The Financial Secretary, Paul Chan, released a blog today (Feb. 2) to wish the public good health and success in 2025. Chan pointed out that the Chinese New Year atmosphere in Hong Kong this year is strong, with nearly 680,000 visitor arrivals from the 29th to the 3rd day of the Chinese New Year, representing an increase of about 6% year-on-year.
According to Chan, the catering and tourism industries also performed well, with business turnover of the catering sector rising by more than 10% during the Chinese New Year, and spending in some traditional peak districts with a high concentration of tourists exceeding that of normal days by 20%. As for the Chinese New Year horse race on the third day of the lunar calendar, the betting turnover on that day was 10% higher than that of last year, exceeding HK$1.9 billion.
Chan said that the government will announce tomorrow the advanced economic estimates for the fourth quarter and the whole year of 2024, which show that Hong Kong's economy is on a steady but improving trend. In particular, visitor arrivals increased significantly last year, and private consumption stabilized slightly during the quarter.
In the stock market, trading has remained buoyant since the end of September last year, with the average daily turnover in January reaching HK$147.6 billion, about 12% higher than the average daily turnover for the whole of last year and about 4% higher than that in December last year. On the property side, market data showed that transactions remained broadly stable. In addition, the employment market remained satisfactory and inflation remained moderate, enabling the Hong Kong economy to start the year on a stable note. However, Hong Kong still needs to be cautious in the face of the external political and economic situation and the continued risk of a high interest rate environment, he said.
Chan said the government is actively organizing more special events to increase visitor flow and attract tourists. The Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon to be held next Sunday (Feb. 9), with more than 70,000 athletes registered, the grand opening of the Kai Tak Sports Park next month, the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens, Art Basel, and a number of financial conferences and events will all create more opportunities for Hong Kong.
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