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Apr exports value down 13%

The value of Hong Kong's total exports decreased to $338.3 billion in April, down 13% on the same month last year, the Census & Statistics Department announced today.   The value of imports of goods decreased 11.9% to $374.9 billion for the same period.   A trade deficit of $36.6 billion, or 9.8% of the value of imports, was recorded in April.   Comparing the three-month period ending April with the preceding three months on a seasonally adjusted basis, the value of exports rose 15.4%, while that of imports increased 10.7%.   The Government noted that the value of merchandise exports declined further from a year earlier in April. Exports to the Mainland, the US and the European Union all shrank and exports to other major Asian markets recorded decreases of varying degrees.   Looking ahead, it added that the weakness in the advanced economies will continue to weigh on Hong Kong's export performance, though the expected faster recovery of the Mainland economy should

Health code to be upgraded

Secretary for Food & Health Prof Sophia Chan said that Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau are making a joint effort on a technological front to prepare for the eventual resumption of cross-boundary travels among the three places.   Prof Chan made the statement today while responding to a question from legislator Michael Tien in the Legislative Council.   She explained that the health code conversion system developed by the Government last November supports people arriving from Guangdong or Macau under the Return2hk Scheme to use the Yuekang Code or Macao Health Code to directly convert their valid nucleic acid testing results to the electronic health declaration form platform of Hong Kong.   The system also supports people coming to Hong Kong from the province and Macau under the Come2HK Scheme launched earlier this month, she added.   The health chief noted that the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer has been collaborating with the technical teams of Guangdong and Macau to enhance the code conversion system with a view to incorporating vaccination records into the code conversion function.   Citizens of the three places will then be able to use the health code conversion system to submit the required information in one go for health declaration purposes, Prof Chan said.
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