Dear Mr Yip,

        I refer to your enquiry about industrial classification for
business activities relating to various services and clarifications, made
under the Code on Access to Information on 5 May 2016.  Our responses are
given below.

(1) HSIC coding of respective business activities

(a) High-involvement personal services

2.        The Hong Kong Standard Industrial Classification Version 2.0
(HSIC V2.0), which is modelled on the International Standard Industrial
Classification of All Economic Activities Revision 4 (ISIC Rev. 4), is a
classification according to the nature of productive activity, and not a
classification of goods and services.  Apparently, the degree of
involvement of personal services is not a dimension in the classification
framework.  The following HSIC Industry Sections may be relevant:

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Economic activities | Industry Section |
|-----------------------------------------------------+------------------|
| Import/export, wholesale and retail trades | G |
|-----------------------------------------------------+------------------|
| Transportation, storage, postal and courier | H |
| services | |
|-----------------------------------------------------+------------------|
| Accommodation and food service activities | I |
|-----------------------------------------------------+------------------|
| Information and communications | J |
|-----------------------------------------------------+------------------|
| Financial and insurance activities | K |
|-----------------------------------------------------+------------------|
| Real estate activities | L |
|-----------------------------------------------------+------------------|
| Professional, scientific and technical activities | M |
|-----------------------------------------------------+------------------|
| Administrative and support service activities | N |
|-----------------------------------------------------+------------------|
| Public administration | O |
|-----------------------------------------------------+------------------|
| Education | P |
|-----------------------------------------------------+------------------|
| Human health and social work activities | Q |
|-----------------------------------------------------+------------------|
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | R |
|-----------------------------------------------------+------------------|
| Other service activities | S |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

(b) Goods maintenance services

3.        Economic activities related to repair and maintenance of goods,
and provision of repair services under HSIC V2.0 are given as follows:

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Industry sub-class | Economic activities |
|--------------------+---------------------------------------------------|
| 331100 | Repair of fabricated metal products |
|--------------------+---------------------------------------------------|
| 331200 | Repair of machinery |
|--------------------+---------------------------------------------------|
| 331300 | Repair of electronic and optical equipment |
|--------------------+---------------------------------------------------|
| 331400 | Repair of electrical equipment |
|--------------------+---------------------------------------------------|
| 331500 | Repair of air, water and rail transport equipment |
|--------------------+---------------------------------------------------|
| 331900 | Repair of other non-household equipment |
|--------------------+---------------------------------------------------|
| 432103 | Fire alarm and fire fighting equipment, |
| | installation and maintenance |
|--------------------+---------------------------------------------------|
| 432104 | Anti-burglar system, installation and maintenance |
|--------------------+---------------------------------------------------|
| 432105 | Intercommunication system, installation and |
| | maintenance |
|--------------------+---------------------------------------------------|
| 432106 | Telecommunications equipment, installation and |
| | maintenance |
|--------------------+---------------------------------------------------|
| 432199 | Combined and other installation and maintenance |
| | of electrical and mechanical equipment |
|--------------------+---------------------------------------------------|
| 432201 | Air-conditioning and ventilation system, |
| | installation and maintenance |
|--------------------+---------------------------------------------------|
| 432204 | Gas fitting, installation and maintenance |
|--------------------+---------------------------------------------------|
| 432299 | Combined and other ventilation, gas and water |
| | fitting, installation and maintenance |
|--------------------+---------------------------------------------------|
| 432901 | Lift and escalator, installation and maintenance |
|--------------------+---------------------------------------------------|
| 432999 | Miscellaneous construction installation and |
| | maintenance n.e.c. |
|--------------------+---------------------------------------------------|
| 439101 | Interior fitting, decoration and repairs for |
| | buildings |
|--------------------+---------------------------------------------------|
| 439102 | Exterior renovation and repairs for buildings |
|--------------------+---------------------------------------------------|
| 439199 | Combination of interior fitting, decoration and |
| | exterior renovation and repairs for buildings |
|--------------------+---------------------------------------------------|
| 951000 | Servicing and repairing of motor vehicles and |
| | motorcycles |
|--------------------+---------------------------------------------------|
| 952100 | Repair of computers and peripheral equipment |
|--------------------+---------------------------------------------------|
| 952200 | Repair of communications equipment |
|--------------------+---------------------------------------------------|
| 953100 | Repair of audio and visual electronic products |
|--------------------+---------------------------------------------------|
| 953200 | Repair of household appliances, home and garden |
| | equipment |
|--------------------+---------------------------------------------------|
| 953300 | Repair of footwear and leather goods |
|--------------------+---------------------------------------------------|
| 953400 | Repair of furniture and home furnishings |
|--------------------+---------------------------------------------------|
| 953600 | Repair of watches and clocks |
|--------------------+---------------------------------------------------|
| 953700 | Repair of jewellery |
|--------------------+---------------------------------------------------|
| 953900 | Repair of other personal and household goods |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

