At the meeting of the Panel on Development held three days ago, the Development Bureau finally submitted a paper on the aforesaid development. The three development areas, covering about 1 400 hectares of land, are expected to accommodate a population of about 280 000 and provide hundreds of thousands of job opportunities. Of course, I hope that the relevant project funding will be approved as soon as possible. However, even if the Finance Committee approves the funding, the first batch of residents of the San Tin/Lok Ma Chau Development Node will only be able to move in around 2032 at the earliest, and the other projects may take even much longer time. As the progress is too slow to be acceptable, I hope that the Government will make an all-out effort to expedite the projects.

Hong Kong is a late starter in port development. It was not until 2012 after the return of sovereignty that the SAR Government gradually reduced the land coverage of the frontier closed area from about 2 800 hectares to about 400 hectares in three phases. However, the Government has failed to undertake any planning over the years and simply left the land idle. In the absence of comprehensive planning for port layout and development of surrounding areas, the land is only used for placing obnoxious facilities and time just passed with various studies of development. Conversely, on the opposite shore, since the reform and opening up, Shenzhen has kept improving the infrastructure, operation and planning of various ports to facilitate the flow of people and goods, thereby resulting in the rapid development of the port areas. The port economy belt has made a significant contribution to the overall economic development of Shenzhen. Looking ahead, the new Huanggang Port will be completed in 2023 and will then emerge as one of the most important transportation hubs in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area ("GBA"). Shenzhen will also work at full steam to align itself with the national strategic initiatives by making enormous investments in establishing the Shenzhen-Hong Kong port economy belt in the coming decade, so as to capitalize on the port economy belt to grasp the development opportunities brought about by the 14th Five-Year Plan.

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In view of the above, the SAR Government must adopt an innovative mindset in planning the development of New Territories North, and grasp the growing opportunities for cooperation in GBA to catch up. Given that the substantial population growth in the new development areas will increase the demand for transport and community facilities in North District in the future, the Government must expeditiously improve the necessary infrastructure support in surrounding areas. As road transports and railway systems connecting the urban areas and New Territories North have almost reached their maximum capacity at present, it is believed that the Northern Link is still inadequate in relieving the traffic burden after its commissioning. The Government must adhere to the principle of according priority to building transport infrastructure, so that our infrastructure will not lag behind development again.

Besides, Mr YIU Si-wing's amendment proposes to make use of Sha Tau Kok to develop boundary tourism, so as to promote economic development in New Territories North. This is a very constructive suggestion. Sha Tau Kok Town, which is located along the boundary between the two places and has a unique culture and history, has great potential for development. Partially opening up the closed area can promote the development of culture, tourism and consumption in the neighbouring areas, which is conducive to the integration and development of the Bay Area. It can also improve the living of the residents in the neighbourhood.

(THE PRESIDENT'S DEPUTY, MS STARRY LEE, took the Chair)

Deputy President, the authorities should no longer adopt a conventional approach to port development along the boundary. Instead, the port along the boundary should be linked up with the city centre and transformed into a hub integrating commerce, culture, consumption, living and tourism, so as to ensure the interface of the Shenzhen-Hong Kong port economy belt and give play to the synergy effect, thereby promoting the economic development of New Territories North and allowing the port economy belt to become a new core development region in GBA. The development of the New Territories border area in Hong Kong has been lagging far behind. Promoting port development can boost the economic development in the entire New Territories North, thereby creating a great opportunity for Hong Kong to make new plans and unleash its development 6094 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 potential. The SAR Government must expedite its work, otherwise Hong Kong will not be able to meet the local demand for lands, and fail to catch up with the fast track of the overall development of the country.

Deputy President, I so submit.

MR CHAN KIN-POR (in Cantonese): Deputy President, with the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area ("GBA"), the development of New Territories North in Hong Kong will become more and more important. The development of New Territories North will not only provide a vast area of residential land to help resolve the housing difficulties, but will also become a bridgehead for Hong Kong enterprises to enter GBA due to its proximity to Shenzhen. Besides, the development of the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park ("HSITP") in the Lok Ma Chau Loop will facilitate the technological cooperation between Shenzhen and Hong Kong. Thus, the development of New Territories North is closely related to Hong Kong indeed.

The Government intends to apply to the Finance Committee ("FC") of the Legislative Council for a funding of $790 million to commence the planning study on the New Territories North development project that covers three areas, among which the work on the 320-hectare San Tin/Lok Ma Chau Development Node will commence first. The construction work is expected to commence in 2025, providing 30 000 residential flats that can accommodate 80 000 residents. The Development Node also reserves land for technology, business and entertainment uses which can generate 64 000 job opportunities. The other two development areas, totalling 1 140 hectares, could accommodate 200 000 population and provide 134 000 jobs. It is expected that the studies on the two areas will commence in the second half of the year.

The Government has already introduced the development plan to the Panel on Development. While Members agreed to the project, they criticized the slow progress of development. In fact, apart from the slow progress of the preliminary feasibility studies, we also witnessed that the whole processes of land development and approval are also quite slow. If FC approves the funding, the investigation and engineering plan of the San Tin/Lok Ma Chau part could proceed immediately. The construction works, however, cannot start until 2025. The intake for the first 1 000 residents will not take place until 2032, and the LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 6095 intake for the majority of population will not commence until the commissioning of the Northern Link in 2034. The whole process will take at least 13 years, excluding the time for conducting preliminary study.

I am not an engineering expert and do not understand the difficulties of the engineering proposals. Perhaps the Government can give explanation for that. However, in terms of the work schedule, the progress of the whole project has been slower than a snail. Before the return of sovereignty to China, Hong Kong was able to complete the construction of the new airport, Airport Express, Route 3 and Tung Chung New Town in less than 10 years. Today, we are only talking about the development of the 320-hectare San Tin/Lok Ma Chau Development Node, not including the remaining two development areas which cover a larger area of land, but it has to take 13 years before the intake can take place.

In fact, the Legislative Council has relayed to the Chief Executive over and over again that the planning for land development as well as vetting and approval process have been slow. The Chief Executive also said that she would personally steer the internal coordination to ensure that all the bureaux and departments concerned would overcome all difficulties to increase land supply. We are so concerned about this not only because there is a need to resolve the housing problem, but also because New Territories North is related to the development of GBA and HSITP, which are all pillars of the economy in the future. In the past, Hong Kong has remained stagnant due to political wrangling, posing many obstacles to construction works. Our society has now got back on track. I think only the government departments know how outdated and unnecessary procedures can be cut. I believe the Secretary for Development is the one to shoulder the responsibilities in this regard. The problems of the past have nothing to do with him because in the old days, there were only obstacles or accusations and no one dared to do anything, right? Situations have changed now. I hope that the Secretary will make use of his experience in the Development Bureau … I believe only government officials know how and what changes can be made to speed up the processes. I have heard many people saying that it might take three years to build a building in the past, but in recent years, the project may remain uncompleted even after seven years. What has gone wrong and in what ways? I hope that the Secretary can really exert great effort to make changes as this would be of great help to Hong Kong.

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Most of the land control points along the boundary between Hong Kong and Shenzhen are located in New Territories North. Currently, the boundary area of Shenzhen has maturely developed, while New Territories North in Hong Kong has remained barren. Upon development, New Territories North will become the connecting point between Hong Kong and Shenzhen and serve as a hub for the convergence of people, goods flow, business and innovation. With the continuous development of GBA, it is believed that enterprises will be attracted to settle in New Territories North, making it a bridgehead for entering the Mainland market. It is thus not difficult to imagine the importance of New Territories North. Therefore, the Government should put this as the focus of development in its planning, and at the same time, maintain communication with Shenzhen and work on the ancillary facilities, so that New Territories North can play a bridging role between the two places.

Thank you, Deputy President.

MR SHIU KA-FAI (in Cantonese): Deputy President, I would like to first thank Mr LAU Kwok-fan for proposing the original motion on "Driving the development of New Territories North with port economy" today. I also thank Mr YIU Si-wing for proposing an amendment to add "partially open up the closed area of Sha Tau Kok Town, and make use of the Sha Tau Kok Public Pier to develop marine tourism and Chung Ying Street to develop boundary tourism".

I noticed this morning that Secretary Michael WONG and his team have been present for the whole morning and listening attentively to the speeches of Members. This is a Member's motion rather than a Government's motion, and government officials may not necessarily present for a Member's motion. However, Secretary Michael WONG has been present for the whole morning. I believe he wishes to listen carefully to Members' views on development, especially the development of North East New Territories.

Hong Kong is a very unique place. It is an international place frequently visited by many foreign people. To the rest of the world, Hong Kong is the central point, which at the same time leverages on the advantage of our close ties with the Motherland. Foreign people coming to Hong Kong may enter via our airport, or may come by cruise vessels, but the relevant figure is still insignificant. People from the Mainland may come to Hong Kong by flight or Express Rail LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 6097

Link, but they may also enter via one of the very important locations, that is, New Territories North. There are seven control points, with some for cargo clearance.

Hong Kong will play a very important role in the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area ("GBA"), and I trust that GBA will provide a good opportunity for Hong Kong people in respect of the future economic development of Hong Kong. As for how to make use of this opportunity, I believe Hong Kong must be well prepared in terms of hardware. As I have said earlier, New Territories North is adjacent to the boundary of Shenzhen, and many people did come to Hong Kong directly from there in the past. Can Hong Kong have a role to play in Shenzhen's vibrant economic development at present? I believe assistance may be provided in terms of hardware facilities, which is a very important element.

The main theme of the motion proposed by Mr LAU Kwok-fan today is precisely how New Territories North can engage more in scientific research and infrastructure. To put it simply, more land must be identified to attract more people to go there. I know that the current population of New Territories North is not small. Members may also notice that Mr CHAN Hak-kan is often very concerned about the residents there. He is eager to make more types of work available there, facilitate the daily life and employment of local residents, and even improve the environmental conditions there. Regarding how this place can be improved, as Mr Frankie YICK from the Liberal Party has said just now, we are in support of it. We also support Mr YIU Si-wing's amendment to develop tourism.

As far as I can remember, some friends from Chung Ying Street invited me to visit there about four-odd years ago. Many Mainlanders were buying and selling on Chung Ying Street, and queuing up for shopping back then. Looking from the entrance of the Mainland side, I could see many people shopping and the street was very vibrant. On the contrary, the housing estate on the Hong Kong side of Chung Ying Street was dilapidated. In fact, there were many ground floor shops. As I am a Hong Kong resident, I could go to the Hong Kong side using the closed area permit. The ground floor shops, which have an area of around 500 sq ft to 600 sq ft, have not been leased out. As there was an elderly woman waving her fan inside a shop, I asked her why there were so many vacant 6098 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 shops not used for business and how much the rent was. She said the rent was $2,000 but nobody rented such shops. That elderly woman, waving her fan, was the only one selling something like peanuts there.

I did feel the stark contrast. On the Mainland side, the street was packed with huge crowds of people and the economic activities were vibrant. However, on the Hong Kong side, probably because it is a closed area or its environment, the shops there had not been leased out at all, with only an elderly woman waving her fan inside a shop. These are readily available resources of Hong Kong which can be used for development. Why didn't anyone lease the shops on the Hong Kong side when the monthly rental is only $2,000 while the Mainland side is packed with people? This may be attributable to the Government's policy support, which has a bearing on the successful development of the place. If the Hong Kong Government had developed that place long ago, for a rent of $2,000 alone―Members should know how much the rent for a 500-square feet to 600-square feet ground floor shop should be―the Treasury should have received some additional income even if the Government only levied taxes on rent and the like.

Regarding how to develop the undeveloped land of Hong Kong, I think Secretary Michael WONG and his team should seriously study the views given to them by Mr LAU Kwok-fan this time. I personally support these views very much, and hope that the Government can speed up the pace of development.

Thank you, Deputy President.

MR LEUNG CHE-CHEUNG (in Cantonese): Deputy President, first of all, I would like to thank Mr LAU Kwok-fan for proposing the motion on "Driving the development of New Territories North with port economy", and Mr YIU Si-wing for proposing the amendment. I recall that former Chief Executive Mr LEUNG Chun-ying once put forward the concept of port economy and there were discussions on the development of New Territories North in the Hong Kong community thereafter. However, as the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area ("GBA") did not exist back then, not much emphasis had been placed on port economy. Nevertheless, nowadays, the country has specified new and high technology to be the new development LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 6099 direction of Hong Kong in the development of GBA. This is a very important message. How the development of Hong Kong can dovetail and integrate with that of GBA is an important consideration for the SAR Government.

There is a large amount of land in New Territories North. When introducing his motion just now, Mr LAU Kwok-fan has also pointed out that there is a large amount of land in New Territories North, but such land has been "frozen" or even left derelict for a long time due to its location in the closed area and conservation issues. Therefore, this is a very important hurdle: Can the Government build on the aforesaid important development foundation and break free from the previous economic development mindset? If the Secretary for Development insists that the land shall remain "frozen", I believe our future development will definitely fall short of GBA's demand for innovation and technology ("I&T").

There is a large amount of land in New Territories North. The 87-hectare Lok Ma Chau Loop has been positioned to develop I&T, and construction is now underway. Apart from it, thousands of hectares of land has yet to be planned and developed. It is of paramount importance for Hong Kong to dovetail with the development of GBA to foster more efficient and rapid economic development. There is currently not much land for I&T uses in Hong Kong. We may take a look at the , which only has a coverage area of around 300 000 sq m for lease. However, the occupancy rate is 100% and there is no more land available for lease. From this, we can see that in Hong Kong, there is a serious shortage of land, especially for I&T development. Thus, the development of New Territories North is very important.

Recently, the SAR Government has put forward a preliminary proposal on the development plan for New Territories North. I learnt from the consultation paper that the development plan includes housing sites, which is reasonable and rational. It also includes quite a number of I&T sites. I will express my views on such land planning later. However, the new town development approach is not adequate for meeting the development demand of GBA. If the new town development approach is adopted, whereby the relevant land will be used for commercial, agricultural and I&T purposes or even recreational purposes, people may think that this is nothing but the development of a new town and cannot even meet our basic requirements. Therefore, I suggest that in planning, the SAR Government should merge the I&T sites with the Lok Ma Chau Loop into one 6100 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 whole piece so as to dovetail with the development of GBA. I also suggest that the Government should provide more transport ancillary facilities so as to avoid resistance from villagers in the New Territories to the developments undertaken by the Government.

With these remarks, I support the motion. Thank you.

