Submissions and Reports

The Chamber welcomes and appreciates opportunity to comment on measures to promote the use of electric vehicles (EVs) in Hong Kong. We believe Hong Kong should look to EVs as a viable means to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and play to our advantages with respect to the city’s size, compactness and developed infrastructure in popularising the use of EVs.

The Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China and the State Taxation Administration announced in November that it was seeking public opinion on the "Law of the People's Republic of China on Value-added Tax (Draft for Consultation)." The draft reduces the uncertainty in the current VAT law, and is a significant step in the reform of Chinese tax laws. The Chamber submitted a number of suggestions to the authorities on 20 December, after consolidating members’ opinions on the draft.

The aim of the “Regulations for the Implementation of the Foreign Investment Law” is to provide implementational details of the regulatory framework of the “Foreign Investment Law”. The “Regulations for the Implementation of the Foreign Investment Law” and the “Foreign Investment Law” will be in effect on 1 January 2020.

The Chamber welcomes and supports efforts by the Government to progressively tighten the Air Quality Objectives. We believe air pollution remains very much a public health challenge that needs to be addressed through more ambitious targets and closer collaboration among businesses, civil society and policy makers.

The Chamber has expressed reservations over the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited’s proposed relaxation of existing requirements on listed companies regarding the appointment of company secretaries.

The Chamber has called for courage, leadership, pragmatism, and empathy to help steer Hong Kong through the unparalleled challenges that are confronting the SAR. In its recommendations to the 2019-20 Policy Address, the Chamber has also called for a transparent and inclusive approach to policy-making, better quality of life, and the strengthening of Hong Kong’s economic and tax competitiveness, among other things.

The Chamber welcomes and supports efforts by the Council for Sustainable Development to engage the public on developing a long-term decarbonisation strategy for Hong Kong. We believe the exercise of reducing our carbon footprint will require extensive and concerted efforts across all segments of the community.

The Chamber suggests that the difference between the day-counting rule of the Mainland Individual Income Tax and that of the Hong Kong / Mainland Taxation arrangement should be addressed and aligned in order to promote the long term development of the Greater Bay Area (GBA).

The Chamber welcomes the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited‘s efforts to improve the quality of ESG reporting through this consultation exercise. We believe that such enhancements should be supplemented by further investments in education and training to promote better understanding of the intentions behind and benefits of ESG reporting .