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President Xi Jinping on Monday attended a China-France-EU trilateral meeting with French leader Emmanuel Macron and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen at the Elysee Palace in Paris.

Xi said China regarded Europe as an important partner in helping it achieve its modernisation goals and said the two sides should stay committed to their partnership.

The president added China regarded Europe as a priority of its foreign policy, and sees China-EU relations from a strategic and long-term perspective.

Xi's French counterpart, Macron, said the international situation made EU-China dialogue more essential than ever, adding it was important to ensure a level playing field between the two sides.

Trade, Sino-European relations, the war in Ukraine and the crisis in the Middle East dominated talks between the three leaders.

Macron said coordination with Beijing on "major crises" including Ukraine was "absolutely decisive".

Xi said China had been working "vigorously" to facilitate talks for peace in Ukraine while adding that Beijing was ready to work with the EU to support a more broad-based, authoritative and effective international peace conference to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

On trade, Macron urged "fair rules for all" while the EU's von der Leyen said relations between Brussels and Beijing were challenged over issues linked to market access.

Xi said whether viewed from the perspective of comparative advantage or global market demand, there was no such thing as "China's overcapacity problem". (Xinhua/Reuters)
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Last updated: 2024-05-06 HKT 21:56

A Tamar Park exhibition featuring hundreds of luminous ovoids will be extended by six days until June 8, officials said on Monday.

Apo Wu, who heads the Art Promotion Office, said some 900,000 people have already been to see the "teamLab: Continuous" exhibition since it opened as part of "Art@Harbour 2024" on March 25.

"It surpassed our expectation. We do hope that more people can visit the exhibition and take advantage of the opportunity, which is why we extended the period by almost a week. We hope to see more visitors in the remaining time," she said.

Wu said the free exhibition has been a hit with mainland tourists.

"There are a lot of similar exhibitions in the mainland, but they require an admission fee. So I think this exhibition has an attractiveness to people from the mainland. The weather during the Labour Day Golden Week was really bad with heavy rain, but we still saw some people go during light rainy periods," she said.

"It is an outdoor exhibition after all so the weather does affect the viewing experience. So we hope for the remaining viewing period, the weather will be nice, so that more people, despite the ending of the holiday period, can come back to Hong Kong to experience [the exhibition]."

Wu added that a requirement for visitors to make bookings for part of the exhibition area will be scrapped from May 8.

The heads of government departments responsible for data leaks should be held accountable and punished for the blunders, DAB lawmaker Elizabeth Quat said on Monday.

On Friday, the Companies Registry said data on some 110,000 people had been exposed due to a fault in its digital platform, just a day after the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department said a password problem put data on 17,000 public housing tenants at risk.

Quat, who chairs Legco's Panel on Information Technology and Broadcasting, said personal data leaks by government departments and public bodies are completely unacceptable.

She added that the heads of departments should bear responsibility for safeguarding sensitive data, rather than relying on the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO), which serves as the government's main IT support office.

"The head of the department should be responsible for all the cyber security issues of their own department, computer system and networking. We suggest the government to make sure that all the government heads, department heads and also the IT project heads are responsible for all the cyber security issues," she said.

Francis Fong, honorary president of the Information Technology Federation, said he was surprised by the apparent failure of the Companies Registry to conduct a security check on a new system prior to its launch.

"It is actually a design fault on a new system implemented. So I was surprised why they had not done any security check before the system was implemented and launched," Fong said.

"Similar mistakes have happened again and again in different IT departments. So if all these IT departments can get guidelines from the OGCIO, I hope we can solve this problem once and for all."

Fong also called on government departments to enhance collaboration in safeguarding data security.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) on Monday said its Exchange Fund posted an investment gain of HK$54.3 billion in the first quarter of this year, despite the underwhelming performance of local stock markets.

It was the second consecutive quarter of gains for the fund, whose primary role is to back the Hong Kong dollar.

During a panel meeting in the Legislative Council, the HKMA revealed that the fund lost HK$2.3 billion in local equities in the first quarter and lost HK$4.8 billion on its foreign exchange assets.

However, these were offset by gains of HK$25.1 billion from bond investments and HK$36.3 billion from other stocks.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, HKMA chief executive Eddie Yue said the future performance of the fund remains uncertain.

“The uncertainty about the US interest rate path, which will depend on the path of inflation in the US... we will still need to see the incoming economic data and see where the inflation path in the US will go, and see whether they will, as the market is expecting now, defer the rate cut decision and also the pace may be a little slower than expected before,” he explained.

Yue also said tensions in the Middle East and the pace of economic recovery in mainland China contribute additional uncertainty to the performance of the Exchange Fund.

The Hospital Authority has announced plans to shorten the duration of its nursing programme starting from the new academic year in September, allowing students to complete the entire course in 3.5 years instead of the current four years.

The HA launched the Professional Diploma in Nursing three years ago, offering classes in its three nursing schools at Caritas Medical Centre, Tuen Mun and Queen Elizabeth hospitals.

Upon graduation, students can choose to become registered general nurses and pursue a bachelor’s degree in other institutions.

Bonnie Au, principal at Queen Elizabeth Hospital’s nursing school, explained the decision to shorten the duration of the programme was made “in view of the arrangement of placement and learning for the students”.

“Actually there is no change in the contents we teach to the students, like the theories and the skills, there is no change, just the period has been shortened,” she said.

She said students will still be entitled to at least 1,400 hours of internship in public hospitals and their learning outcome won't be affected.

From their very first placement, students will assist registered nurses to carry out various tasks, including measuring blood pressure, feeding dependent patients and distributing medications, Au said.

When asked about the high attrition rate among nurses in recent years, with over 1,800 full-time nurses at public hospitals having left their positions last year, Au stressed the three nursing schools had already reached their maximum capacity with 300 places offered each year.

She said a lot would need to be considered if authorities wanted to increase quotas at the schools, including finding extra teaching space and staff, as well as liaising with the Nursing Council of Hong Kong.

The tuition fee for the 3.5-year programme is HK$132,700. Applications close on July 19.

The Transport Department said early on Monday that Clear Water Bay Road was back to normal, after being disrupted by a landslide.

A slope measuring 30 metres long and 40 metres deep collapsed, and part of the pavement also caved in.

The slip forced officials to implement an arrangement in which two-way traffic shared the same lane near Wing Lung Road in Hang Hau.

Transport minister Lam Sai-hung said earlier that Clear Water Bay Road should be open again by rush hour on Monday morning, after workers carried out remedial work.

Lam said workers were spraying concrete onto the slope, and more work would be carried out later to further consolidate the structure.

"When we open the road, we have to ensure it's safe after the temporary consolidation work. If we can't do that, we won't open the road," Lam told reporters.

"At the same time, we'll have measures in place. Our contractor and the Highways Department will keep monitoring the situation here. We'll also liaise with the observatory to see if the weather will worsen, and we've installed some sump pumps in case there's heavy rain."

Authorities received 14 other landslide reports on Saturday, when the amber and red rainstorm warning signals were in effect for most of the day.
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Last updated: 2024-05-06 HKT 01:49