Bilateral agreements concluded by the HKSAR on its own
Article 151 of the Basic Law provides that the HKSAR may on its own, using the name "Hong Kong, China", conclude and implement agreements with foreign states and regions in the appropriate fields, including the economic, trade, financial and monetary, shipping, communications, tourism, cultural and sports fields.
In accordance with this article, the HKSAR has concluded certain agreements on its own including :
| (a) | agreement with the European Community on co-operation and mutual administrative assistance in customs matters (signed on 13 May 1999 and came into effect on 1 June 1999);
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| (b) | agreement with Israel on co-operation in information technology and communications (signed and came into effect on 7 March 2000);
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| (c) | agreement with the United Kingdom on the avoidance of double taxation of revenues arising from the business of shipping transport (signed on 25 October 2000 and came into effect on 3 May 2001);
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| (d) | agreement with the Netherlands on the avoidance of double taxation on income, profits, gains or capital of an enterprise operating ships in international traffic (signed on 2 November 2000 and came into effect on 17 October 2001);
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| (e) | agreement with Germany on the avoidance of double taxation on shipping to exempt shipowners in the HKSAR and Germany from paying double tax (signed on 13 January 2003 and came into effect on 17 January 2005); and
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| (f) | agreement with Ukraine on maritime transport (signed on 2 April 2003 and came into effect on 24 April 2004).
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Bilateral agreements concluded with the authorisation of the Central People's Government (CPG)
The Basic Law provides that the HKSAR may, with the CPG's authorisation or assistance, negotiate and conclude the agreements with foreign states or regions in certain areas. The relevant provisions are :
| (a) | arrangements for reciprocal juridical assistance (BL 96), including agreements on surrender of fugitive offenders, agreements on transfer of sentenced persons and agreements on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters;
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| (b) | air service agreements and overflight agreements (BL 133); and
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| (c) | visa abolition agreements (BL 155). |
List of such bilateral agreements can be found here.
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