MR ABRAHAM SHEK (in Cantonese): Deputy President, I noticed that many Members have spoken today and I think that the speaking time of five minutes is really inadequate. Thus, I hope that the Chairman of the House Committee will conduct a review on it. Deputy President, it is rather unusual for a discussion to start but fails to complete in the end. Today, I support the motion and the amendment proposed by the two Members, but unfortunately, their proposals will only treat the symptoms but not the root cause.

Why will the proposals treat only the symptoms but not the root cause? First, New Territories no longer exist. The area designated as the New Territories in 1898 is now part of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. That is my first point. Second, why is this debate held today? The problems involved include land shortage, high property prices, high land premium policy and some 2.25 million people waited for five and a half years but still have not moved to public rental housing ("PRH") units. In the face of social problems and core issues, Mr WEN Jiabao once said that the key was to resolve the deep-rooted conflicts.

Why did I say that the proposals could treat the symptoms but not the root cause? Partial development is meaningless. According to a study published recently, among the 7 000 hectares of agricultural land in Hong Kong, about 1 000 hectares are held by property developers while 2 400 hectares are Tso/Tong lands held by the Government. But why can't they be developed? The total area of these lands equals seven times of that of the artificial islands under the Lantau Tomorrow Vision, but why can't they be developed? That is why I said the proposals only "treat the symptoms". To "treat the root cause", we have to tackle the core issue which is concerned with the structure of the Government. The Government is really trying to solve modern problems with the mindset in the British Hong Kong era.

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First, it is town planning. By town planning, I do not only mean town planning for the New Territories, but across the territory, which is based on the planning guidelines set down in the 1970s. As only minor amendments have been made in the 1970s, it "fails to keep abreast of the times". As government officials have failed to go in tandem with the economic and social developments of Hong Kong, they must therefore change their mindset. As long as their mindset remains unchanged, it will be meaningless no matter how the New Territories will be developed.

Second, as Members may be aware, the Town Planning Board ("TPB") is a total mess. It accepts whatever Secretary Michael WONG says because the Chairperson of TPB is an official of his Policy Bureau. This arrangement is unhealthy and again "fails to keep abreast of the times". I cannot say too much though.

Third, the problem concerns infrastructure. The provision of infrastructure can drive the development of an entire region. Let me give the example of the Northern Link. Thirty years ago when I returned to Hong Kong, there were discussions about this subject. Back then, I was working in the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation. To this day, the Government is still saying that studies have to be conducted and after that, considerations will be made to dovetail with the development of the MTR Corporation Limited. Why PRH cannot be built above MTR stations as topside developments? Why subsidized housing cannot be built on those sites to solve the problem of 250 000 people waiting for PRH? The number will continue to rise and the Public Accounts Committee has already recommended the authorities to try their best to reduce the waiting time to three years.

Fourth, the authorities are still paying compensation with the mindset in the British Hong Kong era. The extremely low compensation does not comply with Article 105 of the Basic Law. It will be good if the compensation amounts are acceptable.

Besides, lease modification is one way to create land. The structure of the Government is very bureaucratic. The land use of some places has not been modified for 30 years. Many Members said that property developers had occupied many land, but they did not. Instead, it is the Government which has refused to complement their development, thereby driving up the premium of land in general. Members of the general public cannot afford the down payment 6102 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 for home purchase even if they go without food and accommodation and save money for 19 years. Deputy President, how can improvements be made in other respects now? As I said, it can only be achieved by changing our mindsets, improving the pricing and introducing changes to town planning. Thank you, Deputy President.

MR JEFFREY LAM (in Cantonese): Deputy President, the subject of our discussion today is "Driving the development of New Territories North with port economy". The Central Authorities have vigorously supported the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area ("GBA"). Hong Kong and Shenzhen are the two leading cities in GBA which have adopted very different approaches in their development. Shenzhen, very close to Hong Kong and only a river apart, is developing rapidly by introducing a lot of pilot measures and new reform policies. On the contrary, development in the border area of the New Territories is lagging far behind and remains in the stage of endless planning and studies. It is time for the Government to catch up expeditiously; adopt a reformist mindset in planning and strengthen cross-departmental coordination and planning. In formulating policies, the Government has to consider the needs of the development of GBA and integrate with the main development pattern of the country. It should no longer impose its own bounds and mind its own business.

Deputy President, there are numerous examples which I can quote to illustrate that the Government's planning on development lags behind the times. While five minutes is surely inadequate, even five days and nights will not be enough. The Government will make an application to the Legislative Council for a funding of $790 million for detailed design and study on the planning of the development of New Territories North. The San Tin/Lok Ma Chau Development Node ("the Development Node") covers a total area of around 320 hectares. Although one fourth of it consists of brownfield sites, it can only provide about 31 000 units and accommodate 80 000-odd people. I think the number of units to be provided is really too small and is a waste of this site sitting on prime location. Is there room for the Government to modify the land use of part of the site, increase the plot ratio or accelerate the pace of development, so that more people can have a decent place to live as soon as possible?

On the other hand, I have also noticed that under the existing planning, many sites are listed as "permitted burial grounds", two of which are even close to the sites for residential development. Is this kind of planning reasonable? Is LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 6103 there room for adjustments to relocate the permitted burial grounds to the periphery of the nearby country parks? The above suggestions are intended to attract other valuable opinions. Most importantly, the authorities should maintain adequate communication with the stakeholders, balance the needs of development and conservation, and truly utilize the land resources to the fullest.

Speaking of the permitted burial grounds, the lesson learnt from past experience is right in front of us, what I mean was the dispute arisen from the Sandy Ridge Super Cemetery City near the Lo Wu Control Point. Given that no one had any concept of GBA in the early years, it is understandable that planning back then was made according to the needs of Hong Kong only. However, in recent years, the development of GBA has escalated to the level of a national development strategy. The prices of land along the border of the New Territories can hardly be compared with those in the past and currently, and it is hoped that such land will be developed as the core of the "one-hour living circle" of GBA. Thus, the Government will be lagging behind the major trend if it continues to draw up plans purely from the perspective of Hong Kong and our internal needs. The Government should adopt a GBA mentality so as to produce synergy of "one plus one is greater than two".

Deputy President, planning for development is a human job and there is no unchanging formula at all. Thus, the officials in charge must think, be flexible and adapt to the current conditions to make the best use of the precious land resources. I remember that in the early years, the Government required all Policy Bureaux and departments to include in their policy documents an assessment of the implication of policies on the Mainland. Faced with such an important development opportunity of GBA, I suggest that we should take one step further in the future and include an assessment of the implication on the GBA development. This is a good approach as it can serve as a "thermometer" to understand at an early stage whether the policy concerned ties in with the development of GBA. If there are conflicts, adjustments can be made promptly. I hope that the Government can consider this proposal carefully.

Deputy President, I so submit.

DR JUNIUS HO (in Cantonese): Deputy President, this morning, I sent via WhatsApp to Secretary Michael WONG a video clip on the development of the Guangzhou Baiyun railway station. It is about the construction of the country's 6104 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 largest railway station to be completed by the Guangzhou authorities in 2023. The railway station has an enormous area―the last character "綸" of the Secretary's name "WONG Wai-lun" in Chinese rhymes with the last character "倫" of the phrase "大到無倫" (meaning gigantic), and both pronounce as "leon4" in Cantonese. They are truly highly efficient by designing, studying and learning at the same time, which is worthy of our reference.

I would like to thank Mr LAU Kwok-fan and Mr YIU Si-wing for proposing the motion and the amendment. It is particularly appealing to me that Mr LAU urges the Government to study the relocation of government departments to New Territories North. This is a very important point because the Government can set a good example. Under the development of innovation and technology in the North and financial development in the South, what is required of Hong Kong? We need to design an "extraordinarily special" place. Shenzhen is a special economic zone established more than 40 years ago and the "extraordinarily special" Qianhai was established in 2009. It had contributions to GDP from 2009 to 2018 and created 15 sq km of land within nine years. As 1 sq km of land is equal to 100 hectares of land, 15 sq km of land would be equal to 1 500 hectares of land, all created in nine years. A colleague just said that there were endless studies in Hong Kong and the progress was slow. To facilitate the development of innovation and technology in the North and conservation in the South, government departments should first be relocated to New Territories North. There must be a theme. It is not like building a resettlement area, so the theme should be innovation and technology.

At the latest meeting, Permanent Secretary Ms Bernadette LINN said that the issue would be studied. I nonetheless noticed that only 50-odd hectares out of more than 1 100 hectares of land would be used for the development of innovation and technology. Is there something wrong? Instead of cutting and polishing the piece of jade in hand, we use it for laying pipes. Is this too wasteful? If the Government does not know how to deal with it, it should ask for help. I think government departments should be relocated to New Territories North and a Government House for the Chief Executive should also be built so as to highlight the importance of the place. How can the head of the Government ask others to work there if she refuses to relocate there? I think the work must be completed within 10 years, and should not change the plan 10 years later to relocate people there. This is one way of demonstrating the Government's vigour.

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Moreover, the Government must turn a stumbling block into a stepping stone. Regarding resettlement and compensation, Kwok-fan was right in saying that if the Secretary does not solve the decanting problem and shirks the responsibility to Secretary Frank CHAN, then Frank will be in great trouble and there is no way he can solve the problems. Therefore, we must solve the decanting problem first. While many people understood this logic when Hong Kong was under British rule, I do not know why the mind of many people went blank after the return of sovereignty and did not know what to do. I think this can be explained by the excessive political struggles in the past.

As I shared with the Secretary this morning, in order to remove all the restrictions and regulations, various methods have to be used. Mr CHAN Kin-por has just said that the Bureau as an expert must know how to remove obstacles. Town planning regulations are outdated. Mr Abraham SHEK is very experienced and has served as a Legislative Council Member for more than 20 years, so he knows that the town planning regulations have to be removed and revamped. Mr YIU Si-wing has suggested to open up Chung Ying Street in Sha Tau Kok and set up an "extraordinarily special" area, i.e. "Hong Kong/Shenzhen Street". Mainland residents travelling there will not be regarded as exiting the country whereas young people of Hong Kong travelling to Lo Wu will not be regarded as entering the Mainland after the two places have been merged. In so doing, that 1 000-odd hectares of land can be blended to produce chemistry and synergy. This is the way in which matters should be handled.

Deputy President, I fully support this motion and the amendment as well as the Government's attempt to remove the restrictions and regulations. The Government should not turn itself into an ox weighing more than 1 000 catties being tied to a bamboo pole with a straw and became immobile. The Government must remove the town planning regulations and abolish the environmental impact assessment requirement. The Government should take the lead to do these things as they all seek to help it.

I so submit. Thank you, Deputy President.

MR STEVEN HO (in Cantonese): Deputy President, this Council discusses the motion on "Driving the development of New Territories North with port economy" today. Of course, from my perspective, port economy not only drives the development of New Territories North. Earlier on, Dr Junius HO has urged 6106 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 the Secretary not to see himself as an ox. However, I wonder if Members have noticed that oxen have also encountered problems recently. It is said that they shed tears after they were fitted with collars with tracking devices. Why is the Government so apprehensive? Many people outside who have only half-baked knowledge have made indiscreet remarks, which were all made from the sole perspective of personal gains. Of course, theoretically speaking, human beings are all selfish, and only consider from the sole perspective of personal gains.

I wish to cite an argument raised by Mr Abraham SHEK just now―five-minute speaking time is indeed not enough, and Members must get used to it all over again―Mr Abraham SHEK has particularly mentioned that there are 7 000 hectares of land in the New Territories at present, which are approximately equivalent to the area of seven Lantau Tomorrow projects. I am not clear about whether the land mentioned by Mr SHEK has included 4 000 hectares of agricultural land, and this part is worthy of discussion. However, regardless of whether agricultural land is included or not, there are at least 3 000 hectares of land. The agriculture and fisheries sector has been seeking a win-win approach to promote the development in Hong Kong. For instance, we once proposed that the Government should reserve some agricultural land and give up some suitable land for use by the agriculture and fisheries sector. As I have mentioned earlier, among the existing 4 000 hectares of agricultural land, around 1 000 hectares of the land are used for farming actually, with the remaining 3 000 hectares of land being unable to be developed. What is the reason for that? Due to various environmental problems, tenancy problems and road development problems, and coupled with the fact that under the prevailing system, some deserted land must comply with the principle of "destroy first, build later", that is, making the land abandoned first before filing a rezoning application to the Town Planning Board, the land has thus become wasted gradually. Mr LAU Kwok-fan often says that deserted agricultural land must be developed with conditions. Therefore, Mr LAU Kwok-fan has specially added item (5) to the motion, that is, improving the rehousing and compensation policy. This does not mean that development is not allowed, but these are the things that we must do.

From the perspective of developing the agriculture and fisheries sector, there are actually only two things that must be done when developing New Territories North or other agricultural land or deserted land in Hong Kong. The first one is integration, i.e. integrating the agriculture and fisheries sector into the development. The second one is relocation and demolition. The SAR LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 6107

Government has a new agriculture policy. Apart from the policies on the development of the Agricultural Park and the establishment of a fund, the third policy is the development of Agricultural Priority Areas. I think the resources devoted by the SAR Government to this aspect are considerably small. The ("FHB") responsible for the agriculture and fisheries sector has been very busy over the past one to two years, and does not have time to cater for our needs. Moreover, as the Secretaries for Food and Health are usually doctors or nurses, they may not have any knowledge about farming and agricultural technologies. Thus, this lower status of the agriculture and fisheries sector is attributable to some objective environmental factors.

Regarding the Agricultural Priority Areas specially mentioned by me earlier, previously at the Panel on Food Safety and Environmental Hygiene of the Legislative Council, Mr LAU Kwok-fan enquired when the study on the Agricultural Priority Areas would be conducted and how long the study would take. The Bureau has actually conducted the study for 30 months. Yet, when we asked when the study would be completed, it has gone so far as to indicate that 30 more months will be required. Worse still, the duration was subject to be confirmed. The Government will only start seeking funding from the Legislative Council upon the completion of the study. Currently, Yuen Long South in North District, North East New Territories and other districts have been developing gradually, but the authorities have yet to make preparation for rehousing, and this is where conflicts arise. As what I feel, on many problems involving land, FHB often thinks that such problems involve the Development Bureau as well, so FHB sometimes may not have full discretion to make decisions. From this perspective, in order to put the rehousing policy in order, FHB, the Development Bureau and other departments involved should form an inter-departmental rehousing group to review the relevant problems afresh.

Let me cite a concrete example. People do not oppose relocation, but they can only receive compensation after the Legislative Council approves the funding applications for the relevant works. However, once the SAR Government indicates its intention to develop a certain place, the farmers there would have to move out. Assuming that I am a vegetable farmer, theoretically, I can still tolerate a bit and move out later. I can take a short break and return two years later to grow vegetables again, which is feasible theoretically. For this reason, many vegetable farmers have applied for the agricultural land rehabilitation scheme. However, if pig farms are forced to relocate, pig farmers must rent another piece of land. Landlords may increase the rent excessively from 6108 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021

$50,000 to $200,000 and from $200,000 to $400,000 in a bid to share the profits of the pig farmers. Also, there is another problem. The relocation of pig farm usually costs $30 million to $40 million, but where can pig farmers get $40 million for relocation before funding is approved by the Legislative Council? It is not possible for pig farmers to complete the relocation two months or one year after the provision of the funding. Relocation of pig farms is like animal emigration. Relocating male and female pigs involves a lot of work.

Therefore, in my opinion, the Development Bureau should play a more important role to review afresh the outdated regulations and consider providing loans in advance. For instance, introducing a loan fund for demolition and relocation, so that the affected people will have enough money to meet the needs before the demolition and relocation, and repay the loans with the granted compensation. The Government may not lend them the full amount (The buzzer sounded) … How about 80% of the amount?

Thank you, Deputy President.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mr Steven HO, your speaking time is up.

MS ALICE MAK (in Cantonese): Deputy President, I understand that five minutes can also be made good use of. If there are 90 Members in the future and each of them speaks two more minutes, the meeting will be 180 minutes or several hours longer. Therefore, I would like to ask colleagues to speak faster and more concisely in future, so that we can make good use of the Council's time. Members should understand that we do not want the Council to spend too much time so that it cannot deal with important issues. I hope that Members can be a bit more concise.

Coming back to the topic of the development of New Territories North, I think Members also strongly agree with the development directions mentioned by Mr LAU Kwok-fan. In Members' view, with a site for development which is at the same time near Shenzhen, they certainly hope that this site can be used for developing innovation and technology ("I&T"), developing business economy or constructing some roads. These are all that Members will talk about. However, the question is when such proposals will be implemented after they are LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 6109 made. Secretary, on the preceding Monday, the Government submitted a paper to the Legislative Council Panel on Development seeking a funding of $1 billion from the Legislative Council for undertaking studies for the development of New Territories North. This $1 billion will be used in two phases. During the first phase, $800 million will be used for engaging consultants to undertake investigation and detailed works design for San Tin, Lok Ma Chau and the 20 hectares of land to be released after the relocation of the Huanggang Port. During the second phase, $200 million will be used for engaging consultants to undertake planning and engineering study for the Remaining Phase Development of New Territories North.

Deputy President, it will take seven years to conduct these studies. While $1 billion is spent in seven years, not even a single blade of grass will grow. Let us not talk about whether the work mentioned in Mr LAU Kwok-fan's motion can be done, when it will be done, whether it is correct to do so or whether it is agreed to do so, but focus on when the authorities intend to plant that blade of grass on this piece of land. With $1 billion spent in seven years, how can we accept such a speed? We understand that it may be due to many requirements on public consultations and the like in the Town Planning Ordinance which were made previously. However, it is now a new era. Should we still follow these rules? Just as in the case of the Legislative Council, Members' speaking time has been changed from seven minutes to five minutes, because we know that we should make use of the time more efficiently. Should the Government conduct a review of all the legislation at this moment?

I remember that the Town Planning Ordinance was revised in 2005 with the inclusion of a lot of public engagement. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, people often talked about public engagement. Former Chief Executives at that time also loved talking about public engagement and included public engagement in everything. However, it may now be found that such practice has been abused by some people. Can we still accept a speed at which $1 billion is spent in seven years to conduct studies and investigation only without planting even a blade of grass? Nothing can be developed actually, not to mention the development of New Territories North and the development of I&T. Not even a building can be built, because the construction of public housing may take 10 years to 12 years from site identification to population intake. Therefore, before talking about any developments, the Government must tackle all these procedural problems; otherwise, the difficulties in front cannot be resolved.

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Besides, whenever the development of New Territories North is discussed, the land from the closed areas would also be mentioned. The establishment of closed areas can be dated back to the British colonial rule. Now, there are 2 435 hectares of land from the closed areas, why do the authorities not consider how to make use of such land? Another aspect is the Northern Link. Members have talked about the Northern Link for such a long time, and 30 years have lapsed since its development planning. I once told Mr LUK Chung-hung that it was uncertain if we could take a trip on the Northern Link when his grandchild is born―his son is now 10-odd years old.

Besides, I am going to talk about the economy belt of the whole New Territories North. The Government has a very macroscopic concept on the development of this economy belt. However, what we can see now is that the speed of development can hardly catch up. Earlier on, some colleagues have mentioned the disputes over Sandy Ridge and many other development disputes. Such disputes arise because even the authorities ponder about doing something today, it will only be done after 10 to 20 years or even 20 to 30 years. By that time, all will have become obsolete.

I wish to tell the Secretary that whether or not port economy is used for driving the development of New Territories North or the development of I&T―some colleagues have mentioned earlier that Hong Kong can leverage on Shenzhen's advantages to develop the district―speed is of paramount importance. How can the Government tackle the problem of Hong Kong's current development at a snail's pace? Can all the Secretaries take the lead in reviewing all ordinances to remove obsolete concepts? The Legislative Council has been operating effectively now and can cooperate with the Government in its legislative amendment exercises to speed up the process. Only in this way can genuine development be possible. (The buzzer sounded)

DEPUTY PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Ms Alice MAK, your speaking time is up.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Does any other Member wish to speak?

(No Member indicated a wish to speak)

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DEPUTY PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mr LAU Kwok-fan, you may now speak on the amendment.

MR LAU KWOK-FAN (in Cantonese): Deputy President, first of all, I would like to thank Mr YIU Si-wing for supplementing the wording of my original motion to enrich its content, and also for enabling me to speak for another five minutes. Of course, my speech is intended to respond to his amendment.

As I state in the original motion, what I mean by New Territories North is precisely the northern New Territories from Shenzhen Bay to Sha Tau Kok. Therefore, the amendment proposed by Mr YIU Si-wing, which touches upon Sha Tau Kok, is entirely consistent with my motion in terms of spirit and content.

Soon after I proposed this motion, the Yantian District Government sent to me a proposal on Sha Tau Kok Shenzhen-HK international tourism & consumption cooperation area. Learning that I would move this motion in the Legislative Council, they were anxious to send the proposal to me, hoping that in the future discussion on New Territories North, Sha Tau Kok would also be included. I really appreciate their spirit. What I want to say is that, apart from the Yantian District Government, many district governments of Shenzhen have probably taken a more active interest than Hong Kong officials in the development of the New Territories.

In the proposal, they put forward the idea of "four zones, one core" under which the 2 300 hectares of land in Yantian is divided into four zones. What is the one core? Sha Tau Kok. The 2 300 hectares of land is intended to support our Sha Tau Kok as the core. We can see how much importance they attach to Hong Kong. In fact, this is not the only instance. I want to point out that Shenzhen is indeed very concerned about Hong Kong. That is why they were very vocal when we discussed the massive columbarium complex before. Have the SAR Government and officials given some good thought to the future overall development of New Territories North?

Let me return to the amendment. In fact, Sha Tau Kok Town is located adjacent to Yantian District in eastern Shenzhen, where the coastal area can absolutely be developed into Shenzhen-HK international tourism & consumption cooperation area. There are many beautiful spots nearby, e.g. Kat O, hailed as 6112 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 the Pearl of the South China Sea in the late , and Yan Chau Tong, one of Hong Kong's first marine parks. It is very convenient to travel from the Sha Tau Kok Pier to these outlying islands, but why is it that such a convenient pier is not open to the public of Hong Kong? Because that place is a closed area. If we are to travel to Kat O or Yan Chau Tong, we have to take a ferry from Ma Liu Shui for probably over an hour. Even though these places boast beautiful scenery, there are restrictions on travelling there―not in Shenzhen, but in Hong Kong―because they are closed areas. While the suggestion in the amendment is a rather mild one, the crux of the problem is whether there should be a review on opening up the remaining few closed areas. This is worthy of support and very important.

I would like to point out that actually there have been precedents for opening up closed areas. Take the example of Lai Chi Wo in Sha Tau Kok. This village was isolated when it was still a closed area. After its villagers all moved out as they could no longer make a living there, the village was the left deserted. However, after the Government reduced the size of closed areas, opened up more closed areas and released the land in closed areas, there have been opportunities for revitalizing Lai Chi Wo. With the help of some universities and organizations, the village has developed ecotourism and become more vibrant with agricultural land rehabilitation and ecotourism. This is a good example. Therefore, the amendment proposed by Mr YIU Si-wing is absolutely worthy of support.

I may forward the aforesaid proposal to the SAR Government later. I do not know whether the SAR Government and the Yantian District Government of Shenzhen have discussed the latter's plan to develop Sha Tau Kok into Shenzhen-HK international tourism & consumption cooperation area. I really want to express my appreciation for their spirit and proactive attitude. I hope that the SAR Government, by embracing the same spirit and proactive attitude, will take the initiative to make good use of every inch of land in New Territories North and effectively take forward the integration of Hong Kong into the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to enable Hong Kong to play a core role.

Deputy President, I so submit. Thank you.

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UNDER SECRETARY FOR INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY (in Cantonese): Deputy President, I would like to thank Mr LAU Kwok-fan for proposing the motion on "Driving the development of New Territories North with port economy", and Mr YIU Si-wing for proposing the amendment. Just now quite a number of Members presented many valuable views on the development of innovation and technology ("I&T") in Hong Kong, especially how it can dovetail with the planning of New Territories North. In the following, I will focus my response on the several areas of concern raised by the Members.

I&T is the new driving force for Hong Kong's development, bringing new industries and creating wealth, boosting Hong Kong's economic growth and creating quality employment opportunities, as well as enhancing the competitiveness of Hong Kong. We anticipate a significant increase in the demand for sites for research and development ("R&D") and new industrial uses in Hong Kong. The Government attaches great importance to the long-term development of I&T, and actively identifies land to provide the necessary operating space for the development of the industry. Presently, land reserved for I&T uses include sites for short, medium and long-term development.

First of all, the Government is taking forward the development of the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park ("HSITP") located in the Lok Ma Chau Loop ("the Loop") in full swing. HSITP is aimed to establish a key base for cooperation in scientific research through converging the world's top-tier enterprises, R&D institutions and higher education institutions for exchange and collaboration with excellent research talent all over the world. In January this year, the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council approved the funding for two works projects to carry out site formation and infrastructure works for the Loop development. In February, it approved the funding for commencing Batch 1 development of HSITP. Upon its full development, HSITP will provide a maximum gross floor area of 1.2 million sq m, approximately three times the size of the existing Hong Kong Science Park, and become Hong Kong's largest-ever I&T platform.

HSITP and the Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Zone on the other side of the river will form the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Co-operation Zone ("the Co-operation Zone"). The Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan promulgated by the country in March indicates, for the first time, support for Hong Kong's development into an international I&T hub, and the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Loop has been included as one of the four major platforms 6114 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 of cooperation between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao. This highlights the importance the Central Authorities attaches to the Co-operation Zone. The governments of Hong Kong and Shenzhen are taking forward the development of the Co-operation Zone in full swing to establish "one zone, two parks" and leverage the complementary advantages of both Hong Kong and Shenzhen, with a view to developing the Greater Bay Area ("GBA") into an international I&T hub. The SAR Government also expects the Co-operation Zone to become an essential component of the port economic belt.

The governments of Hong Kong and Shenzhen have agreed that before the completion of the first batch of buildings in HSITP, the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation will lease and manage certain areas of the Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Zone, so that the institutes and enterprises that are interested in starting their business in GBA can first establish their presence in Futian, Shenzhen. The two governments are actively following up on the space and operational requirements, in order to firm up the mode of operation and related financial arrangements as soon as possible. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation also plans to set up a training services centre in the areas of the Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Zone leased and managed by it. The centre will provide services covering three key functions of resources, training and exchange, thereby facilitating exchanges between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, nurturing I&T talent, assisting Hong Kong enterprises in developing their business in GBA, complementing the "dual circulation" policy of the country, and enabling Hong Kong to play its critical role of "attracting foreign investment" and "going global".

To attract more talent and enterprises, including start-ups, to the Co-operation Zone, the governments of Hong Kong and Shenzhen will continue through the established mechanism to formulate joint policy for the Co-operation Zone and explore to provide facilitation and supportive measures in the aspects of R&D resources, capital and immigration. Both sides will also join hands in promoting their advantages in I&T with a view to attracting talent and enterprises from Mainland and overseas to the Co-operation Zone.

Apart from developing HSITP in the Loop, the Government has also reserved land for I&T development. For example, we have reserved land in both San Tin/Lok Ma Chau and Liantang/Heung Yuen Wai for I&T related development. Details of the land planning and uses are to be further studied. We preliminarily intend to adopt the development mode of industrial estates for LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 6115 the relevant land of around 56 hectares near Liantang/Heung Yuen Wai Boundary Control Point. Given the proximity of the land to the boundary control point, this will facilitate the movement of people and goods between the Mainland and Hong Kong. Regarding the about 57 hectares of land preliminarily reserved in San Tin/Lok Ma Chau, it is preliminarily intended for I&T industries and related uses, and at the same time complementing or supporting the development of HSITP in the Loop. Besides, since co-location arrangement is to be implemented at the redeveloped Huanggang Port, over 20 hectares of land will be released from Lok Ma Chau Boundary Control Point of Hong Kong near the Loop for other uses. As the Secretary for Development has mentioned in his opening remarks, the Development Bureau is studying the possible uses of this piece of land. In planning the future development of these pieces of land, the SAR Government will carefully consider how the land can dovetail with the development of HSITP in the Loop to achieve synergy. The Transport and Housing Bureau will also commence a feasibility study on connecting the Northern Link with the new Huanggang Port via the Loop to enhance the connectivity of the Loop. In any event, the relevant government departments will consult the relevant Panels of the Legislative Council in a timely manner on the future plans to reserve land for I&T uses.

The development of GBA brings unlimited opportunities to the I&T sector of Hong Kong. We must seize this golden opportunity to proactively integrate with the overall development of the nation, and step up the I&T collaboration with GBA by making good use of and planning for the land in New Territories North.

I once again thank the Deputy President and all the Members for your concern about the I&T development in Hong Kong.

UNDER SECRETARY FOR THE ENVIRONMENT (in Cantonese): Deputy President, to begin with, I shall thank all Honourable Members for having shared plenty of valuable opinions today, in which their suggestions and concerns involve different Policy Bureaux and departments. I will highlight the Government's efforts in natural conservation and countryside revitalization.

