‘Helpless’: can Hong Kong logistics firms survive eviction? Uncertain future as government takes back New Territories brownfield sites
- Hundreds of operators forced out of sites in New Territories to make way for development, but government only offering financial compensation, not relocation
- Push towards value-added logistics industry, including areas such as financing and marketing, also leaves some traditional players saying they may have to close down
Hong Kong logistics company owner Ching Chi-wai looked wistfully at his 60,000 sq ft warehouse and said he had never felt more hopeless.
He may have to close the Elegant Logistics Group, which he founded in 2014 and grew to have 40 employees, more than 20 trucks and equipment, moving mainly electronic goods, fashion items and accessories between mainland China and countries in Asia, Europe and North America.
Hundreds of logistics operators are affected by a land resumption exercise there and in nearby Yuen Long South.
The Development Bureau told the first batch of operators in writing last December that they would have to move out next year. They had to wait for an official gazette announcement to know the deadline, usually within six months.
Besides the 30 hectares (74 acres) already acquired, the government is taking back 200 hectares of brownfield sites in the New Territories in phases by 2026, including those in Hung Shui Kiu and Yuen Long South.