[Global Times Special Correspondent in Hong Kong Ye Lan] 2023 is the year when Hong Kong will emerge from the epidemic and return to normalcy. The SAR government strives to promote activities such as "Happy Hong Kong" and "Fun Nights" to stimulate the economy; this year, Hong Kon

[Global Times Special Correspondent in Hong Kong Ye Lan] 2023 is the year when Hong Kong will emerge from the epidemic and return to normalcy. The SAR government strives to promote activities such as "Happy Hong Kong" and "Fun Nights" to stimulate the economy; Hong Kong has also experienced many events this year. Unexpected incidents occurred, including the Hollywood Plaza murder that shocked the city, a "once-in-500-year" super rainstorm, etc.

Hong Kong's "Sing Tao Toutiao" on the 27th selected Hong Kong's top ten news in 2023 to review the year. In terms of social news, 28-year-old model Cai Tianfeng was brutally murdered by her ex-husband’s family in February. The brutal methods and the inside story of the financial conspiracy shocked the whole city. Her ex-husband, Kwong Kong Chi, her ex-family member, Weng Kwong Qiu, and her ex-husband’s brother, Kwong Gang Jie, were charged with murder. . There was also the Diamond Hill "Hollywood Plaza Murder" on June 2: two women were suddenly stabbed by a 39-year-old bald man, Szeto Shing-kwong, and died of serious injuries, which aroused Hong Kong society's concern about mental health. The third major social event was the extreme weather in Hong Kong in September. First, Typhoon Signal No. 10 "Sura" hit Hong Kong, and then the remnant low pressure trough of Tropical Cyclone "Hai Kwai" brought the "darkness of the century" to Hong Kong on September 7. "Rain", the whole city was almost paralyzed. Hong Kong's Chief Secretary for Administration, Chan Kwok-kee, described the heavy rain as "once in 500 years." The fourth case was that the virtual asset platform jpex was suspected of financial fraud in September. A total of 36 people have been arrested in the case, involving nearly 1.6 billion Hong Kong dollars. Many famous people have been arrested, including Internet celebrities Lin Zuo, Chen Yi, etc. Victims cried out that their hard-earned money could be wasted at any time. Lee Ka-chiu, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, said that the government needs an effective regulatory system to protect investors and ensure that the company's debt capacity is regulated and restricted. Fifth, there was a political turmoil at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and the vice president was resigned.

In terms of economy, "Sing Tao Headlines" summarized the following points: First, Li Jiachao announced in early February that customs clearance will be fully completed from 0:00 on February 6. No nucleic acid test will be required before entry and exit. All entry and exit ports will be opened. There is no limit on the number of people allowed and no reservation is required. On February 28, the "mask order" was revoked, which meant that all social distancing measures were officially ended. Since then, Hong Kong society has fully returned to normal, and a large number of Hong Kong people have begun to go north to the mainland for consumption. The second is to hold the "Hong Kong Night Fun" to boost the economy, hoping to activate citizens to go out and spend money at night. Third, Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po announced the budget in February and issued consumer vouchers again. In addition, Hong Kong's fertility rate has hit record lows in recent years. Lee Ka-chiu announced a new policy address in October, launching a number of measures to encourage fertility, including distributing an incentive of HK$20,000 to each parent of a newborn baby.

"Hong Kong is colorful at night": Drone performances over Victoria Harbor light up the night sky (China News Service)

There are two aspects of political news: First, the wrong national anthem was played at Hong Kong's international sports events five times this year, and then the relevant departments issued a Series Guide. The second is the District Council election on December 10. District councilors were changed to be composed of appointments, district committee sector elections, district council local constituency elections and ex-officio members. Among them, there were 179 appointed seats, 176 district committee sector seats, 88 directly elected seats, and 27 ex-officio seats. The total number of seats was set at 470 seats.

Hong Kong News Network also rated Hong Kong's "Top Ten News of 2023" on the 27th. In addition to the same ones as "Sing Tao Toutiao", others also include the first batch of 70 doctors and nurses from the Greater Bay Area to come to Hong Kong for exchanges in April; Big Yellow Duck Time Returned to Victoria Harbor after 10 years; Hong Kong singer Coco Lee passed away due to depression, drawing attention to "smiling depression"; China's Hong Kong team won 53 medals at the Hangzhou Asian Games, breaking previous records.

No matter which institution it is, "going north" is an unavoidable keyword when summarizing 2023. Taking the past Christmas as an example, there were 1.305 million departures from Hong Kong this weekend, of which more than 965,000 were Hong Kong residents. About 830,000 departures occurred through various land ports and the West Kowloon High Speed ​​Rail Station, with the Lo Wu Port being the busiest. Cui Dingbang, director-general of the Hong Kong Tourism Promotion Association, estimates that about one-third of Hong Kong people will leave the country for travel during Christmas this year. Many people choose to visit mainland cities in the Greater Bay Area, and the number of people may exceed pre-epidemic levels. He said that the mainland has developed very rapidly in recent years, and its restaurants and shopping are very cost-effective and the service experience is good. Hong Kong people naturally like to spend money in the mainland.

Hong Kong's "01" website said on the 27th that since the resumption of customs clearance between Hong Kong and the mainland, the craze of Hong Kong people going north has not subsided for nearly a year. In November alone, about 5.85 million people went north.The hottest topic in 2023 is that Hong Kong people will go north to consume and "occupy" Shenzhen. If you want to find a video blogger to represent the rush to go north, then the YouTuber "西dorsi" deserves the title. He started making videos to introduce Shenzhen to Hong Kong people before the epidemic, including tips on eating, drinking, playing, electronic payment, bank account opening, etc. He is the "original" northern Internet celebrity. In the beginning, Xidorsi's videos only had an average of 10,000 views, and his income was bleak. However, since the customs clearance, Hong Kong people have poured into Shenzhen for "revenge consumption", and videos related to going north have become very popular, making Xidorsi one of the "top ten most popular YouTubers in 2023". As of December 27, Xidorsi's channel has received 290,000 subscriptions and has received a large number of cooperation opportunities. For example, in March this year, he received an invitation from Excellence Intown Shopping Center to jointly launch exclusive discounts. Later, he successively cooperated with teams such as Link Center City and Shum Yip Uptown. He suggested that Hong Kong merchants go to Shenzhen to have an in-depth understanding, learn from local successful cases, and improve the problems that are criticized, such as service attitude, lack of distinctiveness of food and products, etc.

Looking forward to 2024, Xidorsi revealed that he will still focus on shooting travel guides in Shenzhen, while increasing the proportion of other cities, such as Guangzhou or Zhuhai with richer history, culture or entertainment experience, or even more distant Shantou or Chaozhou. Hong Kong Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Hui Ching-yu said that in the face of the new normal and new environment, Hong Kong needs to be flexible. He gave Hong Kong citizens the word "time" to welcome the New Year, and urged Hong Kong people to seize the opportunity and take the initiative.