Editor’s note: 

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government on Thursday unveiled a comprehensive package of systemic reforms following the release of the judge-led Independent Committee report into last November’s fatal Wang Fuk Court fire in Tai Po. On Friday, cross-departmental meetings were held to coordinate implementation and ensure that lessons learned are applied to address existing loopholes.

Authorities will criminalize bid-rigging in building maintenance and renovation projects and step up law enforcement efforts, with legislative amendments expected to be completed by April.

Under existing legislation, bid-rigging is primarily addressed through the civil regime under the Competition Ordinance. Criminal enforcement is limited to other offenses arising in the course of such conduct.

The proposals form part of the government’s reform package, based on a report by the Independent Committee that investigated the deadly blaze at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po in November 2025.

The report, unveiled on Thursday, identified bid-rigging in major building maintenance and renovation projects as a serious problem in Hong Kong.

At the beginning of a news conference on Friday, Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung and Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Algernon Yau Ying-wah apologized to the affected residents and the general public.

Yau said the government is considering amending the Competition Ordinance to criminalize four types of serious anticompetitive conduct involving tenders for building maintenance and renovation projects — bid-rigging, price-fixing, market sharing, and output restrictions.

The proposed regulation will cover the tendering of works contractors and related preparatory arrangements, aiming to address collusion across all stages of building maintenance and renovation.

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Offenders face up to 10 years of imprisonment. Fines will be set at either a maximum of HK$10 million ($1.27 million), three times the illegal gains, or 50 percent of local turnover for each year of the violation, whichever is highest.

The new criminal offense will be brought within the scope of the Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance and the Independent Commission Against Corruption Ordinance, empowering law enforcement agencies to combat the crime, including the authority to demand information and materials and confiscate proceeds of crime, Tang said.

The government also proposes enhancing the overall civil liability regime under the Competition Ordinance, including raising fines and extending the disqualification period for serving as a company director to 15 years.

Yau said the targeted measures aim to address public concerns while allowing authorities to concentrate resources on combating serious anticompetitive conduct in the building maintenance sector.

“To safeguard Hong Kong’s overall business environment and competitiveness, we will ensure that we do not regulate only one form of bid-rigging, which would leave enforcement gaps for other conduct that similarly harms competition,” Yau said.

Competition Commission CEO Rasul Butt said the commission will soon discuss the proposed legislative amendments with the Legislative Council, then consult stakeholders, aiming to pass the amendments by April.

Yau added that the government’s key message was that it will deploy stronger and more targeted legal measures to combat serious anticompetitive conduct, and will not allow anyone to manipulate outcomes through collusion to the detriment of property owners and law-abiding businesses.

Asked whether legislation to combat bid-rigging was overdue, and whether the government was confident of success, Tang said the government’s efforts to tackle the practice have never stopped. Various departments have consistently and diligently carried out investigations, and the current move was intended to intensify those efforts, he said.

Contact the writer at stacyshi@chinadailyhk.com