Latest news with #NewTerritories
South China Morning Post
11 hours ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Founders of Hong Kong's Ocean Empire congee chain hit with HK$7 million lawsuit
The founders of a now-closed Hong Kong congee restaurant chain are facing a HK$7 million (US$891,750) lawsuit for allegedly defaulting on rents and unlawfully terminating a tenancy agreement at one of its branches in the New Territories earlier this year. Advertisement Choi Wong-hoe and Siu Chor-kee, owners of the 33-year-old Ocean Empire Food Shop, were named as defendants in a civil claim filed in the High Court on Monday. The popular chain, which operated more than 30 branches in its heyday, abruptly shut its remaining seven outlets in May this year, citing reasons such as the worsening operating environment in the city. The two founders said they made the difficult decision after struggling to keep the business afloat despite selling their property and making personal loans. According to the writ, seen by the Post on Tuesday, an outlet of the congee restaurant chain in Tuen Mun's Paris London New York Cinema Shopping Centre had failed to pay at least 14 months of rent, air-conditioning charges and government rates. Advertisement The landlord, Chinachem Finance Company, claimed that the tenant 'unilaterally abandoned possession of the premises' without its consent when the restaurant ceased operation and returned the keys of the shop to the building's management office on May 8.
South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong seizes HK$13 million of illicit cigarettes, as culprits flee in speedboats
Hong Kong marine police and customs have seized about HK$13 million (US$1.6 million) worth of illicit cigarettes in two anti-smuggling operations that saw the culprits escape in speedboats. Police said on Sunday that their Marine Regional Task Force joined up with officers from the marine enforcement division of the Customs and Excise Department to conduct the operations in the waters off Stanley and the New Territories. In the first case, officers discovered two speedboats without navigation lights approaching the pier near Tai Tam Bay in Stanley. At the same time, several men were seen moving goods between the speedboats and a truck on the shore, police said. When the officers took action, the suspects immediately jumped into the speedboats and headed into Hong Kong's southern waters. Marine police attempted to mount a pursuit. But the force said the speedboat fled in the direction of mainland Chinese waters and disappeared 'without a trace'. In the second operation, officers found another pair of speedboats driving at high speed without navigation lights near Double Island in the northeast of the New Territories.
South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong police arrest 14 in crackdown on traffic offences
Hong Kong police have arrested 14 people on suspicion of traffic offences, including drink-driving and failing to pay fines, with the force also issuing tickets and summonses to more than 180 motorists for allegedly speeding. Officers from the force's New Territories South traffic branch patrolled bar districts and set up roadblocks as part of a crackdown operation targeting traffic offences, with police intercepting suspicious vehicles and conducting breath tests on drivers. The force arrested 12 men and two women, aged 26 to 62, on suspicion of drink-driving, failing to provide a breath specimen, overloading and non-payment of court fines. Police also issued tickets and summonses to 183 motorists suspected of speeding. Sixteen private cars and a motorbike were also seized by police as they were believed to have been illegally modified and in violation of road traffic regulations. They were brought to a vehicle detention and examination centre for further inspection, with four defective vehicle reports issued.
South China Morning Post
21-07-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong withdraws tenders for 2 sites to speed up Northern Metropolis development
Hong Kong authorities have withdrawn tenders for two sites in the New Territories initially earmarked for multi-storey buildings for modern industries to speed up development in the Northern Metropolis , with the government taking a bigger role. The Development Bureau said on Monday that a three-hectare site in Yuen Long would be passed to the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) to build a microelectronics ecosystem to promote high-value-added new industrialisation. The corporation runs an innovation park next to the site. An eight-hectare plot in Hung Shui Kiu will be included in a bureau policy study, under which the government aims to establish a company to run an industrial estate in the area. The two sites are among 30,000 hectares of land under the Northern Metropolis megaproject, a blueprint to turn the northern New Territories near the border with mainland China into an economic powerhouse and a housing hub. The bureau said it had halted the tenders to facilitate efficient implementation of more pragmatic arrangements, which could allow them to play a bigger role in promoting industrial development. 'In order to lead and effectively promote the development of industries in the Northern Metropolis, the government has to allow flexibility in the use of [land] and adopt a 'dynamic planning' approach in formulating strategies in accordance with the actual circumstances, thereby accelerating enterprise anchoring and fostering development of the area,' a bureau spokesman said.
Bloomberg
21-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Hong Kong's MTR Seeks Loan to Support Northern Link Rail Project
Hong Kong railway operator MTR Corp. is in talks with banks for a potential loan to support development of its Northern Link rail project, according to people familiar with the matter. The discussions are preliminary and the facility's size and terms are yet to be determined, the people said, who asked not to be identified discussing private matters. The proceeds would finance the first phase of work on the project in Hong Kong's New Territories area, they added.
