Following is a question by the Hon Gary Zhang and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Ms Mable Chan, in the Legislative Council today (April 16):

Question:

     Some members of the automobile industry have pointed out that the two types of trade licences (commonly known as Red Plate and Blue Plate) currently provided for under the Road Traffic (Registration and Licensing of Vehicles) Regulations (Cap. 374E) do not cover left-hand drive vehicles that are not intended for re-export, with the result that left-hand drive vehicles have no way to enter Hong Kong for testing purposes, thereby hampering technological research and development (R&D) conducted by enterprises in Hong Kong. In addition, the Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) functions of many new vehicle models currently being introduced in Hong Kong have been reduced compared to the same vehicle models sold in the Mainland and overseas. Regarding promoting the development of automobile technology, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the following information on the aforesaid Red Plates and Blue Plates in the past three years: (i) the number of licence applications received and (ii) the number of new licences issued each year, and (iii) the current number of valid licences, with a breakdown by the permitted usage of the trade licences;

(2) whether applications for the aforesaid two types of trade licences have been made by vehicle manufacturers for the purpose of vehicle R&D and testing, but have been rejected; whether the authorities will consider reviewing the existing application framework and permitted usage of the trade licences, such as including the use of "R&D and testing", so as to promote the development of automobile technology in Hong Kong;

(3) whether the Government knows if any vehicle models equipped with full original factory ADAS functions (e.g. urban Navigate on Autopilot (NOA), highway NOA, Full Self-Driving (FSD) Intelligent Assisted Driving) are currently on sale in Hong Kong; if so, of the details;

(4) whether the Transport Department, in processing applications for Type Approval of vehicles, has imposed criteria or restrictions in addition to those provided for in the legislation in respect of the built-in driver assistance functions or systems of vehicles; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for the reduced ADAS functions of vehicles sold in Hong Kong (e.g. some of these vehicles are not equipped with urban NOA); and

(5) as it is learnt that at present, those regions with relatively mature advanced intelligent assisted driving technology (e.g. the Mainland and the United States) are left-hand drive environments, what policy measures the Government has in place to attract and facilitate car companies and relevant technology suppliers to apply the relevant driving functions to right-hand drive vehicles, and to introduce them in Hong Kong?

Reply:

President,

     In respect of the questions raised by the Hon Gary Zhang, having consulted the Transport Department (TD), the Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises and Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK), the consolidated reply is as follows:

(1) In accordance with the Road Traffic (Registration and Licensing of Vehicles) Regulations (Cap. 374E) (the Regulations), trade licences (Note 1) are issued for specific usages, and can only be used on vehicles the licence holders of which are a manufacturer, repairer or dealer and are for specified operational purposes (Note 2).

     When assessing the applications, the TD will ensure that the trade licences issued would be used for permitted purposes, and issue appropriate number of licences by reviewing the applicants' business needs. As a trade licence can be used for more than one permitted purpose, no breakdown of licence numbers by permitted purposes is available. As at April 2, 2025, the TD has issued 2 653 valid trade licences, including 2 638 Red Plates and 15 Blue Plates.

     In the past three years, the number of new applications received and new licences issued for the two types of trade licences are tabulated as follows:
 

Year	Red Plate		Blue Plate
	Applications for new trade licence	Licences issued (note)	Applications for new trade licence	Licences issued (note)
2022	218	108	0	0
2023	215	84	5	0
2024	158	53	10	0

Note: Including licences issued in the year for applications submitted in the previous year.

(2) The TD has all along welcomed and facilitated vehicle research and testing in Hong Kong. Upon receiving applications for trade licence with the main purpose of research and testing, the TD will assess the actual needs of the applicants, recommend appropriate licensing arrangements, including providing application channels and relevant information, to assist the trade to apply for necessary licences for conducting vehicle trials. Trade licences issued under the Regulations mentioned above are not applicable to vehicles in the stage of research and testing. At present, a movement permit may be applied from the TD for a vehicle that could not be registered and licensed in accordance with the requirements of the Road Traffic (Construction and Maintenance of Vehicles) Regulations (Cap. 374A) due to its unauthorised vehicle structure and composition, and is not normally used on a road and is driven on a road only for the purpose of proceeding from one site to another. Therefore, an applicant may consider applying to the TD for a movement permit to conduct testing for his/her left-hand drive vehicle on designated routes in Hong Kong. If the concerned vehicle (regardless of left-hand or right-hand drive) is an autonomous vehicle (AV), applicants may apply for the relevant license under the new AV regulatory regime from the TD to conduct testing on Hong Kong roads.

