On Thursday’s Backchat we’re talking about a new system for setting Hong Kong’s minimum wage which will take economic growth and consumer prices into account and mean that it can never be cut back below its existing level in future.

Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun called these changes a "historic and challenging mission". But some employers say its unreasonable that it will become impossible to ever reduce the minimum wage even if times get tough for businesses. And unionists are unhappy about reported plans to increase the minimum wage by only HK$1.8 an hour this year, one of the lowest increases ever.


After 9:45, we look at Hongkongers' cinema going habits, following the closure of the almost six-decade-old President Cinema in Causeway Bay.


9:05am-9:45am: Changes to the minimum wage


9:05am-9:20am: Prof. Ho Lok Sang, Director and Research Professor, Pan Sutong Shanghai-Hong Kong Economic Policy Research Institute, Lingnan University
9:05am-9:30am: Louis Pong, CEO of the Employers’ Federation of Hong Kong
9:30am-9:45am: Sze Lai Shan, Deputy Director, The Society for Community Organisations (SoCo)
9:30am-9:45am: Rita Li, Associate Professor in Economics, Hong Kong Shue Yan University


9:45am-10:00am: Closure of President Cinema in Causeway Bay

9:45am-10:00am: Timmy Chen, Assistant Professor in Cultural Studies, School of Art and Social Sciences, Hong Kong Metropolitan University