 (c) Services for the mind
4.        It appears that the descriptions given are not sufficient for us
to proceed further.  Your provision of further elaboration and examples of
the business activities involved is much appreciated.  

(d) Intangible asset maintenance service

5.        Whilst more elaborations and examples would help us to
understand the posted question, activities related to asset maintenance
services are generally classified under Industry Section K “Financial and
insurance activities”.  

(2) "Intermediaries"
6.        “Intermediate products” in HSIC Codes 20, 239 and 4527 refer to
semi-finished outputs, while “monetary intermediaries” in HSIC Codes 641
and 6492 refer to establishments mainly engaging in the obtaining of funds
in the form of transferable deposits.  These “monetary intermediaries” may
receive deposits and/or close substitutes for deposits, extend credit or
lend funds. The granting of credit can take a variety of forms, such as
loans, mortgages, credit cards etc.

(3) “Franchising”
7.        For “4921 Public bus services”, it applies specifically to
‘franchised public bus operators’ (e.g. KMB, CityBus, etc.).
8.        For “773 Leasing of intellectual property and similar
non-financial intangible assets (except copyrighted works)”, ‘use of
franchise agreement’ serves as one of the examples of forms of
intellectual property leasing.  An establishment can still be classified
under this industry group by leasing out its intellectual property and/or
similar non-financial intangible assets via other forms (e.g. permission
for reproduction, use of trademarks or patent entities, etc.).  

9.        Should you need any further assistance on this matter, please
feel free to contact Mr Trent To, Employment Statistics and Central
Register of Establishments Section (Tel: 2582 4751) of this department
direct.

With best regards,

Patrick Lam
Census and Statistics Department
Tel: 2582 4731

From:        Gordon Yip <[FOI #72 email]>
To:        FOI requests at 政府統計處 <[Census and Statistics Department request email]>
Date:        05.05.2016 14:02
Subject:        Freedom of Information request - Service-oriented
induatrial classification in HK

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Sir / Madam,

Another aspect of my research team is to try to elaborate the
service-oriented industrial classification in terms of different
frameworks, so hereby are the questions:

1. In which of the HSIC are fallen into the following kinds of service
encounters:

(a) High-involvement personal services (i.e. the consumer is the direct
recipient of a service and the service offer provided a high level of
tangibility);

(b) Goods maintenance services (i.e. services are performed on a
customer’s objects rather than their person, an example being the repair
of appliances or the transport of goods);

(c) Services for the mind (i.e. the consumer is the direct recipient of a
service, but does not need to be physically present in order to receive an
essentially intangible benefit), and;

(d) Intangible asset maintenance service (i.e. it is made up of intangible
services performed on a customer’s intangible assets.  For these services,
there is little tangible evidence in the production process).

2. What are the exact roles or definition on "intermediaries" in HSIC? As
generally speaking, it can be concluded as three varieties, namely
"service agents", "retail outlets" and "service wholesalers".  But whilst
I observed the manual of the new version of HSIC, unclear description on
"intermediaries" found, e.g. codes 20, 239, 4527, 641 and 6492.

3. Does the private-sector and public-sector, which are engaged as the
means of "franchising", still classify as the primary activity of HSIC?
 For example in 4921, it
describes as "includes all franchised bus operators", and in 773, it
mentioned "... The leasing of these products can take various forms, such
as permission for reproduction, use in subsequent processes or products,
operating businesses under a franchise etc.", if the companies operate the
similar entities but without "franchise" or something in the form of
service license or agreement, does the same HSIC apply to these companies?

I am looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours faithfully,
Gordon H. N. Yip

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