The Chief Executive John Lee has told the Commercial Daily newspaper that he hopes to lift all Covid restrictions within this year but that he wants to end mandatory mask-wearing in the first quarter. He said returning to normality was always his goal but his government had to consider a number of factors, including the capacity of Hong Kong’s healthcare system. Government pandemic adviser Ivan Hung says this is a realistic plan. The University of Hong Kong infectious disease expert told Maggie Ho that the remainder of Covid rules could be removed in phases after the Lunar New Year:

The Chief Executive John Lee has talked of the need for a "firewall" in which he says planned national security laws under Article 23 of the Basic Law will tackle spying, including by organisations masquerading as media outlets. In an interview with the Commercial Daily newspaper, he said Hong Kong still had people pretending to be journalists and putting out fake news. Mike Weeks reports:

A union representing Cathay Pacific cabin crew has withdrawn an application to stage a rally on Wednesday after the airline refused permission for the event to take place on its premises. But it says it will press ahead with plans to stage 'work-to-rule' action from Thursday to push for better rosters. Kelly Yu reports:

The government has again raised the quota of tickets for the cross-border high-speed rail link due to high demand. The train resumed operations on Sunday after a three-year pandemic-induced break. Mike Weeks reports:

Lawmaker Gary Zhang says there is no need to impose ticket quotas on the express rail to the mainland. The high-speed train resumed services on Sunday, one week after the mainland border reopened. Authorities have since twice raised the ticket quota to cope with demand. It is now at 20,000 per-day. Zhang said authorities can limit the number of passengers simply by adjusting the frequency of trains. He spoke to Vicky Wong:

A property agent says there has been a significant 'bounce' in sentiment and activity since the mainland border reopened one-and-a-half weeks ago. Nicholas Brooke, the chairman of Professional Property Services, says mainland buyers have been targeting new projects in Hong Kong as investment properties, or second homes. He said unlike local buyers, mainlanders often paid in cash, meaning they could negotiate discounts of up to eight percent and were not constrained by rising interest rates. He told Ben Tse that the previously forecast downturn of up to 10 percent in property prices over the coming year would flatten, and prices would edge up between three and five percent in the second half of the year:

The Court of Final Appeal has agreed to hear additional arguments put forward by former RTHK producer Bao Choy against her conviction for accessing car registration information for a documentary. She was fined $6,000 in April 2021 after being found guilty of making false statements to obtain vehicle records. Maggie Ho reports:

Hong Kong has seen the opening of the first facility specifically designed to offer support and counselling for ethnic minority children with special educational needs. The Zubin's Family Centre works with government primary schools to offer therapy to pupils who have ADHD and autism. Located in Austin MTR station, it is run by local NGO, the Zubin Foundation, which is one of the beneficiaries of the Operation Santa Claus fundraiser run by RTHK and the South China Morning Post. Founder and CEO, Shalini Mahtani, told Hailey Yip that the centre hoped to offer a safe space for ethnic minority members to network and learn new skills:

The National Bureau of Statistics has released data showing that the mainland's population fell last year for the first time in more than six decades. Birth rates plunged to record lows but officials insisted the labour force was still strong, as Ada Au reports:

A Social Science academic at the University of Science and Technology says news that the mainland's population fell slightly last year for the first time in more than six decades is just the start of the demographic time-bomb facing the nation. Professor Stuart Gietel-Basten told Ada Au that population decline and ageing was the new paradigm for China, and it was important to see how it handled this new reality:

The mainland economy expanded last year by three percent - slightly better than when the world was shutdown in 2020 after the outbreak of Covid but otherwise the slowest pace of growth in four decades. It was, though, still better than most forecasts, raising hopes for a strong recovery as China reopens. Vicky Kung reports: