Many Hong Kong shoppers remain undaunted by a mainland Chinese investigation into the food safety practices of popular supermarket Sam’s Club in neighbouring Shenzhen, saying they will still shop for bargains – but more selectively. Despite reports that Chinese regulators had summoned the warehouse retailer over “frequent food safety issues” on Monday morning, the superstore…
Hong Kong may enter its summer flu season earlier than usual this year, with a peak likely to occur later this month, health authorities have said, urging unvaccinated residents to receive jabs for protection. Dr Edwin Tsui Lok-kin, controller of the Centre for Health Protection, said on Tuesday that influenza activity in the city had…
Hong Kong is experiencing a rise in seasonal influenza cases, particularly among children and the elderly, as waning vaccine protection weakens community immunity, a leading infectious disease expert has warned. Professor Ivan Hung Fan-ngai, chair professor of infectious diseases at the University of Hong Kong, issued the warning on Saturday and urged high-risk groups who…
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lauded the resilience of Hong Kong’s economy, noting a sustained recovery despite economic activity having yet to return to pre-Covid levels, while warning of downside risks stemming from escalating geopolitical tensions. It also urged Hong Kong to pursue medium-term financial reforms, including the introduction of a goods and services…
Hong Kong will act as a global partner in pandemic preparedness, leveraging its “unrivalled” status as a medical innovation hub to combat emerging health threats such as a recent hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship, the city’s leader and health chief have said. Speaking at the Asia Summit on Global Health on Monday, Chief Executive…
The European Union will remain open to capital from mainland China and Hong Kong even as the bloc pursues a “de-risking” strategy in certain key sectors, its budget chief has said on his first visit to the city. Piotr Serafin, the European Commissioner for Budget, Anti-Fraud and Public Administration, also said that the EU was…
By the time this column appears, the world will feel very different from when my previous column appeared earlier this month. In just days, a conflict that some in Washington seemed to believe would quickly topple Iran’s leadership has instead become a potentially long and uncertain war, with little clarity on how or when it…
When an ibuprofen dance challenge went viral on the Chinese social media platform Douyin in late 2022 during the Covid-19 pandemic, shares of the country’s leading ibuprofen maker surged more than 200 per cent in two weeks. Now profits at Shandong Xinhua Pharmaceutical are plunging, and it is not alone, as drug makers are hit…
Hong Kong could enhance its standing as a wine trade hub by further improving its logistics and storage services, according to a seventh-generation French winemaker overseeing a 200-year-old Burgundy estate. Erwan Faiveley, owner of wine labels Domaine Faiveley and Billaud-Simon, also praised the Hong Kong government’s decision to axe its wine tax in 2008 during…
It has been a turbulent year for the fraught US-China relationship. In the fourth part of a series looking back at the events of 2025, we examine the impacts of Trump’s foreign policy on global geopolitics. As the administration of US President Donald Trump ends its first year, expect the unabashed disrupter to continue applying…