Under current natural conservation policy, the Government may, through the launching of the Public-private Partnership Scheme ("PPP"), allow limited development by landowners on some sites with high ecological significance and 6116 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 priority for enhanced conservation on the premise of possible long-term conservation of the land concerned. Under PPP, owners of relevant land shall appoint conservation agents and pay the Environment and Conservation Fund a sum sufficient to support the relevant conservation and management programmes in the long run; the Government will consider allowing limited development by landowners on land with lower ecological significance. PPP is precisely striking a due balance between society's need for development and aspiration for conservation of sites with high ecological significance. In March this year, an agreement has been reached for a site in Wo Sang Wai under PPP.

Apart from this, the Government also attaches much importance to natural ecology and humanistic value. In her 2017 Policy Address, the Chief Executive proposed the establishment of a Countryside Conservation Office ("CCO") and earmarked $1 billion for supporting relevant efforts. CCO was established in July 2018 under the Environmental Protection Department ("EPD"). It launched the Countryside Conservation Funding Scheme ("the Scheme") in October 2019 to support non-profit-making organizations to interact and cooperate with villagers in organizing diverse and innovative conservation activities and projects in remote countryside. Since the launching of the Scheme, a total of 17 projects involving a total funding amount of about $1 billion have been approved so far. Themes of the Scheme cover different levels viz. ecological environment, built heritage, cultural and historic assets, etc.

In order to support eco-tourism, better serve visitors and help revitalize desolate villages, the Chief Executive also mentioned in last year's Policy Address that CCO will work with relevant bureaux/departments to jointly develop a set of licensing requirements and procedural guidelines designed especially for guesthouses and catering businesses in countryside areas, making reference to the special nature and restrictions of rural settings. On the one hand, this seeks to attract relevant investment in the countryside to provide villagers with employment opportunities and bring about economic activities; on the other hand, this can also allow members of the public to visit the countryside and enjoy the relevant facilities and services. Not only will this enhance the level of service in eco-tourism, but will also improve the environment of villages and provide new economic opportunities. The Environment Bureau and EPD will continue their relevant efforts in this regard.

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Deputy President, I thank once again for Mr LAU Kwok-fan's motion and Mr YIU Si-wing's amendment today. We have heard a lot of opinions and will study the relevant proposals in detail. Deputy President, I so submit.

UNDER SECRETARY FOR TRANSPORT AND HOUSING (in Cantonese): Deputy President, I have listened attentively to Honourable Members' views and would like to thank them. Regarding the Northern Link ("NOL") project, ancillary transport facilities in the Loop, cross-boundary railway planning and the Strategic Studies on Railways and Major Roads beyond 2030, please allow me to respond and supplement a few points in respect of the views expressed by Members.

(THE PRESIDENT resumed the Chair)

The main line of NOL is of paramount importance to unleash development potential along its alignment. Except a few low-to-medium density existing/planned residential developments in the vicinity of Kam Sheung Road Station and Au Tau Station, the areas along the alignment are yet to be developed. The implementation of NOL can create more development opportunities for the area concerned to improve the use of land in the vicinity of the area, thereby realizing the infrastructure-led, capacity creating planning approach advocated by the current-term Government. And yet, this planning approach cannot be realized without NOL. Not only will the enhancement of transport capability benefit key government projects under planning, it can also encourage developers to advance their developments with larger housing yield. As regards the proposed development of public housing along the alignment of NOL, the Transport and Housing Bureau has already indicated earlier that it will study the proposal accordingly.

As I have pointed out in my opening remark, railway projects involve huge capital investment, and the Government has to plan in a prudent manner. As clearly stated in the Railway Development Strategy 2014, the taking forward of individual proposed railway projects set out in the Strategy will be subject to the outcome of detailed engineering, environmental and financial studies relating to each project, as well as updated demand assessment and availability of resources. We will study the need as well as the technical and financial feasibilities of 6118 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 constructing the bifurcation of NOL, and adjust the development timetable according to the detailed study, assessment on the latest demand and availability of resources.

In respect of various Members' views and advice on the time of constructing NOL, I would like to give my response. The construction stage of a railway project covers construction, testing, handing over the completed works to the management and maintenance parties, etc. Construction involves procedures of different aspects, including track-laying and overhead lines works and the works on the electrical and mechanical systems. Just testing alone will take about 27 months. NOL Phase 2 also includes a variety of project items, such as the expansion of two stations (i.e. Kwu Tung Station and Kam Sheung Road Station), provision of three intermediate stations and construction of depot. Subject to further planning, the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") will study the taking forward of some major items concurrently during construction works, with a view to shortening the entire works period.

Concerning various Members' views about the ancillary transport facilities in the development of the Loop, Lok Ma Chau Loop is about 1 km away from the existing Lok Ma Chau MTR Station. According to the consultancy study of the development of Lok Ma Chau Loop, in order to facilitate passengers travelling to and from Lok Ma Chau Loop to change to railway network or access the via Lok Ma Chau Station, the construction of a direct road or pedestrian facility to the Lok Ma Chau Station is proposed. Complemented by the internal and external public transport services of the Loop, including the provision of shuttle bus services, the road transport of the area will suffice to meet the transportation demand in Lok Ma Chau Loop.

As regards Members' proposals on the future transport infrastructure, the Strategic Studies on Railways and Major Roads beyond 2030 is a strategic transport study, in which study will be conducted based on planning information and recommendations will be made on the layout of Hong Kong's transport infrastructure to meet the overall long-term development needs of Hong Kong. This study has already commenced in December 2020. Prior to the study, the Government has not pre-set any outcome regarding particular transport infrastructure. How to enhance the connection between the New Territories North new development area advocated in Hong Kong 2030+: Towards a Planning Vision and Strategy Transcending 2030 and the urban area will be amongst the priorities.

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Concerning proposals on cross-boundary railway projects, as I have pointed out in my opening remark, with the commissioning of the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link ("XRL"), the travelling time between Hong Kong and other cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area ("GBA") has been greatly shortened. The Government and MTRCL will explore with the relevant Mainland authorities different measures to enhance the XRL services, with a view to strengthening the connectivity between Hong Kong and other cities in GBA.

In addition, the Government will improve the infrastructure of land boundary control points between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, which includes exploring with Shenzhen the enhancement of the Lo Wu control point in due course and studying the proposals on transport link.

In the long run, the Government will closely monitor the long-term cross-boundary transport needs in view of the development of GBA, and explore the needs for and benefits of the new cross-boundary infrastructure projects.

President, I thank Honourable Members for their sharing of many valuable opinions about the motion on "Driving the development of New Territories North with port economy" today. The Transport and Housing Bureau will study in detail the proposals provided by Members today, and continue to spur the development of New Territories North with transport infrastructure and strengthen the connection between Hong Kong and other cities in GBA through relevant policies.

Thank you, President.

SECRETARY FOR DEVELOPMENT (in Cantonese): President, I would like to thank Mr LAU Kwok-fan once again for moving the motion and Mr YIU Si-wing for proposing the amendment, and I would like to briefly make a few points in response.

When we look at the future development in a holistic manner, the first entry point may possibly be―as various Members have talked about just now―our town planning. In fact, an orderly and sound town planning regime is indispensable for the good development for our city in the future, as we can see in many big cities. For this reason, assessing the impacts of developments on the 6120 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 traffic and environment is something that we must do. The Town Planning Board ("TPB") is definitely not a rubber stamp. As seen from some actual examples in the past, TPB did not always adopt the recommendations of the Executive Authorities directly. In some cases, after learning the actual situation, especially after considering the views of local residents, TPB did revise the relevant government proposals, and might even reject them in individual cases. As a former TPB chairman, I consider this a healthy development and should not be viewed in a negative light.

So, where does the challenge lie? In fact, a number of Members have stated very clearly that the challenge lies in how the work can be expedited. Let me give you an example here, which can be used as a simple starting point for my explanation. Our colleagues from the Development Bureau have recently given a briefing on the San Tin/Lok Ma Chau Development Node at the Legislative Council. We started a feasibility study on this project in 2019. Subject to the support of Members, actual construction work will hopefully start in 2025, six years after the commencement of the study. For the sake of comparison, the Kwu Tung North/Fanling North ("KTN/FLN") New Development Area ("NDA"), previously part of the North East New Territories NDAs, has taken 11 years to complete similar procedures, whereas the Hung Shui Kiu/Ha Tsuen ("HSK/HT") NDA has taken nine years. We are not complacent at all. Under the current legislation, with the support of our colleagues and Members, we have shortened the time needed by approximately over 30% to 40%. Next, we hope to expedite our work further, which is also the expectation of Members. It is very kind of Dr Junius HO to exchange views with me via WhatsApp today. In his earlier speech, he only cited what he had said but not what I had said. So, I would like to share with Members a little about what I said. I told him: "One will never go too fast and should strive to go faster".

With the support of the Chief Executive, we have set up a Steering Group on Streamlining Development Control ("the Steering Group") under the Development Bureau. Colleagues from other bureaux and departments whose duties are related to development control, such as those involved in transport and environmental issues, have recently joined the Steering Group. Moving forward, apart from exploring ways to expedite some administrative procedures and synchronize or cancel various vetting and approval procedures wherever possible, we will also review relevant legislations, including laws related to town planning and road gazettal. In my view, with only a few months left in the current term of the Legislative Council, the proposed legislative amendments may LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 6121 have to be introduced in the next term of the Legislative Council rather than the current term. I hope that the Legislative Council will still give strong support to our work by then.

Members have also mentioned that it is impossible not to take the Mainland situation into account when we talk about the planning of Hong Kong. The Government absolutely concurs with this point. Due to its proximity to the Shenzhen Port Economic Belt, New Territories North provides easy access to Shenzhen and the eastern part of Guangdong. Utilizing the geographical and transport advantages of New Territories North so as to fully grasp the development opportunities in the Mainland is a vital consideration in our planning for relevant developments. The Government will give due consideration to regional development, including the details of the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area ("GBA") and the 14th Five-Year Plan. In particular, the 14th Five-Year Plan has for the first time proposed to support the construction of an international centre for innovation and technology in Hong Kong. We will specifically explore ways to achieve synergy with the scientific research and technology developments in Shenzhen, so as to dovetail with the development plan of the Central Government to offer strong support for Hong Kong-Shenzhen cooperation in building an international centre for technological innovation under the GBA Development Strategy.

I will briefly talk about the situation in Sha Tau Kok. As I mentioned in my opening speech, the Government has in fact reduced the size of closed area by more than 80% in recent years, from the original 2 800 hectares to about 400 hectares. However, due to its unique historical circumstances, Sha Tau Kok is at high risk of smuggling and other security threats. Moving forward, such risks must be overcome if certain measures have to be introduced in Sha Tau Kok for relatively large-scale development, especially large-scale tourism activities. We will take back all the suggestions made by Members today for relevant colleagues to conduct follow-up studies.

President, last but not least, I would say that we are going full steam ahead with numerous projects in respect of land planning. Let us not just focus on New Territories North but look further to other large-scale NDAs. The Tung Chung Extension Area will see its first population intake in 2023-2024, with a large population intake―especially in public housing―in 2026-2027; the 6122 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021

KTN/FLN NDA will also expect its first population intake in 2023-2024, with a large population intake possibly targeted for 2027-2028; the HSK/HT NDA will see its first population intake in 2023-2024, with a large population intake in around 2030. Coming up next will be the several developments in New Territories North we mentioned just now, which we expect a population intake in 2032. Depending on our work progress, there may be a larger or earlier population intake. Next, regarding the artificial islands in the central waters, subject to smooth progress, we have mentioned that the first population intake is targeted for 2034. I noticed that Mrs Regina IP has repeatedly reminded me in previous discussions that this timetable was very ambitious, wondering if it was really attainable. We will try our best, given the keen demand for land in Hong Kong. I am also pleased to hear today that Members appear to be supportive of the Government in further expediting all relevant efforts, including the review of legislation. We will further brief Members on our specific proposals as soon as they are available.

Thank you, President.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): I now call upon Mr YIU Si-wing to move an amendment.

MR YIU SI-WING (in Cantonese): President, I move my amendment.

The amendment moved by Mr YIU Si-wing (See the marked-up version at Annex 1)

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): I now propose the question to you and that is: That the amendment moved by Mr YIU Si-wing be passed.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): I now put the question to you as stated. Will those in favour please raise their hands?

(Members raised their hands)

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PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Those against please raise their hands.

(No hands raised)

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): I think the question is agreed by a majority of each of the two groups of Members present, that is, those returned by functional constituencies and those returned by geographical constituencies through direct elections.

I declare the amendment passed.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mr LAU Kwok-fan, you still have 22 seconds to reply. Then, the debate will come to a close.

MR LAU KWOK-FAN (in Cantonese): About 20 Members have spoken today. I would like to thank Members for their views. I hope that today's motion debate will allow us to focus on the development of New Territories North and the port economy in the future.

Let us look at the satellite pictures of 1985 and 2021 again. We have wasted about 40 years (The buzzer sounded) … I hope that Members can support my motion.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mr LAU Kwok-fan, please stop speaking.

I now put the question to you and that is: That the motion moved by Mr LAU Kwok-fan, as amended by Mr YIU Si-wing, be passed. Will those in favour please raise their hands?

(Members raised their hands)

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Those against please raise their hands.

(No hands raised)

6124 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): I think the question is agreed by a majority of each of the two groups of Members present, that is, those returned by functional constituencies and those returned by geographical constituencies through direct elections.

I declare the motion as amended passed.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Member's motion with no legislative effect.

Dr CHIANG Lai-wan will move a motion on "Setting up a New Generation Fund to help the new generation in Hong Kong plan for the future".

Members who wish to speak please press the "Request to speak" button.

I now call upon Dr CHIANG Lai-wan to speak and move the motion.

MOTION ON "SETTING UP A NEW GENERATION FUND TO HELP THE NEW GENERATION IN HONG KONG PLAN FOR THE FUTURE"

DR CHIANG LAI-WAN (in Cantonese): President, the motion I propose today urges the Government to set up a "New Generation Fund" for newborns and children under the age of 18 in Hong Kong. I believe Members may remember that I proposed a motion on "Advocating the establishment of a 'baby fund'" in 2017. Thanks to all parties for their valuable views, I was given an opportunity to further improve the relevant proposal for the Government's reference and study. I hope that the motion today will be supported by Members.

