Hong Kong lawmaker urges reforms as e-codes lift textbook prices, end second-hand trade

Hong Kong textbook prices have risen sharply, with some school booklists totaling nearly HK$7,000, up 14.7% year-on-year, prompting a lawmaker to demand market reforms. Social welfare lawmaker Chan Man-yi said electronic materials require annual activation codes, forcing parents to buy complete new sets and killing second-hand book trade. Low-income families may spend nearly 30% of monthly income on books. She proposed relaxing the full book-grant income threshold by 20%, restoring targeted student subsidies of HK$1,000–1,500, and requiring publishers to itemise e-code prices and ban bundled sales.