All stallholders have been told to move out of their spaces at Cheung Fat Market in Tsing Yi by September for “improvement works,” according to a letter issued last Friday by the market’s new management company, Uni-China (Market) Management Limited.

Although the market is still owned by Link REIT, a real estate investment trust, the trust announced that it had outsourced market operations to Uni-China earlier this year. Stallholders held a week-long strike in February against the management takeover, which they feared would result in exorbitant increases in rents.

See also: Feature: Paranoia and fear in the fight to save Cheung Fat Market

A press conference during the Cheung Fat market strike. File photo: Chantal Yuen, HKFP.

The stallholders’ union chairperson Lee Kam-yuen told HKFP that no further action was planned, as the stallholders focus on shifting their inventory before September.

“According to the documents, we need to first register, and then Uni-China will contact us about whether we can stay [after renovations]… Under these conditions, it is unlikely that we will be able to stay,” said Lee. “Markets nearby are also reaching full capacity,” he said, adding that they will probably not be able to move their businesses to markets elsewhere.