(3) and (4) The TD has been closely monitoring the development and application of vehicle technologies and kept an open mind on introducing new vehicle technologies. When formulating relevant legislation and technical guidelines to facilitate the trade to adopt new technologies in Hong Kong, the TD conducts timely reviews on the advancement in technology and liaises closely with the trade for feedback, while taking road safety, local traffic conditions as well as the regulatory experience of other jurisdictions into consideration.

     Any vehicle must be approved by the TD in accordance with the requirements of the Road Traffic Ordinance (Cap. 374) and its subsidiary legislation to ensure that the vehicle complies with legal requirements in terms of design, construction and emissions and is roadworthy before it can be registered and licensed in Hong Kong. When approving advanced assisted driving functions, the TD will assess each case with reference to the certificates, test reports, certifications, etc provided by the vehicle manufacturers which should substantiate the compliance with recognised national or international standards. Once the functions were confirmed to comply with the legal requirements of Hong Kong, their uses will be approved under specified driving environment.

     The current legislation and approval from the TD already allow vehicle manufacturers to equip their manufactured vehicles with level 2 advanced driver assistance features commonly used on the market. These features include remote control parking, automatic parking, vehicle side collision warning, automatic anti-skid, assisted direction guidance, automatic lane changing, lane keeping, cruise control and automatic emergency braking, which are allowed in specified driving environments when the relevant national or international recognised standards are met. As vehicle manufacturers are not required to submit information on whether the vehicles they manufactured have the same advanced driver assistance functions as in their places of origin when applying for approval from the TD, the TD does not have information on whether the vehicles sold in Hong Kong have the same advanced driver assistance functions as in their places of origin.

     The TD has not yet received any application from vehicle manufacturers for approval of urban Navigate on Autopilot (NOA), highway NOA or Full Self-Driving (FSD). If relevant applications were received, the TD would review the technical information provided by the vehicle manufacturer to assess the level of autonomous driving of the corresponding driver assistance functions and would give approval in accordance with the standards. If the system is at level 3 or above, it would be vetted in accordance with the Code of Practice for Trial and Pilot Use of Autonomous Vehicles.

(5) Hong Kong, as a right-hand drive market, welcomes collaboration with Mainland automakers and international brands to deploy right-hand drive advanced driver assistance systems in the city, for progressively establishing Hong Kong as an Asian hub for right-hand drive intelligent assisted driving technology while enhancing local road safety and the competitiveness of the technology industry.

     InvestHK has also been actively engaging companies worldwide across various sectors, attracting and assisting them in setting up or expanding operations in Hong Kong, and provides one-stop customised support services, offering guidance throughout the planning and implementation process.

Note 1: The Regulations empower the Commissioner for Transport to issue the following two types of trade licences: the first type is for use on non-left-hand drive vehicles which can be registered and licensed in Hong Kong. These trade plates have red letters on a white background (commonly known as Red Plate); the second type is for use on left-hand drive vehicles for re-export purpose. These trade plates have blue letters on a white background (commonly known as Blue Plate).

Note 2: A trade licence may be used for driving vehicles for the following permitted purposes: delivering an unregistered vehicle to a motor dealer or exhibitor; examining, repairing or presale retrofitting; presale demonstration to a potential customer or for mechanical test (for Red Plate only); and to drive an unregistered vehicle to a port or boundary control point for the purpose of re-export to a place outside Hong Kong (for Blue Plate only).

Ends/Wednesday, April 16, 2025
Issued at HKT 12:16

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