LCQ9: Licensing and regulatory regime for massage establishments
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Question:
It is reported that massage services advertised with terms such as "foot fetish" and "face-stepping" have proliferated in the community in recent months. There are views that the promotional content and business models of such services cause nuisance to the nearby communities and have aroused public concerns about the possible involvement of such premises in illegal sex trade. However, as these premises only provide localised massage services on body parts such as feet and face, they are currently not regulated under the licensing regime of the Massage Establishments Ordinance. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective number of inspections of and law enforcement actions against massage establishments conducted by the Government in each of the past three years; among such cases, the number of those involving premises providing localised massage services on body parts such as feet and face; and the number of prosecutions brought against and convictions of the owners or operators of such premises for alleged offences under the Crimes Ordinance;
(2) whether the Government will consider amending the Massage Establishments Ordinance, including changing the licensing threshold for massage establishments from being defined by "body parts" to taking into account the nature and context of services, so as to comprehensively regulate all massage premises suspected of providing pornographic services; and
(3) as it is reported that the aforesaid premises carry out promotional and solicitation activities through online social media platforms and discussion forums using terms such as "unusual fetishes" and "sexual innuendo", whether the Government will strengthen interdepartmental intelligence gathering and law enforcement in the future to combat such promotional activities; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
The Massage Establishments Ordinance (Cap. 266) aims to regulate massage establishments through a licensing regime in order to prevent and combat vice or illegal prostitution activities committed by criminals in these establishments. The Ordinance was amended in 2001 to narrow the regulatory scope so that only massage premises offering full-body massage (i.e. covering that part of the body below the shoulders and above the knees) to customers of the opposite sex are required to obtain a licence, with a view to striking a proper balance between controlling vice activities and not hindering legitimate massage businesses.
Under the Ordinance, any person who operates, keeps, manages, assists in any capacity in the operation of, or assists in the management of, a massage establishment for the operation of which a licence is not in force commits an offence and is liable to a fine of $50,000 and imprisonment for six months on first conviction, and a fine of $100,000 and imprisonment for two years on subsequent conviction.
My reply to the questions raised by the Member is as follows:
(1) The Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) conducts regular surprise inspections of licensed massage establishments under section 11(1) of the Ordinance to combat vice activities or premises in breach of relevant licensing conditions. If a licensee breaches any licensing condition, or ceases to satisfy any condition relating to the operation of a massage establishment as prescribed in the Ordinance, the HKPF may, depending on the circumstances, issue a warning or consider revoking, suspending or refusing to renew the licence.
The HKPF will take resolute law enforcement actions against any premises involved in illegal activities, including those suspected of operating unlicensed massage establishments. For instance, in July this year, the Sham Shui Po District of the HKPF, acting on intelligence, conducted a surprise inspection and cracked down an unlicensed massage establishment in Cheung Sha Wan which advertised so-called "barefoot facial" massage. Two persons were arrested on suspicion of "operating an unlicensed massage establishment" and "assisting in the management of an unlicensed massage establishment". The case is currently under investigation.
The relevant statistics of the HKPF's efforts against unlicensed massage premises over the past three years are tabulated below:
| Year | Number of persons arrested | Number of persons prosecuted | Number of persons convicted |
| 2024 | 114 | 13 | 13 |
| 2025 | 65 | 11 | 11 |
| 2026 (as at end-August) |
17 | 2 | 1 (another prosecution case is under trial) |
The above figures include arrests made in respect of offences including "prohibition on operating etc. massage establishment without a licence" under section 4 of the Ordinance, "keeping a vice establishment" under section 139 of the Crimes Ordinance (Cap. 200), "breach of condition of stay" and "offence to be employer of a person who is not lawfully employable" under section 41 and section 17I respectively of the Immigration Ordinance (Cap. 115). The HKPF does not maintain information on the types of services provided by the premises involved.
(2) The HKPF has all along been committed to combating all forms of illegal prostitution activities. In respect of premises suspected of providing pornographic services, regardless of whether they hold a licence issued under the Ordinance, section 139 of the Crimes Ordinance (Cap. 200) ("keeping a vice establishment") provides that any person who keeps any premises, vessel or place as a vice establishment; or manages or assists in the management, or is otherwise in charge or control, of any premises, vessel or place kept as a vice establishment, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a maximum penalty of imprisonment for ten years.
As mentioned above, the Government amended the Ordinance in 2001 to narrow the regulatory scope, including specifically stipulating that only massage establishments offering full-body massage to customers of the opposite sex are required to obtain a licence, and defining "full-body massage" as covering that part of the body below the shoulders and above the knees. The Government currently has no plan to amend the licensing threshold under the Ordinance. The HKPF will continue to closely monitor the modes of operation of massage premises using different descriptions to attract customers, and take resolute law enforcement actions against any premises involved in illegal activities, including those providing pornographic services.
(3) On intelligence gathering and law enforcement against illegal activities involving prostitution, the HKPF, apart from patrolling black spots, conducts intelligence-led operations, including deploying officers to disguise as customers to collect evidence and strengthening inspection of suspicious premises. The HKPF also adopts an interdepartmental collaboration strategy by conducting joint enforcement actions with relevant departments (including the Labour Department and the Immigration Department) to combat the offences concerned. At the same time, the HKPF will continue to closely monitor the trend of using websites and online social media platforms to conduct illegal prostitution activities, and gather intelligence via online channels to facilitate the deployment of targeted enforcement actions.
The Government will continue to monitor market developments, including the modes of operation of massage establishments, and review the effectiveness of the implementation of the Ordinance on an ongoing basis. The Government will remain committed to preventing and combating the use of massage premises by criminals for vice and illegal prostitution activities, while not hindering the operation of legitimate massage businesses.
Ends/Wednesday, October 14, 2026
Issued at HKT 11:45
Issued at HKT 11:45
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