​Following is a question by the Hon Stanley Ng and a reply by the Under Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr Raistlin Lau, in the Legislative Council today (July 2):
 
Question:
 
     There are views that the first Hong Kong Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) Month held last month enabled members of the public and tourists to experience the vitality and charm of Hong Kong's ICH, and that transmitting ICH skills and the economic benefits brought about by the related cultural and creative intellectual property rights (IP) are conducive to the sustainable development of Hong Kong's ICH. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) of the number of participants or visitors to the various activities of the first Hong Kong ICH Month, and the proportion of travellers among them; whether an assessment has been conducted on the effectiveness of Hong Kong ICH Month;
 
(2) as it has been reported that the Government will announce a system for designating Hong Kong ICH bearers this year, whether the system will cover designation for both categories of bearer and bearer organisation; whether a mechanism will be established to revoke the status of bearers, ensuring that ICH remains vibrant and relevant over time, as well as maintaining the vitality of the transmission system and the enthusiasm of bearers; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
 
(3) as it is learnt that the rapid development of IP of ICH in the Mainland has generated considerable economic benefits, of the mechanism put in place by the Government to regularly follow up on, incubate, support, protect and compile statistics on cultural and creative IP projects derived from Hong Kong's ICH, so that they can sustainably create cultural value and economic benefits?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) is an essential part of the fine traditional Chinese culture, and a lively witness to the continuous transmission of Chinese culture. The Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau (CSTB) and the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) are committed to safeguarding, transmitting and promoting the ICH of Hong Kong, while actively supporting the national policies on furthering the safeguarding of ICH and implementing enhanced measures. Targeting ICH items across various domains, different aspects of work such as identification, documentation, research, preservation, promotion and transmission of ICH are strengthened to enhance the public's understanding of ICH and engage the community in safeguarding ICH. The above work includes the ICH Funding Scheme of the LCSD, which supports eligible local organisations and individuals in implementing meaningful local ICH projects. In addition, the LCSD released in December 2024 the updated Representative List of the ICH of Hong Kong (Representative List), with an increase in its number of items from 20 to 24, and the updated ICH Inventory of Hong Kong, with an increase in its number of items from 480 to 507.
      
     The 2024 Policy Address proposed two measures to promote the safeguarding and transmission of ICH, whereby the LCSD will develop a mechanism and criteria in 2025 for recognising the bearers of the items on the Representative List, as well as organise the Hong Kong ICH Month in June every year.
      
     In response to the Hon Stanley Ng's three-part question, my replies are as follows:
 
(1) The inaugural Hong Kong ICH Month was successfully held from May 31 to July 1, 2025. Activities include over 80 ICH performances, 60 interactive experiential booths on ICH and 24 field trips under "ICH Highlight Tours", covering more than 100 ICH items. By invitation of the LCSD, over 20 community organisations participated in organising activities during the Hong Kong ICH Month so as to expand the coverage of the event and extend its reach in the community. 
 
     With the attendance of the activities of the inaugural Hong Kong ICH Month already surpassing 85 000 as at June 21, 2025, the final total attendance of the event is estimated to be more than 100 000. Despite the unavailability of figures on the percentage of visitors, since the tourist-filled Piazza of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui was chosen as the venue of the opening ceremony and the ensuing ICH carnival of the inaugural Hong Kong ICH Month, and both activities fell on the Mainland's long weekend holiday in celebration of the Tuen Ng Festival, many visitors were attracted to the ICH carnival. Among others, around one-third of the "ICH Highlight Tours" quotas were given to visitors, and their feedback was very positive. The LCSD will continue to make efforts in this area in the future to enhance the integration of culture and tourism. A breakdown of the attendance of the Hong Kong ICH Month 2025 by activity is set out at Annex.
      
     The inaugural Hong Kong ICH Month successfully enriched the public's understanding of the ICH items of both Hong Kong and the Mainland. Through the collaboration between the Government and community organisations, as well as the active participation of local and Mainland ICH organisations and practitioners, the public and visitors were provided with an experience of "ICH Around Town".

(2) The LCSD has studied the national guidelines for the recognition and management of ICH bearers. It has also completed its collection of and gained insight into relevant information on the planning, formulation and implementation of the mechanism for recognising ICH bearers or bearer organisations, the management system and the cancellation mechanism for the recognised ICH bearers or bearer organisations, etc in Guangdong Province, Macao and other neighbouring regions. Currently, the national guidelines include a cancellation mechanism, while Guangdong and Macao also have their own relevant cancellation mechanisms. The LCSD will take into account the aforementioned information and consider the current transmission of Hong Kong's ICH to prepare a proposal that is in accord with the actual situation of Hong Kong. The proposal will cover the requirements for applicants for the status of ICH bearer or bearer organisation to follow, the mechanism and criteria for recognition, as well as a cancellation mechanism where applicable. The LCSD will consult the ICH Advisory Committee on the draft proposal to ensure that a set of stringent recognition mechanism and criteria suitable for Hong Kong is formulated to effectively recognise high-quality bearers or bearer organisations that are committed to transmitting ICH, thereby enhancing the protection and transmission of Hong Kong's ICH. The mechanism and criteria are expected to be promulgated within this year.

(3) As regards intellectual property based on ICH, the ICH Office has actively assisted cultural and creative industry brands in Hong Kong in launching creative cultural merchandise in recent years. For example, it has co-operated with a local fashion brand since 2024 to present Hong Kong's ICH elements in a novel way to bring fashion lovers a series of new-style cheongsams that revitalise traditions, and clothing created with ICH elements. In addition to a publicity and promotional campaign launched in Hong Kong, fashion shows were organised in places outside of Hong Kong, such as London, Shanghai and Shenzhen, to showcase Hong Kong's ICH. The ICH Office will continue to provide information on ICH for suitable cultural and creative industry brands to assist them in transforming ICH into value-‍added cultural and creative products through revitalisation.

     Furthermore, the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency under the CSTB, through the CreateSmart Initiative, provides funding support and drives to foster cross-sectoral collaboration between local cultural and creative industries and ICH bearers, promote Hong Kong's ICH at cultural and creative exhibitions and events staged in Hong Kong, the Mainland and overseas, and support Hong Kong designers to create cultural and creative products themed on ICH. These collaborations promote the ICH of Hong Kong, as well as facilitate the development of cultural and creative sectors as industries. Examples include the "Palace Museum Collections x Hong Kong Intangible Cultural Heritage" Exhibition held during the Shenzhen Reading Month in November 2024 and the Hong Kong Reading Week in April 2025, the Hong Kong Pavilion themed "Strolling through Hong Kong: Intangible Cultural Heritage and Urban Memories" set up at Beijing International Book Fair in June 2025, and the Hong Kong's ICH-themed new art toys created by Hong Kong original art toy designers to be showcased in the "Hong Kong Art Toy Story 2025@Kuala Lumpur" in November 2025.

Ends/Wednesday, July 2, 2025
Issued at HKT 12:25

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