Some have asked me why I care so much about the new generation. I believe Members also know that the population of Hong Kong is rapidly ageing; the new generation will not only face greater pressure in supporting the elderly but also increasingly intense competition in society. We hear on the news day after day that many young people engage in illegal activities with impacts on their entire lives because of petty gains. Some poor children also feel that they have nothing but a bleak future, and some even think that they have been abandoned by society. Therefore, in my opinion, this is the right time for the Government to examine whether there are long-term policies that can help the new generation.

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I set up a centre with some members of the business sector to specifically provide services to young people the year before last. We provided different classes for participation by young people having different needs and interests for free. We found that these young people were very pure and smart, and they have a strong desire to do better. All they need is the support of members of the community who have both the heart and the means. For this reason, DAB has constantly studied and made reference to the policies of other regions to help child development in recent years. The Research Office of the Legislative Council Secretariat has also studied child development funds in selected places as well as their implementation and effectiveness. In a nutshell, we found that many regions have set up special child development funds and the ideas of some of them are similar to ours. For instance, the Education Savings Programme in Canada, the Child Trust Fund in the United Kingdom and the Child Development Co-Savings Scheme in Singapore. Among the selected places, Singapore's fund has the highest participation rate of 95% and its scheme is obviously well received by local people.

President, the motion today hopes that the Government can consider setting up an account for each child of Hong Kong permanent residents who is under the age of 18. The Government and the parents will deposit funds at matching amounts into a child's account each year, until the child reaches the age of 18. For the parents of these children, these are not mandatory but voluntary contributions. The Government can provide incentives to encourage the parents and the Government to jointly contribute to the children's savings. President, at first glance, this is another "cash handout" proposal. However, this is definitely not a "cash handout" proposal, but a long-term proposal that can solve many existing social problems.

First, there has been a pressing need for the Government to improve medical insurance for many years. It can now encourage the new generation to take out medical insurance early through the "New Generation Fund" ("the Fund"). Second, when the new generation reaches adulthood and has personal Mandatory Provident Fund ("MPF") accounts, their original fund deposits will be transferred to their MPF accounts. This will increase their MPF reserves to provide greater protection for their future retirement life. Third, after the fund has been in operation for a period of time, it is estimated that the deposits will be increasing and the Government can issue infrastructure bonds or green bonds to attract priority purchase by fund customers. This can guarantee fund incomes and allow the continuous development of infrastructures in Hong Kong so that the 6126 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 best in each other will be brought out. The fourth point is very important. If everyone in Hong Kong will have savings in the future, this will indirectly result in a smaller poor population and alleviate problems including cross-generational poverty. The last point is more of a psychological issue. Some young people often think that their parents and the Government do not care about their future. I believe the setting up of the Fund is the best proof that parents and the Government are planning early for the future of young people.

President, concerning the idea of the Fund, I have personally met with the Chief Executive, the Chief Secretary for Administration, the Financial Secretary and other responsible officials. Some of them agreed that the idea was very good, while others were worried that public finances might be affected. We have also conducted a related study and the results showed that public finances will not be affected. The Government allocated $200 billion to set up the Future Fund a few years ago, and the average annual investment return arising from the Future Fund was more than 8% in the past few years, i.e. an annual return of about $16 billion. As its name suggests, the Future Fund seeks to prepare for the future and the next generation is our future. Can the Government consider setting aside some revenues for the next generation? If calculated on the basis of the population under the age of 18, the number of people at the peak is 1 million. If the Government allocates $3,000 a year to each person, the total amount incurred will only be about $3 billion. Even if the Government does not want to make withdrawals from the Future Fund, it can also make reference to the lotteries issued by different regions for specific purposes. For example, the Government can consider issuing new generation lotteries.

Some people may ask what should be done if poor families cannot afford making contributions. What are the specific uses of the Fund? How will it be managed in the future? We have also considered these problems, but we believe so long as the Government has the determination, all the problems can be solved. The most important thing is whether the Government is willing to consider doing so. Some people consider this a good proposal, but it is different from instant noodles as the results may only be seen many years later. The Government may not be willing to do so. I understand that. However, as we can see, the country has taken more than 30 years to achieve the eradication of poverty involving 700 million people. Although the process was very strenuous and arduous, it was proven that we can definitely attain success as long as we have the determination.

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President, given the rapidly ageing population and social changes in Hong Kong today, the new generation will be facing more challenges. Mr LIANG Qichao once said, "if young people are strong, the country will be strong; if young people are rich, the country will be prosperous". For the future of the new generation, I implore Members to make concerted efforts together to urge the Government to consider and study long-term benevolent measure on people's livelihood. I also believe a forward-looking government will surely be determined to plan for the future of the new generation and create more opportunities for children. I urge Members to support my motion.

I so submit.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Dr CHIANG Lai-wan, please move your motion.

DR CHIANG LAI-WAN (in Cantonese): President, I move that the motion, as printed on the Agenda, be passed.

Dr CHIANG Lai-wan moved the following motion: (Translation)

"That this Council urges the Government to set up a 'New Generation Fund' ('the Fund') for newborns and children under the age of 18 in Hong Kong; the Fund can encourage and help the new generation to keep savings through sustainable and joint contributions from the Government and families as well as investment returns; at the same time, the Fund can provide exemption from making full contributions to aid families in financial difficulties, and tax deduction for families making contributions to increase the incentive for such contributions; the Fund not only can encourage parents to make early preparation for the planning of their children's future but also can provide the new generation with better conditions and more opportunities of upward mobility, thereby alleviating cross-generational poverty so that more children will hold out greater hopes about the future."

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): I now propose the question to you and that is: That the motion moved by Dr CHIANG Lai-wan be passed.

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SECRETARY FOR LABOUR AND WELFARE (in Cantonese): President, I thank Dr CHIANG Lai-wan for proposing this motion so that the Government can listen to Members' views on how we should support the new generation.

Children and adolescents are the future of Hong Kong. Therefore, the Government has attached great importance to nurturing the next generation and providing them with support in different policy areas to foster their development.

Speaking of youth development policy, the current-term Government strives to do our best in youth development work by addressing their concerns about education, career pursuit and home ownership, and encouraging their participation in politics as well as public policy discussion and debate. In so doing, they will see hope and opportunities for upward mobility. The Youth Development Commission ("YDC") chaired by the Chief Secretary for Administration is tasked to enhance policy coordination within the Government, thereby enabling more effective examination and discussion of issues of concern to young people. Since its establishment, YDC has kept launching and enhancing different schemes to facilitate young people's career development and promote their upward mobility. For example, it actively promotes youth life planning to help young people choose the right education and career path; it funds and organizes exchange and internship programmes in the Mainland and overseas for young people to broaden their horizons, gain working experience, and enhance their competitiveness in employment in the future; and it launches funding schemes under the Youth Development Fund to provide assistance to young people who are interested in starting their businesses in Hong Kong or Mainland cities of the Greater Bay Area.

Moreover, the Government has actively promoted the Youth Hostel Scheme to meet the aspirations of some working youth in having their own living spaces and enable them to accumulate savings for pursuing their aspirations in personal development. The Government will continue to maintain close liaison with the relevant stakeholders to further expand and enhance our youth development efforts.

In respect of education, the Government holds that education plays a key role in nurturing talent and promoting social mobility. The Education Bureau will uphold the "professional‑led" principle and shoulder the long-term commitment to education investment by putting in substantial resources to LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 6129 provide quality education. For instance, it has introduced a number of financial assistance schemes for students to ensure that no students will be denied access to education because of lack of means.

From the perspective of social welfare policy, the various welfare services provided by the Labour and Welfare Bureau and the Social Welfare Department ("SWD") are government support to children and adolescents with welfare needs or families in financial difficulty. They are provided to assist those families in dealing with or even getting out of their difficulties so that the children and adolescents concerned can have more development opportunities on their path of growth. To this end, SWD has all along served children and adolescents with welfare needs through its service units and the subvented services of non-governmental organizations. The relevant services include various child care services for families in financial difficulty; social work service in kindergartens and child care centres which seeks to identify high-risk families at an early stage and refer them to appropriate services; outreaching social work service for youth at risk; rehabilitation services for children and adolescents with disabilities; professional counselling service for children and adolescents with academic, social or emotional problems provided in the Integrated Community Centre for Mental Wellness; and residential care services for children who are temporarily devoid of adequate family care for different reasons or adolescents with behavioural or emotional difficulties.

We have also set up the Child Development Fund and Partnership Fund for the Disadvantaged to promote tripartite partnership among the welfare sector, the business community and the Government in helping the grass-roots households and other disadvantaged families. The Child Development Fund makes use of its three major components, namely targeted savings, mentorship programme and personal development plans, to help the disadvantaged children aged 10 to 16 or students at Primary Four to Secondary Four level whose household income is less than 75% of the Median Monthly Domestic Household Income or whose families are receiving financial assistance such as the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance or the Working Family Allowance. Through the enhancement of personal resilience and ability in planning for their future, the participants will be driven to set the right personal goals.

At the meeting of the Panel on Welfare Services held on Monday, Dr CHIANG Lai-wan asked me whether the savings target of the Fund could be increased; whether the target beneficiaries could be expanded to all children and 6130 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 adolescents instead of confining to the disadvantaged children at the grassroots level, and whether the scope of beneficiaries could be expanded to cover children of all ages. However, given that the objective of the Fund is to alleviate cross-generational poverty, and the grass-roots families are often the ones who lack the means to help the next generation build their social networks and broaden their horizons, we hold that the Fund should continue to focus on helping grass-roots children. Members should note that participants of the Child Development Fund may use their targeted savings to realize their personal development plans in the third year of the project. For example, they may use the savings to learn their interested skills or buy tools to facilitate their personal development. Under the guidance of volunteer mentors, the participants will learn how to plan for the future based on their interests and abilities so as to build their confidence and developing a positive outlook to life. Considering the nature of such activities, we do not think our participants should be too young.

President, today, the Secretary for Home Affairs and the Under Secretary for Education are with me in this motion debate. We will listen carefully to Members' speeches and respond to their views on youth development, education, social welfare, etc. in our concluding remarks.

Thank you, President.

MR CHRISTOPHER CHEUNG (in Cantonese): President, the motion proposed by Dr CHIANG Lai-wan today is a policy which she has insisted for years that the Government should implement. I really appreciate her persistence in proposing this motion, which enables the community to understand that investing in our next generation is equivalent to investing in our future. The underlying idea which Dr CHIANG holds fast to is worthy of our support.

The motion proposed by Dr CHIANG is about the setting up of a "New Generation Fund". It encourages and helps new parents to keep savings for their next generation through sustainable contributions from the Government and families as well as investment returns. It is also suggested that the Government should provide exemption from making some Mandatory Provident Fund contributions to aid families in financial difficulties so as to enable them to make contributions. The original intention is very good. As a representative of the financial services sector, I have some knowledge of money management. I agree very much that keeping savings is the first step to money management, and LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 6131 the setting up of the "New Generation Fund" can really keep savings for the new generation. However, after they reach adulthood at the age of 18, can they move upwards with this sum of money? I have doubt about it.

On the other hand, Dr CHIANG Lai-wan has also given careful consideration and sought to save people of the low-income class from the need to make the contributions by requiring the Government to make the contributions instead. However, it is doubtful as to how to draw a line on the low-income class. If the line is drawn too high, the Government's financial burden will be increased significantly. It is also not be desirable if the line is drawn too low. The monthly expenses of many families are already great. If they are mandated to make contributions, the amount accumulated may not be of help in the future if the amount of contributions is too small; and yet, the family burden will be increased if the amount of contributions is too large. Under such circumstances, we must give the matter further thoughts and hold further discussions.

President, I wish to point out that there is no investment in the world which is better than the investment in oneself, making oneself more knowledgeable and educated. Only in this way can the low-income group be genuinely lifted out of poverty, because knowledge can change one's fate. Parents are also duty-bound to teach their children the importance of savings, so that they will have good money management and savings habit after they start to work in society.

I reiterate that the motion proposed by Dr CHIANG Lai-wan has suggested a direction for plugging gaps in the existing welfare policy. It is very worthwhile for the Government to examine how it will be implemented. For instance, the "New Generation Fund" may be turned into education fund, allowing children to use the fund for self-enhancement, such as studying in universities, studying master's degree programmes, etc. In this way, more talents can be nurtured for Hong Kong and the country. I hope that the Government can properly follow up on Dr CHIANG Lai-wan's proposal and earnestly study the details and the feasibility thereof, and will not just sit on its hands after listening to the proposal.

President, I so submit.

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MR FRANKIE YICK (in Cantonese): President, the motion proposed by Dr CHIANG Lai-wan today is just old wine in a new bottle. Like the "baby fund" proposed in 2017, it seeks to provide ready cash, through early savings, for the young generation to equip themselves so that they will have more opportunities for upward mobility, thereby alleviating cross-generational poverty. However, the Liberal Party already expressed reservations about the suggestion of setting up a fund during the discussion on the last occasion.

Under the proposed "New Generation Fund", parents and the Government will make contributions jointly until the child reaches the age of 18. Since the Fund is not a poverty alleviation programme, the Government will start making a contribution to the account of the child once he or she is born, irrespective of his or her family background. Although the fiscal reserves of the Government still stand at some $800 billion, in the face of a fiscal deficit, the Government has repeatedly indicated that it needs to spend within its means. With the ageing population in Hong Kong, the expenditure on medical and welfare services is expected to rise continuously in the future. The introduction of this universal fund scheme will only further increase the financial burden on the Government.

President, I have learnt from the information published by the Census and Statistics Department that the number of young people aged 18 or below in Hong Kong has remained within the range from around 1 million to 1.2 million for a period of time. Hence, the Government's contribution of $1,000 per person per year will cost about $1 billion at today's prices. If the interest rate is 2% per annum, the sum will amount to $22,840 in 18 years, which seems not to be of much use. However, an increase of $1,000 in the contribution will be equivalent to an increase of $1 billion in the Government's financial commitment.

I have also referred to the relevant research report prepared by the Secretariat. Due to time constraints, I am not able to go into the details. However, I wish to point out that the Child Trust Fund programme introduced in the United Kingdom in 2005 was basically abolished in 2011 because the British Government could no longer afford it. Singapore's Child Development Co-Savings (Baby Bonus) Scheme is one of the Singaporean Government's initiatives to support local children and increase fertility rate. In my view, the scheme is aimed to encourage births rather than support children's development because in fact, the Singaporean Government has also implemented various policies and initiatives to support children's development.

