In September, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu unveiled the city’s first five-year plan along with his policy address, highlighting Hong Kong’s strategic role in promoting the greater use of the yuan outside mainland China as a key priority. In the last of a four-part series on the internationalisation of the yuan, Lam Ka-sing examines Hong Kong’s push to make the currency part of everyday life – from vending machines and retail payments to government spending and cross-border trade. At Hong...

The lack of a sense of crisis and an overreliance on an “honour system” prevented the buildings, labour and fire safety authorities from acting on fire safety risks at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, a judge-led panel that investigated Hong Kong’s deadliest blaze in decades has found. But among the four government bodies singled out in the independent committee’s final report on the fire, the Labour Department should bear the least responsibility, it said. “Firstly and most importantly, there was a...

US-based Delta Air Lines has expressed confidence that the quality of its service will help it win a share of Hong Kong’s fiercely competitive aviation market, saying demand for its recently relaunched route to Los Angeles has exceeded expectations, driven by corporate bookings. Jeff Moomaw, the airline’s vice-president for Asia-Pacific, said on Tuesday that demand for premium travel was helping drive its growth in the region. “Hong Kong is [a] highly competitive market with premium carriers,...