Secretary for Environment & Ecology Tse Chin-wan and Shenzhen Vice Mayor Zhang Hua, and leading officials from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Shenzhen Municipal Government respectively, held the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Joint Working Group on Environmental Protection meeting in Hong Kong today.

Highlighting that the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China announced a resolution on “building a beautiful China”, Mr Tse said: “As part of our country and the Greater Bay Area, the Hong Kong SAR Government will definitely work hand in hand with Shenzhen in this direction to make positive contributions to ecological civilisation construction.”

Presenting Hong Kong’s work progress on environmental protection, the Environment & Ecology Bureau said that eight more hectares of landfill were restored and greened in the North East New Territories Landfill last year, and the number of odour complaints dropped by more than 90% compared to the peak period.

In terms of water quality improvement, the total phosphorus level in the Shenzhen River in 2024 reached the national surface water quality Class III standard.

As for marine ecological protection, the Hong Kong SAR Government has established a number of marine parks in recent years, increasing the area of protected sea areas from 3,400 hectares to more than 8,500 hectares. It also subsidised local universities to conduct research on various coral restoration technologies.

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong SAR Government has been working hard to expand the city’s community recycling network as well as strengthen waste reduction and recycling measures. To maximise the utilisation of recyclables, it actively assists the industry in developing local resource recycling facilities.

Furthermore, Hong Kong vigorously promotes discussions with major Greater Bay Area cities on the construction of a “Zero Waste Bay Area” and regional recycling.