Hydrogen technologies have been playing an increasingly prominent role in recent years, as governments and industries have ramped up their efforts to implement the energy transition and promote sustainable development. In March of this year, China released its first medium to long-term strategy on hydrogen energy with a timeframe until 2035. While Hong Kong has yet to present a full-fledged hydrogen strategy of its own, the SAR is already committed to developing the potential of hydrogen technologies to help implement its ambitious decarbonisation targets. But there is one major caveat.

At the start of August, Hannes Farlock took over as the new Delegate and Chief Representative of German Industry and Commerce in Hong Kong. In this short video introduction, he explains his background, what attracted him to the new role, and whether he prefers German or Hong Kong-based comfort food. Do you agree? Let us know!

Last year, Hong Kong was placed on the European Union (EU) list of non-cooperative countries and territories for tax purposes. In response, the HKSAR Government recently released a consultation paper for a proposal to refine Hong Kong’s foreign source income exemption (FSIE) regime for passive income. Read about the potential implications in this article by GCC member Ravenscroft & Schmierer.

German companies in China are projecting an expected salary growth of 4.88% on average in 2023 – only a marginal decrease from 2022 (4.91%). Meanwhile, China’s COVID-19 policies are heavily impacting employment: 41.7% of German companies are expecting a reduction in headcount and a quarter (25.4%) of foreign employees have left China in the last three years.

KNO is a community driven platform to boost worker engagement – for workers who want a voice, factories that want to reduce their costs and increase sales, and brands that want to reduce their risk and boost ESG.

Find all 2022-23 representative changes at a glance here.

Tropical cyclone warning signals are a common occurrence in Hong Kong each year during the typhoon season from May to November. Depending on the severity of a typhoon, the Hong Kong Observatory may issue signals based on the well-known 1-3-8-9-10 system. But how did this code come about? And what happened to the missing numbers?

Typhoon signals in Hong Kong date back to the 1870s, when a black drum was hoisted by the Harbour Department to warn mariners of bad weather conditions. Following the establishment of the HKO in 1883, a typhoon gun was installed in front of the marine police headquarters in Tsim Sha Tsui. The gun would be fired once if gale-force winds were expected, and twice in the event of a tropical cyclone. However, the gun was reportedly also used as a “mail gun” to announce the arrival of postal services from overseas, resulting in confusion and false alarms. From 1907 onwards, the typhoon gun was replaced by explosive bombs, which were deemed a more effective way to get the message across.

The first numerical system was introduced in 1917 with signal codes from 1 to 7: 1 for stand-by; 2-5 for gales from N, S, E, and W, respectively; 6 for increasing gales; and 7 for hurricanes. Following the Conference of Directors of Far Eastern Weather Services held in Hong Kong in 1930, the local signal code was revised to include 10 signals, with 5-8 now indicating gales from NW, SW, NE, and SE. By the mid-1930s, however, signals 2 and 4 were only used in the Philippines. Meanwhile, signals 5-8 were eventually changed to 8NW, 8SW, 8NE, and 8SE from 1973 onwards in order to dispel the common misconception that the numbers represented varying wind strengths – and thus, the modern system was born. Signal No. 10 has only been raised 16 times since 1946, most recently during Typhoon Mangkhut in 2018.