Shenzhen's wealthier residents are relying on regular shopping jaunts to Hong Kong for not only big-ticket purchases, but everyday items, such as toothpaste, spending 20 billion yuan (HK$24.6 billion) annually when the central government hopes to boost domestic consumption.
The spending in Hong Kong is equivalent to about 6 per cent of Shenzhen's total retail sales volume last year, or 352 billion yuan, according to a survey by the Shenzhen Retail Business Association.
The size of the figure is a concern to some economists, who say the mainland's high taxation rates imposed on products as they make their way from customs to the store shelves are partly to blame for the displacement in spending between the two cities.
The survey interviewed 2,116 Shenzhen residents and found that more than 27 per cent had shopped in Hong Kong last year, and a quarter of those had visited at least once a month, the Southern Metropolis News reported.
The most frequent shoppers tended to be the wealthier residents, or ones with a university education, the survey found.
'Nearly 17 per cent of Shenzhen residents who earn more than 20,000 yuan [a month] and 9 per cent of those with a tertiary education are frequent spenders in Hong Kong, while less than 7 per cent of those earning between 8,000 and 19,000 yuan said they frequently shopped in Hong Kong,' it said.
'For those earning less than 5,000 yuan a month, only 1.5 per cent are frequent visitors.'