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Kowloon Park arts fair to open

The Leisure & Cultural Services Department will launch a new phase of its Arts Fun Fair at Kowloon Park this Sunday.   It will have 16 stalls displaying and selling craftworks that feature fabric crafts, floral artworks and ornaments. Park-goers can also participate in art services such as painting and portrait sketching.   The fair will be open from 1pm to 7pm on Sundays and public holidays at the park's loggia until May 26 next year.   Visitors can enjoy the park’s beautiful scenery while appreciating a wide range of handicrafts and artworks.   The Arts Corner at Hong Kong Park is being held from noon to 6pm on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays until December 31.   The Arts Corner at Victoria Park welcomes applications from today until June 23 for operating stalls in the coming round of the fair.   For enquiries about the fair in Kowloon Park, call 2724 3344. For questions about Hong Kong Park and Victoria Park, call 2521 5041 or 2890 5824 respectively. http:

December retail sales up 6.2%

The value of total retail sales in December, provisionally estimated at $33.3 billion, rose 6.2% compared with the same month in 2020, the Census & Statistics Department announced today.   Of the total retail sales value in December, online sales accounted for 10.8%. Provisionally estimated at $3.6 billion, the value of online retail sales increased 31.5% year-on-year.   After netting out the effect of price changes over the same period, the provisional estimate of the volume of total retail sales for the month increased 3.4% compared with a year earlier.   The value of sales of electrical goods and other consumer durable goods, not elsewhere classified increased 5.5%.   This was followed by sales of jewellery, watches and clocks, and valuable gifts (+24% in value); other consumer goods, not elsewhere classified (+10.8%); commodities in department stores (+2.5%); wearing apparel (+12%); medicines and cosmetics (+9.7%); motor vehicles and parts (+8.7%); fuels (+18.4%); footwear, allied products and other clothing accessories (+15.5%); Chinese drugs and herbs (+4.7%); books, newspapers, stationery and gifts (+7.8%); and optical shops (+25.1%).   The value of sales of commodities in supermarkets decreased 6.8% for the period, followed by sales of food, alcoholic drinks and tobacco (-3% in value); and furniture and fixtures (-4.1%).   The Government said that the value of total retail sales increased further by 6.2% year-on-year in December along with the continued economic recovery, though the growth pace moderated somewhat from the preceding month. For 2021 as a whole, total retail sales value rose 8.1% but was still 27.2% below the level in 2018 before the recession as tourism stayed at a standstill.   Looking ahead, the Government noted that the latest wave of the local epidemic and tightened anti-epidemic measures have weighed on consumption sentiment and posed renewed pressures on the retail sector.   It is essential for the community to work together with the Government to contain the epidemic as soon as possible to create conditions for the continued revival of retail business and the overall economy, it added.
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