Plastic bag tax leads to 85 percent drop in use in Hong Kong

September 13th, 2009 6 Hong Kong workers die in elevator shaft fallHONG KONG — A construction platform inside an elevator shaft collapsed Sunday, sending six workers falling about 20 stories to their deaths inside a Hong Kong skyscraper, officials said. The accident occurred at the International Commerce Center, which will be 118 stories high when completed next year, making it one of the world's tallest buildings and the highest in Hong Kong.

September 13th, 2009 5 Hong Kong workers die in elevator shaft fallHONG KONG — A construction platform inside an elevator shaft collapsed Sunday, sending five workers falling 20 stories to their deaths inside a Hong Kong skyscraper, officials and state media said. Another worker was injured.

September 8th, 2009 HONG KONG - A bank Wednesday marked its 150th anniversary in Hong Kong by launching what it claimed to be the world's first 150-dollar bank notes. Standard Chartered Plc, one of three note-issuing banks in the wealthy city of seven million, has printed 1 million of the 150-Hong-Kong-dollar notes, worth $19.35 each.

September 7th, 2009 HONG KONG - Eleven people were injured when a man threw acid during an altercation Sunday in a bustling market district, the fourth such attack in Hong Kong this year. Local television reports said victims had to be carried on gurneys to ambulances, their heads covered in bandages.

August 13th, 2009 Hutchison Whampoa's first-half earns plunge 33 pctHONG KONG — Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa Ltd., run by billionaire Li Ka-shing, said Thursday its earnings tumbled 33 percent in the first half as its oil, ports and hotel businesses flagged amid the economic downturn. Net profit for the six months through June fell to 5.76 billion Hong Kong dollars (about $743 million) from HK$8.59 ($1.1 billion), the company said in a statement to the stock exchange.

August 13th, 2009 HONG KONG - A 109-year-old tea has gone on sale at Hong Kong's first international tea fair, a media report said Thursday. Just 10 grams of the pu-erh tea, which takes its name from Pu'er county in Yunnan province in south-west China, costs 8,000 Hong Kong dollars ($1,025), the South China Morning Post newspaper said.

May 21st, 2009 HONG KONG - Hong Kong's leading bank, HSBC Holdings, Thursday was offering interest rates so low that customers would need to save $250,000 for a year to earn enough interest to buy a cup of coffee. A record low interest rate of 0.001 percent was being offered by HSBC, which has 4.2 million customers in the city of seven million, because of what it described as rock-bottom interbank rates.

April 29th, 2009 HONG KONG - English football premier league team Liverpool was Wednesday accused of pricing itself out of the market making 'outrageous' demands to play in Hong Kong. A Hong Kong Football Association source told the South China Morning Post the team's planned exhibition at the Hong Kong Stadium in July had been scrapped because of the financial demands.

April 23rd, 2009 HONG KONG - Hong Kong lawmakers Thursday approved a tax on every plastic bag handed out by supermarkets in the city as of July in a move to cut the mountain of waste created by the bags. The tax of 50 Hong Kong cents (6 US cents) will be levied from July 1 in a total of 2,000 shops, including every major supermarket, in the high-rise city of seven million.

April 19th, 2009 Winners at the 28th Hong Kong Film AwardsHONG KONG — A list of winners in the top categories at the 28th Hong Kong Film Awards announced Sunday at the Hong Kong Cultural Center: Best film: "Ip Man" Best director: Ann Hui, "The Way We Are" Best actor: Nick Cheung, "The Beast Stalker" Best actress: Paw Hee-ching, "The Way We Are" Best supporting actor: Liu Kai-chi, "The Beast Stalker" Best supporting actress: Chan Lai-wun, "The Way We Are" Best screenplay: Lou Shiu-wa, "The Way We Are" Best cinematography: Arthur Wong, "Painted Skin" Lifetime achievement award: Josephine Siao

March 21st, 2009 HONG KONG - More than 1,600 Hong Kong companies filed for bankruptcy in February, the highest monthly figure since 2004, the government announced Friday. The figure is more than double the number that filed for bankruptcy in January and highlights the growing impact of the global recession on the wealthy city of seven million people.

March 20th, 2009 HONG KONG - Life would be meaningless and not worth living without the Internet, nearly one in seven Hong Kong youngsters said in a survey released Friday. Just under 14 percent of 1,800 respondents aged 12 to 25 insisted they could not live without the Internet while 80 percent described it as essential.

January 30th, 2009 HONG KONG - Cigarette consumption in Hong Kong is up almost 14 percent since a smoking ban was introduced in the city two years ago, a news report said Saturday. Government figures quoted by the South China Morning Post show that 3.79 billion cigarettes were bought in 2008, compared to 3.33 billion the previous year.

January 20th, 2009 HONG KONG - Hong Kong shares fell by almost three percent Wednesday as overnight losses on Wall Street and profit warnings from Chinese companies listed in the city deepened market gloom. The blue-chip Hang Seng Index ended the day down 376.14 points, or 2.9 percent, at 12,583.63.

January 4th, 2009 HONG KONG - Hong Kong stocks continued their positive start to 2009 Monday with a second day of gains, rising by almost 3.5 percent. The blue-chip Hang Seng Index climbed 520.5 points, or 3.46 percent, to close at 15,563.31.