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As a matter of fact, financially secure families have taken out savings schemes for the next generation on their own, and there are many savings-related fund products available in the market for parents to choose from. As for disadvantaged families, it is already hard for them to make ends meet. Presently, working people are already required to make Mandatory Provident Fund contributions equal to a specified percentage of their salary. The introduction of the "New Generation Fund" will only add to the financial burden on families with children. For disadvantaged families, the Government has been providing support through various means, including the Child Development Fund set up in 2008, financial assistance schemes for students, the Continuing Education Fund, and the Community Care Fund. Therefore, our next generation will not be deprived of learning opportunities due to financial problems.

The Liberal Party takes the view that the problems facing Hong Kong today are the overly uniform development of industries and the tilt towards the development of the financial services and real estate industries, which cause flocks of students to study relevant courses. Due to keen competition, graduation means unemployment for them. As for the four key economic pillars that have been stressed by the Government, both the trading and logistics industry and the tourism industry are just resting on their laurels, which, coupled with a mismatch of human resources, has resulted in the shrinkage of industries. The limited development of industries has led to the simultaneous existence of both unfilled job vacancies and jobless people, thus hindering young people from developing their strengths and affecting their chances of upward mobility.

The Liberal Party hopes that apart from continuing to devote resources to consolidating and enhancing the four key economic pillars, the Government will also promote the diversification of industries by stepping up training and education related to various occupations and professional skills, providing life planning education at an early stage to enable students to understand the information and development of various industries, so that young people will have more career choices and employment opportunities. As long as they have opportunities for upward mobility, they can make their first fortune with their own hands without having to rely on their parents. The social problem of cross-generational poverty will also be alleviated.

President, the Liberal Party takes the view that Dr CHIANG's suggestion will fail to achieve her intended objectives, despite her good intentions, of course. Moreover, making contributions to everyone is not an effective way to use public funds. Therefore, the Liberal Party does not support the motion. I so submit.

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MS YUNG HOI-YAN (in Cantonese): President, Dr CHIANG Lai-wan has proposed the motion on "Setting up a New Generation Fund to help the new generation in Hong Kong plan for the future". I strongly concur with that because it is very important to help couples who have children and reduce the parenting pressure on working parents. I also have the experience. It is not easy to be parents in modern times as we have to care about children's education, growth and development, and to make savings for these purposes. In particular, making additional savings may not be affordable to every parent.

I have just heard the Secretary introduce the Child Development Fund with targeted savings as one of the components. I think this overlaps with the concept of the "New Generation Fund". The Child Development Fund aims to help children or young people achieve short-term targets through the use of the resources of the family, the business sector and the Government. I consider that the Child Development Fund is worthy of encouragement. As for the "New Generation Fund", withdrawals can only be made when children reach the age of 18. Can this genuinely help parents face the pressure of raising children or education? I do not think it can.

Our children have to attend tuition, drawing and dance classes, etc. and all these require resources. If flexible arrangement is made to the "New Generation Fund" to allow withdrawal of $3,000 or a certain amount each month, I would prefer the Government to use these resources to organize more classes, e.g. sports classes. How can the Government provide more sports facilities or sports classes to children and families in need? The Secretary for Home Affairs may feel puzzle about this. In fact, I am also a beneficiary of the music classes. Since the age of six, I had started participating in the activities organized by the Music Office and was still taking part in these activities when I attended secondary school. These activities can help relieve the pressure of many families, give children room for upward mobility or nurture their interests in these activities. The Government really needs to increase resources to nurture children and give them room for development. I find this is more important.

Is it necessary to provide funds or resources for future use by young people when they reach 18 years of age? This is definitely necessary because not only university students who have just graduated or just started working need support, middle-class people, young-old people and the retired ones also need support. Should a fund be set up for each of these classes of people?

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Mr YICK has also referred to the policy on childbearing in Hong Kong a while ago. Does Hong Kong have a policy to encourage childbearing? I do not quite think so. Secretary Dr LAW Chi-kwong once said that the Hong Kong Government did not have any policy to encourage childbearing. Nor is there any mention of policy encouraging childbearing in the documents on population policy published in 2003 and 2014. In my opinion, it is a policy priority for the Hong Kong Government to encourage childbearing.

The total number of births in Hong Kong was 52 856 in 2019, but the number of marriages contracted dropped by 40% in the first 11 months of 2020 and the number of newborns also dropped by 17% to only 40 369, which hit a 30-year low. However, the number of deaths reached 46 414, surpassing the number of births for the first time. Therefore, Hong Kong is facing the problem of low fertility rates, which is also a global problem. Many countries and regions around the world are facing the problem of low fertility rates. We should consider setting up some funds or formulating new policies to encourage and stimulate childbirth, or give parents and young people room, and help them develop careers in which they are interested. I think this is a more important task.

Dr CHIANG Lai-wan has just referred to Singapore's Baby Bonus Scheme. In July 2019 when Mrs IP, members of the New People's Party and I met with the Financial Secretary, we proposed that the Government should distribute $20,000 cash allowance to each woman in the postnatal period, with a view to reducing the pressure of families with newborns. I hope that the Government will continue to consider this proposal. I also hope that it will provide greater support to families with newborns.

I so submit.

MS ELIZABETH QUAT (in Cantonese): President, I first thank Dr CHIANG Lai-wan for proposing this motion. This is not the first time she proposes this motion. I think this motion is full of love, care for families and love for the next generation.

In my opinion, Dr CHIANG Lai-wan seeks to throw out some suggestions through this motion in the hope of allowing the Hong Kong community to discuss the topic extensively, and driving this Council and the Government to positively 6136 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 respond to and conduct in-depth study in encouraging childbearing and creating hopes for young people.

President, we know that the major problems faced by Hong Kong are low birth rate and ageing population. Besides, Hong Kong is also facing the problem of young people having difficult in moving upward and losing hope in the future. Also, cross-generational poverty is another problem that Hong Kong has been facing. I dare not say that the motion proposed by Dr CHIANG Lai-wan this time can resolve all the problems. Of course, no single motion or policy can resolve all the problems. However, I definitely think that there is a good intention behind Dr CHIANG Lai-wan's motion, and that is, driving to resolve some of these problems.

The wordings of the motion proposed by Dr CHIANG Lai-wan this time are relatively simpler, without specifying the implementation details. Thus, there is a lot of room for study and exploration. The motion of Dr CHIANG seeks to urge the Government to set up a "New Generation Fund" for all newborns and children under the age of 18 in Hong Kong, which can be created through joint contributions and investment from the Government and families. When a baby was born, a sum of money will be deposited in his or her bank account for accumulating investment returns and this sum of money can be withdrawn for use when he or she reaches the age of 18. The concept is probably like that.

What is the advantage of the "New Generation Fund"? First, it encourages childbearing. Nowadays, many parents may not be willing to bear a lot of children; many have even indicated their wish of not having any children because the expenses incurred are too high. One of their considerations is the high expenses of raising children, but the Fund may not be able to resolve the problem of expenses related to children when they are between 0 and 18 years old. However, after the children grow up, resources will be needed regardless of whether they want to continue their studies, have their own cosy home or even start their business. When they reach 18 years old, a sum of money will be saved up, which may more or less help the young people pursue their dreams. Also, parents will have one less burden and one more hope.

Regarding the problem of ageing population, as Dr CHIANG has also mentioned, when the present-day new generation grows up, it will face the serious problem of ageing population in Hong Kong. Of course, a LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 6137 multi-pronged approach is needed to tackle the problem of ageing population. However, what we must consider is how heavy the burden of young people will be when they grow up, and whether the Fund can help them lessen their burden. I think that all these are worthy of consideration.

The Government will certainly say that the Child Development Fund has been in place. However, there are a lot of inadequacies in this fund. Currently, the number of children in poverty under 18 years old alone has exceeded 170 000. Since the establishment of the fund more than 10 years ago, over 10 000 grass-roots children have participated in the fund. As the amount of money accumulated is very little, the fund is not of much help to these children, other than allowing them to start developing a saving habit. From this, it can be seen that the Child Development Fund is definitely not adequate. Therefore, we propose establishing in Hong Kong a universal and long-term child development fund named "New Generation Fund" with an aim of helping all children.

We must not say that rich people can handle the matter on their own. They are rich today, but this does not mean that they will still be rich tomorrow. Even if some people are rich today, they may get divorced tomorrow. Many children were originally born in rich families, but after they become children in single-parent families, their living quality drops drastically due to the failure in obtaining alimony payments, which will render them unable to meet future expenses on further studies, employment and so on. Therefore, I think that we should be a bit more forward-looking and consider the needs of our future generation. I hope that Members will support Dr CHIANG Lai-wan's motion as it at least prompt the Government to study the relevant problems in depth to bring hope to young people. (The buzzer sounded)

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Ms Elizabeth QUAT, please stop speaking.

DR PRISCILLA LEUNG (in Cantonese): President, I first thank Dr CHIANG Lai-wan for persistently striving for more plans for children and the new generation, and hoping that the Government can make more contributions. I think that such aspiration and goal are worthy of praise.

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Today, we are discussing the "New Generation Fund". Whenever I see the word "fund", I tend not to adopt a very positive attitude towards it because of my previous experiences with different funds. I must share these experiences with Members before considering how to help the new generation from this direction in a more focused manner.

A fund which is the most closely related to wage earners like us―I am also a wage earner―is the Mandatory Provident Fund ("MPF"). I think that fund managers definitely welcome the establishment of more funds. I have gone through nearly more than half of my working career, but whenever I look at my MPF statement, I noticed that there is only a tiny amount of money every month which can hardly support my retirement life. Most of the money has gone into the pockets of the intermediaries who manage the funds.

The second fund is the education fund which I purchased as a parent. I started purchasing such fund since the births of my two sons. I was told that I could get back $1 million when my sons reached 18 years old, and it seemed to me this was not bad for a monthly contribution of a few thousand dollars. When my sons reached 18 years old, I could only get $300,000. I asked why the amount was not $1 million as promised but had been reduced. I was told that my investments suffered heavy losses and those intermediaries had also "swallowed" my money during the period. Therefore, my personal experience with fund management is not very good.

However, I notice that the experience of Singapore is quite successful as its citizens are often very supportive of their own government. I am very worried that if these funds are managed by the Hong Kong Government, how will these funds be managed? I do not hold a particular view that this child development fund will be handled very well by the Government. I only think that the Government should effectively review why everyone thinks there is a lack of support for child development in Hong Kong.

We must face a very important problem. According to my experience, even though parents have made comprehensive arrangements for their children, the children may not use this sum of money to pursue their dreams as soon as they turn 18. I can see that youngsters of many families around me do not have dreams. In that case, even if there is money for them to find their dreams, they may fail to do so because parents have prepared everything for them. Youngsters of this generation are different from those of ours as we were LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 6139 courageous enough to try our luck. In those years, we could even play with a piece of candy paper. Currently, there are plenty of opportunities around us. After discussing the first motion for so long, we should know that the country's Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and innovation and technology developments have offered lots of opportunities for them. However, many people now lack the incentive to move upward. Apart from the atmosphere of depression prevailing in society, another cause is certainly the serious problem in education―I see that the Under Secretary is present― has made our children put all the blame on the Government, society and parents. We might need to boost their courage to try their luck.

Frankly speaking, I have reservation about the establishment of the "New Generation Fund". However, I agree to give Members an opportunity to study how to assist those disadvantaged families in a more focused manner so that they will not lag behind at the starting line. It is because this will cause many youngsters to grumble at the community during their development, which I think is unhealthy. For this reason, I will not vote on this motion. While I respect Dr CHIANG Lai-wan's good intentions for children and youngsters, I think that the Government should also make extra efforts rather than simply giving us a child development fund.

President, I so submit.

MR WILSON OR (in Cantonese): President, first of all, I would like to thank Dr CHIANG Lai-wan for proposing today's motion to give this Council an opportunity to discuss the policy of supporting the new generation. I also notice that Dr CHIANG Lai-wan has spent much effort and time on advocating this policy both inside and outside this Council. I respect her endeavours.

I often criticize that the overall welfare policy of Hong Kong in the past was neither comprehensive nor visionary. However, today, I am so glad to see that apart from the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, who is the official-in-charge, the Secretary for Home Affairs and the Under Secretary for Education are also present. It is sufficient to prove that the SAR Government attaches great importance to the motion today and is willing to listen to the views of Members.

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President, the debate today is about setting up a "New Generation Fund" ("the Fund") for newborns and children under the age of 18. I do not think the Government can say "no" to this proposal because the establishment of the Fund is a visionary initiative with high social investment value. It benefits not only our next generation but also the entire society.

While the term "cross-generational poverty" is often used to describe the situation of backward third-world countries, this poverty issue is not far from Hong Kong. According to the Hong Kong Poverty Situation Report 2019 published by the Government last year, the population of poor had increased for four consecutive years to hit a decade-high. The community needs to take this situation seriously and pay attention to it.

Currently, government support in areas such as child education, child care, youth's personal growth and self-enhancement are insufficient, and I think it is really hard for parents to only count on themselves. As parents are always full of worries, we can see online many parents keenly discuss their increasing pressure and smaller accommodation. A lot of double-income parents have to work all day long, and have no time for their children. Yet, they will always leave some savings for their children to attend interest classes, tutorial classes or even mock interviews to seek enhancements. These problems are very common to both the middle-class and grass-roots families.

How can the Government help them? Apart from the provision of 12-year free education, the Government can actually play a more active and committed role in providing young people with career and development support. Many of us have heard that the best way to genuinely help farmers is to teach them farming methods and provide them with farm tools. The Fund, in my view, is the very tool to provide the new generation with resources for their self-enhancement and development.

The motion does not only suggest the Government to share the contributions to the Fund and provide tax deduction to ease the financial burden of parents, it also suggests the Government to offer incentives to encourage parents to make contributions. In order to aid families in financial difficulties, the motion also proposes the provision of exemption from making full contributions to lower their contribution amount. President, I think this is another way to support parents, so that they will have more resources to raise their children and plan for their children's future.

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Today, I hope that all Directors of Bureaux and government officials in this Chamber will listen seriously and study carefully to follow up on the matter. Making long-term plans for the new generation and improving the youth poverty problem in Hong Kong is, in my opinion, beneficial to the community. The most important of all, they can contribute to the long-term stability and harmonious development of society. Following an improvement of the electoral system, Hong Kong will have to solve its deep-rooted conflicts, among which the alleviation of cross-generational poverty and the provision of support to the new generation are key issues. In order to bring hope and happiness to the people, especially the next generation, I hope the Directors of Bureaux will bear in mind that it is crucial for the Government to show commitment, give support and make efforts.

