26 October 2001

ESDlife (www.esdlife.com), the award winning bilingual portal delivering both government and personal services in Hong Kong, today announced the launch of Hong Kong's first Online Government Bookstore, providing local citizens and overseas users with a one-stop shop for purchasing Hong Kong SAR Government publications. The public can now access the new service anytime of the day by visiting the online bookstore: www.bookstore.esdlife.com.

The ESDlife Online Government Bookstore plans to offer publications from three government departments - the Census and Statistics Department, the Information Services Department and the Hong Kong Examinations Authority. At this stage, ESDlife will offer publications and the latest statistical data, including the 2001 Population Census Report, from the Census and Statistics Department through the Statistical Bookstore, Hong Kong. In the coming months, the Online Government Bookstore will cover a greater variety of publications provided by the other two Government departments. Publications for sale will include Government Gazettes, legal publications, annual reports, syllabuses and past papers from public examinations.

Publications Made Available for Download for First Time

A wide array of publications is now available at the Statistical Bookstore, Hong Kong. Apart from offering hard copies of various bilingual publications, the new Online Government Bookstore will also provide soft copies of statistical information for download. This is the very first time the Census and Statistics Department has offered soft copies of government publications. Users can download purchased items directly from the Internet, thus avoiding the postage and time costs associated with mail orders.

Statistical publications and data available through the web site cover the areas of external trade, economic and business statistics, consumer prices and household expenditure, labour force and other social data. The bookstore will also provide the Department's latest release - the 2001 Population Census report, which contains comprehensive statistical data for the entire Hong Kong population and provides important information for business planning and decision-making, as well as academic purposes.

One-stop Service with Convenient Payment Methods

Procedures for ordering government publications online are very simple. Users can select their desired publications, make payments and arrange for delivery all at one stop - ESDlife. It is designed to provide simple and clear navigation, allowing users to browse, search and review their shopping status and make changes to their shopping decisions easily. A variety of flexible payment methods are available, including Visa, MasterCard, Jetco and PPS. Delivery is also provided, with hard copy publications normally delivered to local addresses within 2 to 6 working days. Delivery to overseas addresses by airmail will take 1 to 2 weeks, while sending by surface mail will take 4 to 6 weeks. Soft copies of purchased items will be made available for downloading for a period of 7 days upon payment confirmation.

The ESDlife Online Government Bookstore is open 24x7 and allows both local and overseas users to access the bookstore at any time without geographical limitations.