President, I know that my speaking time is running out. Yet, I wish to point out that DAB has made a lot of welfare proposals that can give support to the new generation. Some of them have even been accepted by the Government, e.g. the frequently-discussed child healthcare vouchers, the introduction of 15-year free education, and the addition of community facilities such as after school care programme centres and day crèches. The aforesaid initiatives can help ease parents' pressure of child-raising. However, in the face of new situation and new challenges, the Government must be more forward-looking and plan strategically to bring happiness to our next generation and make them feel that they can give play to their strengths in Hong Kong.

President, lastly, I express my support for Dr CHIANG Lai-wan's motion. I so submit. Thank you, President.

MR VINCENT CHENG (in Cantonese): President, first of all, I would like to thank Dr CHIANG Lai-wan for proposing the motion on "Setting up a New Generation Fund to help the new generation in Hong Kong plan for the future" today, as she has given the Legislative Council an opportunity to discuss how the Government can appropriately ease the financial burden and stress facing the parents nowadays in raising the new generation from newborn to adolescent, especially the burden and stress related to education and healthcare expenses.

I support the Member's motion proposed by Dr CHIANG today because I consider it right for the Government to explore holistically how Hong Kong should develop a new generation fund savings programmes. President, as far as 6142 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021

I understand it, joint participation is the concept behind the "New Generation Fund" ("the Fund") proposed by Dr CHIANG Lai-wan in her motion, whereby families and the Government will make joint contributions to the Fund every year. Each child born to a Hong Kong permanent resident will have his own Fund account at birth, which will receive contributions until he reaches the age of 18. The funds in his account can then be used to meet his needs for self-enhancement, education, healthcare and health insurance. When he starts working and has a Mandatory Provident Fund ("MPF") account, his Fund account balance will be transferred to his MPF account.

DAB supports the setting up of the "New Generation Fund" to help parents keep savings, earn interest and accrue investment benefits. In order to aid families in financial difficulties, the authorities may consider providing certain exemptions from making full contributions, and providing tax deduction for families making contributions to increase the financial incentive for such contributions.

In fact, it is not novel to set up trust funds or savings programmes of this kind to benefit children and adolescents. They have been available in Singapore, the United Kingdom and other places for many years. While such programmes are implemented by the governments, both the governments and parents are required to contribute to the fund accounts at the same time. The next generation can then have savings to move upward, pursue further studies and enter university in the future. Assets will also be accumulated for the payment of necessary expenses before they grow up.

Regarding Singapore, I noted that modifications had been made to its programme during the implementation. For example, in 2011, when the Singaporean Government found that the savings made by low-income families in their child development accounts ("CDAs") had dropped, it introduced a one-off measure to address the issue of affordability among lower-income families by offering them with more top-up amount. In addition, in times of weak economy, the Singaporean Government had eased the financial pressure of the grass-roots families by making a top-up to all CDAs.

Drawing reference from the overseas experience of implementing child or youth development fund savings programmes, we may link the Fund with other savings schemes, so that the funds can be transferred to other accounts when a child grows up. For instance, the CDA balance will be transferred to the LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 6143

Post-Secondary Education Account of a child participant when he reaches 13 years of age. Therefore, there are indeed many ways and ideas to improve these programmes.

President, according to the Hong Kong Poverty Situation Report 2019 published by the Census and Statistics Department in last December, as at the end of 2019, the total number of poor children before policy intervention was 253 000. The child poverty rate of 24.9% indicated that one in every four children was living below the poverty line. After policy intervention, the number of poor children remained high at 180 000, and the poverty rate of 17.8% represented that one in every six children was living below the poverty line. Worse still, the serious unemployment and underemployment problems plaguing Hong Kong right now were not reflected in those figures. Therefore, even though the "New Generation Fund" is not a magic wand that can reduce the poor child population in a blink of an eye, it can at least help ease cross-generational poverty in the medium to long run.

Yesterday, I heard the news about Olympics, saying that the Government had purchased the broadcasting rights to the Tokyo Olympic Games for Hong Kong's television stations to broadcast the Games. This is a good thing, and I think we are all happy to watch the Games. Yet, it made me ponder on the development of local elite athletes at the same time. It is the dream of many grass-roots children to become elite athletes, but making their dreams come true is not easy. In particular, children from poor families do not even have a chance to attend interest classes for beginners. So, how should we nurture elite athletes? If we want our children and young people to have pluralistic development, we must invest in them.

Lastly, I hope that the Government will have a revolutionary mindset and make careful plans for the operation of the "New Generation Fund". I support the motion of Dr CHIANG Lai-wan. I so submit.

DR CHENG CHUNG-TAI (in Cantonese): President, currently in Hong Kong, I believe probably 90% of parents with children are not discussing such topics as the "New Generation Fund". Instead, they should be talking about whether or when to emigrate to other countries, and whether they should become "astronaut families", just like those before 1997.

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Of course, this motion does not target at families which already have children, but couples who are planning to have children. I believe Members may have a similar thought in mind. In fact, some Hong Kong people are unable to emigrate to other countries for a very simple reason: They are being bogged down by mortgages of 20 or 30 years. Is it really possible for them to settle somewhere else? On the other hand, some people may think that they have no reason to leave as Hong Kong is their hometown. Anyway, with respect to this motion, will we still have the so-called new generation 10 or 20 years later?

Four years ago, I voted for a similar motion moved by Dr CHIANG Lai-wan, only to be lambasted by people to this day. I have no idea why I was lambasted. I voted in favour of Dr CHIANG's motion back then based on my understanding of a simple and direct political theory: We call whatever policy which can strengthen the civil rights of local Hong Kong people a universal policy. I will support all policies which will strengthen the civil rights enjoyed by Hong Kong residents born in Hong Kong. According to Dr CHIANG Lai-wan's current motion, the Government will make contributions for the new generation since their births, and they can withdraw the money when they reach the age of 18. I should support this motion in principle because only Hong Kong people but no one else from other places are entitled to this sum of money. Therefore, based on my political judgment, this motion in principle seeks to strengthen the civic awareness of Hong Kong people.

I have just spent dozens of seconds to explain my point. Just as I said in my opening remarks, in 2021, parents in Hong Kong are pondering whether they should emigrate but not the setting up of any fund. Their concern is, as , they do not feel happy living here and want to make better plans for their children's future lives. We can fully understand this, but in retrospect, there are some people who are unable to emigrate or think they should not leave. So, how should we make a judgment on this motion?

Members may say that I have not made my position clear on this motion, but I will abstain from voting if it is really put to vote. The main reason is not because there is problem with the "New Generation Fund", but because the SAR Government did have a lot of money in the past four years. As we all know, the Future Fund ("FF") was established to invest in the future and the new generation is our future. Excluding the initial endowment, FF has accumulated more than LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 6145

$70 billion in interest earning alone. Why don't we make use of this $80 billion? We basically do not need to set up any "New Generation Fund", and can invest in our new generation right away.

My approach is very simple. To invest in the new generation is provide them with enhanced capabilities. What does it mean by enhanced capabilities? For all children born in Hong Kong, the Government is obliged to ensure that they learn two to three foreign languages before the age of 18. In other words, the Government should provide financial assistance for them to learn an additional foreign language. If children do not like French, they may learn Spanish; if they do not like Spanish, they may learn Japanese. The Government should earmark some funding from FF to enable all children to learn an additional foreign language before the age of 18 if they wish. Given that Hong Kong is so affluent, there is nothing wrong for the Government to provide funding for children's learning.

I have certainly gone off on a tangent. The discussion on the "New Generation Fund" has become outdated, as reflected in public response. Some people may find it inconceivable that some new bands and artists have recently shot to fame, but Hong Kong is currently at a turning point and it remains to be seen if Hong Kong people can strive to bring honour to ourselves. I so submit.

MR CHAN KIN-POR (in Cantonese): The disparity between the rich and the poor is very serious in Hong Kong, and cross-generational poverty is also pretty common. The Government has been helping the poor to live through various poverty alleviation measures, and at the same time alleviating poverty of the next generation through education. However, with the rapid development of our society and the maturity of our economy, opportunities for young people to move up the social ladder have been drastically reduced, so it is basically more difficult for the next generation of poor to alleviate from poverty on their own. Therefore, I have always considered it necessary for the Government to do more for the poor people at the grass roots.

Today, Dr CHIANG Lai-wan proposed a motion on the setting up of a "New Generation Fund". She proposes to set up a fund for children under the age of 18 so that all of them will have a fund account. Dr CHIANG Lai-wan has always been concerned about the grass roots of the community, which is very unusual. This motion is about fighting for the rights of poor children. While I 6146 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 admire her goodwill and support the general direction, I believe many problems in respect of timing and implementation must be overcome. After all, it takes time before such a large-scale project can be carried out, including the time for conducting detailed studies and public discussions.

The basic concept of the proposal is definitely good. As to whether it is practicable, one of the important factors is the financial viability of the Government as the Fund will incur a heavy financial commitment, and is a long-term one as well. However, unfortunately, this is not the right time. As a result of the "black-clad violence" and the epidemic, the Government has recorded the worst deficit in history, which will last for five years. Given the resource constraints, it would be difficult for the Government to explore the setting up of a sustainable contributory fund.

Another issue to be considered is the acceptability of Hong Kong people. I believe many parents will agree with the general principle of setting up the Fund, that is, to save for the future needs of their children, which originally is the responsibility of parents. However, if there is a need to make continuous contributions, it will involve the use of huge public financial resources and this may warrant more thought. Furthermore, the questions on whether all middle-class and even well-off families should participate; how much the Government should contribute; how much parents should contribute before they are entitled to certain tax allowances, and how much is needed to be exempted from contributions, will require in-depth discussions in the community and it is unlikely for a certain degree of consensus to be reached.

All in all, the general direction of setting up the "New Generation Fund" is worthy of consideration by the community. However, given the tight public finances and the need for the Government to discuss many details with the community, this is probably not the high time to set up such a fund. Nonetheless, the motion has conveyed a message that the Government must keep a close watch on the support required for children's growth. This warrants the Government's attention. Thank you, President.

MS STARRY LEE (in Cantonese): President, first of all, I am very grateful to Dr CHIANG Lai-wan for proposing the motion on "Setting up a New Generation Fund to help the new generation in Hong Kong plan for their future" today. Dr CHIANG Lai-wan is very concerned about and supportive of the new LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 6147 generation and young people, and by using her resources, network and efforts, she has taken concrete actions to promote various projects in society, hoping that young people can find hope in Hong Kong.

Earlier on, Dr CHIANG had also proposed the establishment of a baby fund. As she mentioned in her opening speech, after taking on board Members' views, she has persevered and changed the baby fund to a "New Generation Fund" in the hope of winning Members' support. She has also established a service centre in the community to organize activities for young people, and through her efforts, a group of grass-roots people, especially youngsters, are able to learn and find opportunities in the centre. I am really thankful to Dr CHIANG Lai-wan for her support and contributions.

Just now, I have listened attentively to Dr CHIANG's opening speech, the Secretary's response and the queries raised by Members on the motion. While I understand their views, we have to take into account the hardships facing the young people. Property prices in Hong Kong are the highest in the world, and the cost of living index remains high. Young people, however, can only earn meager salaries when they enter the workforce upon graduation. Worse still, they will have to repay their student loans and there is a lack of opportunities for upward mobility. Many of them can even barely make ends meet. After talking to the young people, I learnt that they had to live frugally and dared not consider getting married when they reached the age of 30 so long as the problem of accommodation remained unresolved. Some couples, on the other hand, have to live separately after getting married. I feel very sad whenever I heard these stories. Some of them may be forced to postpone their marriage plans, whereas some may not be able to provide living expenses for their parents. While it is important for us to have hope, most of the young people are pretty pessimistic about their future and dare not dream. After a cursory examination, I found that these young people have good academic qualifications as many of them are tertiary graduates, but given that property prices in Hong Kong are the highest in the world, they cannot afford to buy their own homes and may not be able to find jobs in Hong Kong that offer great development opportunities. That is why I call them the "shell-less" marginal middle class. According to my estimation, there are about 1 million of them.

Regarding the plight faced by this group of "shell-less" marginal middle class, the Government is really duty-bound and must consider introducing comprehensive policies to help them. Many people may say that they were also 6148 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 poor when they were young, and were born into grass-roots families. In the eyes of young people, many adults always say, "Toughen up! Hong Kong is full of opportunities. If you are willing to work hard and study hard, you will surely get ahead." This is also what Mr Christopher CHEUNG said just now. As a matter of fact, investing in the education of children for their enhancement is the most practical way of ensuring upward mobility of young people. I absolutely agree with this and will certainly support young people to pursue self-enhancement through diversified learning.

However, there is a recent figure to which we must give deep thought. Have young people not worked hard enough? Can qualification really change one's destiny? Is the magnitude of change same as that in the past? Secretary, what I want to share here is: I am afraid this is not the case. Recently, according to a media report, in response to a question raised by a Legislative Council Member, the Government pointed out that the income of the "post-90s" did "lose at the starting line", and although their salaries have doubled after 15 years, they were still unable to catch up with the frantic upward pressure of the "Starter Homes". Simply put, the "post-70s" with the same qualification earn much more than the "post-80s", whereas the "post-90s" are luckier as they appeared to earn more than the "post-80s", but they still fail to match up with the starting point of the "post-70s".

I engage in the accounting profession and my salary in one of the "Big Four" accounting firms was about $11,000 to $12,000 back then. Today, I learnt from accountants junior to me that the salary is still only $13,000 to $14,000. Is it because they did not study hard? No, but because we now have a mature economy, coupled with various other reasons, they are not given any opportunity of upward mobility. Therefore, I hope that the Government will carefully consider Dr CHIANG's proposal and give holistic consideration to the policy, so as to help this group of marginal middle-class young people and let them see hope. I so submit.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Does any other Member wish to speak?

(No Member indicated a wish to speak)

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PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): I now call upon the Secretary for Home Affairs to speak.

SECRETARY FOR HOME AFFAIRS (in Cantonese): President, I thank Dr CHIANG Lai-wan for proposing today's motion and a number of Members for their speeches. Many of them have put forward a lot of valuable views on how to help young people move up the social ladder and gain more opportunities for development. I will first respond to the area of youth development, and then the Secretary for Labour and Welfare and the Under Secretary for Education will respond to other areas.

The SAR Government fully agrees with the idea of providing the new generation with better conditions and opportunities for upward mobility as proposed in today's motion. Since its establishment, the Youth Development Commission, chaired by the Chief Secretary for Administration, has been striving to do its best by addressing young people's concerns about education, career pursuit and home ownership, and encouraging their participation in politics as well as public policy discussion and debate. It aims to enable them to see hope and opportunities for upward mobility. Over the past few years, the Commission has done a great deal to help young people broaden their horizons, develop their career and move up the social ladder.

Just now, I heard Mr Frankie YICK and Dr Priscilla LEUNG say that they hoped the Government would provide more assistance to young people in, for example, mapping out their way forward. In fact, in recent years, the SAR Government has been actively promoting young people to make better career and life planning, so that they can make a choice that will suit themselves between future studies and employment as early as possible. The Home Affairs Bureau has launched the Funding Scheme for Youth Life Planning Activities to support the collaboration between non-governmental organizations ("NGOs") and secondary schools in organizing various life planning activities, such as thematic talks, workshops, workplace visits and working experience, with a view to enhancing young people's awareness of career planning and multiple pathways. Starting from 2019-2020, we have allocated additional resources to enhance the Scheme and strengthen the synergy between NGOs and schools, with a view to achieving both qualitative and quantitative improvements. The enhanced Scheme supports a total of 24 NGOs, covering about 360 secondary schools and serving over 300 000 students, teachers and parents. In addition, in view of the 6150 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 impact of the epidemic on the employment market, we have further enhanced the Scheme at the end of last year by introducing the Individual Study and Career Support Service for Secondary School Students and Leavers, which provides the 24 currently funded NGOs with one-off additional funding for a period of one year to provide comprehensive, in-depth and sustainable counselling services particularly for secondary school students who have yet to have a clear progression or employment path and are in need, and guide them to explore multiple pathways, including further study and career options in both Hong Kong and Mainland cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area ("GBA").

Just now, I heard Ms YUNG Hoi-yan and Mr Vincent CHENG mention that we have implemented many projects and programmes to help the younger generation in the areas of culture and sports, especially software. Apart from that, we have been continuously implementing a number of hardware-related projects, such as the West Kowloon Cultural District, the Kai Tak Sports Park as well as arts technology highlighted in last year's Policy Address. All these are innovative and groundbreaking ideas. We will see how we can give the younger generation more opportunities and hope.

We also hope that young people can set their sights on the country and engage themselves globally. In view of this, our youth exchange and internship programmes cover not only GBA, but also other Mainland cities and the rest of the world. Before the epidemic, an average of over 70 000 Hong Kong young people participated in exchange and internship programmes on the Mainland and overseas that were organized, funded or coordinated by various government bureaux/departments each year. The Home Affairs Bureau has, through the funding schemes for youth exchange in the Mainland and for international youth exchange, provided young people with quality exchange opportunities to 30 provinces and cities in the Mainland and over 40 overseas countries. This enables our young people to learn about the history, culture, economy and people's life of these places, and provides them with opportunities to broaden their horizon and international perspectives. In recent years, we have also launched branded internship programmes such as the Thematic Youth Internship Programmes to the Mainland, and the Scheme on Corporate Summer Internship on the Mainland and Overseas. These internship schemes offer Hong Kong's younger generation with more valuable internship opportunities and promote their understanding of the job market, workplace culture and development opportunities in the Mainland and other parts of the world, thereby nurturing a LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 6151 pool of young talents who have a good understanding of our country as well as possess international vision and social networks in the Mainland and overseas. Depending on the development of the epidemic, the SAR Government will continue to enhance the breadth and depth of the various internship programmes.

I also heard Ms Starry LEE highlight the housing problems of young people just now. I believe all Members will agree that housing is not only an issue for young people, but one that affects the Hong Kong community at large. In view of the serious shortage of land supply, the Government has been taking various measures, such as identifying land for housing development and making better use of the current resources to support members of the public, including young people, to achieve home ownership. Meanwhile, to meet the aspirations of some working youth to have their own living spaces and to unleash the potential of development sites, the Government actively promotes the Youth Hostel Scheme. The seven projects currently under the Scheme can provide a total of at least 3 300 hostel places, including about 1 760 places in the next two years. In fact, the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council has just approved funding for two youth hostel projects at its meeting on 30 April. I would like to thank Members for their support, and hope that Members will continue to support the youth hostel projects. I will now leave it to the Education Bureau and the Labour and Welfare Bureau to make further response.

President, I so submit. Thank you.

UNDER SECRETARY FOR EDUCATION (in Cantonese): President, first of all, I would like to thank Dr CHIANG Lai-wan for proposing this motion. Just now, we have also heard many views from Members on the development of young people.

The Government has always been very concerned about the development of young people and their opportunities for upward mobility, and education is an important part of investing for the future, nurturing talent and promoting social mobility. In fact, the Government has invested heavily in education. We provide 12 years' free primary and secondary education for all children through public sector schools, and strived to provide quality and diversified study pathways with multiple entry and exit points for young people. Balanced and diversified school education can meet the diverse needs of students, help them build knowledge, values and skills for further studies and personal development. 6152 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021

We hope that all students, from kindergarten, primary, secondary to post-secondary levels, will be able to explore their abilities and interests in learning, and through continuous self-improvement, become a member of society of great ability and integrity. A Member also mentioned the dreams of young people just now. The Education Bureau has actively promoted the early preparations for career and life planning of all secondary school students. Through study and career counselling, students can understand their own strengths as well as their preference for further studies and employment, grasp the opportunities after graduation, give full play to their potentials, work hard for their dreams and make contribution to the progress of society.

We understand that to promote social mobility, appropriate measures must be put in place in the education system to enable students from different backgrounds to enhance their competitiveness through education, especially to enable children from low-income families to enjoy diversified learning activities, so that they will not be deprived of education due to financial difficulties. The Student Finance Office of the Working Family and Student Financial Assistance Agency currently administers a number of student financial assistance schemes to provide financial assistance to students with genuine financial needs, including fee remission for kindergartens and child care centres; school textbook assistance; student travel subsidy; subsidies for Internet access as well as various financial assistance for tuition fees, academic expenses grants and loans for tertiary students. In addition, the Government also provides a wide range of support services and measures for students, including the School-based After-school Learning and Support Programmes and Student Activities Support Grant. They seek to support students with financial needs in primary and secondary schools to participate in after-school activities and life-wide learning activities. Learning Support Grant has also been provided to primary and secondary students with special educational needs to cater for their learning differences, etc.

In addition to student financial assistance, from the 2019-2020 school year onwards, an annual student grant of $2,500 will be provided to all students attending secondary day schools, primary and special schools as well as kindergartens in Hong Kong to alleviate the financial burden of parents in meeting education expenses.

In the future, the Bureau will continue to ensure that all students, irrespective of their family background, can benefit from the Government's overall investment in education. We will also continue to provide professional LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 6153 services and maintain close liaison and communication with different stakeholders in the education sector, with a view to improving Hong Kong's education system, enhancing the quality of education and nurturing our next generation.

I so submit. Thank you, President.

SECRETARY FOR LABOUR AND WELFARE (in Cantonese): President, today, Members have expressed many views on the motion proposed by Dr CHIANG Lai-wan. I think this shows that, like the Government, Members have attached great importance to the support and nurturing of our next generation.

Just now, the Secretary for Home Affairs and the Under Secretary for Education have responded from the perspectives of youth policy and education policy respectively. I will now respond mainly from the perspective of social welfare policy.

As I mentioned in my opening remarks, the social welfare services and measures currently provided by the Government all aimed at identifying children and young people in special need of assistance and providing them with the necessary support in a targeted manner. For example, the various child care services, the Fee Waiving Subsidy Scheme for After School Care Programme, the District Support Scheme for Children and Youth Development as well as the Child Development Fund and the Partnership Fund for the Disadvantaged, all seek to provide the necessary assistance to grass-roots children and families in need.

President, the social welfare services and measures provided by the Government are targeted at children and young people with special needs. The "New Generation Fund" advocated in Dr CHIANG Lai-wan's motion is provided for all families and children, regardless of whether the children's families have financial needs, or whether the children themselves have disabilities or other special needs. In this regard, there are divergent views in the community on whether families that do not need financial support from the Government should benefit from public funding schemes.

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Considering the currently tight public resources, the Labour and Welfare Bureau and the Social Welfare Department are, from the perspective of welfare policy, duty-bound to ensure that public funds are first devoted to welfare initiatives that the Government has committed to implement for the disadvantaged. All these are important, much sought-after services and many of them have entailed a long wait. For example, Members have been calling on the Government to expedite the provision of residential care homes for the elderly and people with disabilities as well as child care centres so that the elderly, the vulnerable and young children who cannot live independently or cannot be adequately cared for by their families can receive appropriate care and support as soon as possible. There are also public views that support for carers should be strengthened, particularly to relieve their financial, emotional and social needs. In addition, the Government is actively working towards the goals of shortening the waiting time for assessment services for pre-school children, and expeditiously implementing the target of "zero waiting time" for pre-school rehabilitation services, so as to seize the golden opportunity to treat children in their early years. At this moment, we should accord priority to pooling our resources and efforts to the provision of timely welfare services.

President, in the area of social welfare, the Government will continue to provide targeted assistance to children and young people in need of services. I so submit.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Dr CHIANG Lai-wan, you still have 1 minute 11 seconds to reply. Then, the debate will come to a close.

DR CHIANG LAI-WAN (in Cantonese): President, I am very grateful to the 10 Members who have spoken, namely Mr Christopher CHEUNG, Mr Frankie YICK, Ms YUNG Hoi-yan, Ms Elizabeth QUAT, Dr Priscilla LEUNG, Mr Wilson OR, Mr Vincent CHENG, Dr CHENG Chung-tai, Mr CHAN Kin-por and Ms Starry LEE. Today, some Members queried why I put forward this proposal again as I had already done so a few years ago. There is one single reason. After years of study, I am still convinced that this is a good proposal, and today, I am only urging the Government to study and consider the feasibility of this proposal. As we all know, sometimes a proposal takes long time before implementation. So, we want to put it forward as early as possible so that the Government can expeditiously commence the relevant study.

Last but not least, I would like to implore Members to support my motion.

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PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): I now put the question to you and that is: That the motion moved by Dr CHIANG Lai-wan be passed. Will those in favour please raise their hands?

(Members raised their hands)

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Those against please raise their hands.

(No hands raised)

Mr Tony TSE rose to claim a division.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mr Tony TSE has claimed a division. The division bell will ring for five minutes.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Will Members please proceed to vote.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mr Kenneth LAU, are you going to vote?

(Mr Kenneth LAU cast his vote)

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Will Members please check their votes. If there are no queries, voting shall now stop and the result will be displayed.

Functional Constituencies:

Mr WONG Ting-kwong, Ms Starry LEE, Mr Steven HO, Mr POON Siu-ping, Mr Holden CHOW, Mr LUK Chung-hung, Mr LAU Kwok-fan and Mr Kenneth LAU voted for the motion.

6156 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021

Mr Abraham SHEK, Mr Tommy CHEUNG, Mr Jeffrey LAM, Mr CHAN Kin-por, Mr Frankie YICK, Mr YIU Si-wing, Mr Martin LIAO, Ir Dr LO Wai-kwok, Mr CHUNG Kwok-pan, Mr Jimmy NG, Mr SHIU Ka-fai, Dr Pierre CHAN, Mr CHAN Chun-ying and Mr Tony TSE abstained.

THE PRESIDENT, Mr Andrew LEUNG, did not cast any vote.

Geographical Constituencies:

Mr CHAN Hak-kan, Mr CHAN Han-pan, Mr LEUNG Che-cheung, Ms Alice MAK, Mr KWOK Wai-keung, Ms Elizabeth QUAT, Dr CHIANG Lai-wan, Dr Junius HO, Mr Wilson OR, Mr CHEUNG Kwok-kwan and Mr Vincent CHENG voted for the motion.

Mr Paul TSE and Dr CHENG Chung-tai abstained.

THE PRESIDENT announced that among the Members returned by functional constituencies, 23 were present, 8 were in favour of the motion and 14 abstained; while among the Members returned by geographical constituencies through direct elections, 13 were present, 11 were in favour of the motion and 2 abstained. Since the question was not agreed by a majority of each of the two groups of Members present, he therefore declared that the motion was negatived.

NEXT MEETING

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): I now adjourn the Council until 11:00 am on Wednesday, 26 May 2021.

Adjourned accordingly at 1:05 pm.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021 6157

Annex 1

The marked-up version of the amendment moved by Mr YIU Si-wing (Translation)

That there are seven land control points along the boundary between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, most of which are located in New Territories North; but at present, these control points in New Territories North merely serve as a cross-boundary transport infrastructure facility for residents commuting between the two places, and their surrounding areas have remained barren and undeveloped; the vast area of land in the northern New Territories can become a major source of land supply for Hong Kong in the future, offering a long-term solution to Hong Kong's problem of land shortage and serious supply-demand imbalance in lands for residential, economic and community uses; at the same time, with its advantageous location, New Territories North serves as a major hub for the convergence of people and goods flows between Hong Kong and Shenzhen and even the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, thus New Territories North possesses the potential to become a new core development region in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area; in this connection, this Council urges the authorities to:

(1) set up a dedicated organization to expedite the planning and development for New Territories North; by capitalizing on its geographical advantage accorded by its location at the convergence of the 'port economy belt' and 'Eastern Knowledge and Technology Corridor', develop New Territories North into a new core development region with the convergence of talents and capital from Hong Kong and Shenzhen and the dominance of innovative technology and high-end education; and develop new towns radiating from such control points;

(2) conduct studies on the setting up of government departments, public organizations and higher education institutions in New Territories North or their relocation to the region, so as to inject economic impetus into new development areas in New Territories North and dovetail with industries' development;

6158 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 13 May 2021

(3) expedite the construction of the Northern Link and extend it to various control points, such as Heung Yuen Wai Boundary Control Point and Huanggang Port, and conduct studies on connecting Hong Kong's railways to Shenzhen Bay Port; and, at the same time, under the principle of according priority to building transport infrastructure, draw up planning for the construction of another north-south railway connecting new development areas in New Territories North to the urban centres of Hong Kong, so as to provide a prerequisite for development of New Territories North;

(4) while balancing conservation needs, through a fresh consolidation of green belt areas, agricultural lands and brownfield sites in northern New Territories and expediting the land rezoning and development processes, expeditiously proceed with land rezoning in port areas as a means to release lands for economic and residential uses, and the reprovisioning of agricultural and brownfield operations; and

(5) improve the existing rehousing and compensation policy to provide affected households with in-situ rehousing, and offer assistance to brownfield operators and fisheries and agricultural practitioners for resuming operation and production or upgrading and restructuring; and

(6) partially open up the closed area of Sha Tau Kok Town, and make use of the Sha Tau Kok Public Pier to develop marine tourism and Chung Ying Street to develop boundary tourism, so as to promote economic development in New Territories North.

Note: Mr YIU Si-wing's amendment is marked in bold and italic type or with deletion line.