Shenzhen shoppers ready to accept limits on visits to Hong Kong
Special economic zone residents express understanding of worries over tourist influx, even though they can make unlimited trips now
Whenever Liu Huilan and her friends in Shenzhen need retail therapy, household essentials or even just a girls' night out, there's no question where they'll go - Hong Kong.
They love it so much that, one summer two years ago, she and five friends set up an online chat group called "Have fun and buy soy sauce in Hong Kong". "Buying soy sauce" is a slang term for shopping in the city.
"Almost all the daily necessities we use at home are from Hong Kong," explains Liu, 32. "When any of us uses up her lipstick or cooking oil, she will call for a partner in the chat group. Then two or three in the group will … go with her to Hong Kong and shop that afternoon or night."
They spend between HK$600 and HK$1,000 on each trip.
But all that might change if restrictions are imposed. There have been reports that the Hong Kong government will reduce the number of trips that Shenzhen multiple-entry permit holders can make to the city. At the moment they can make any number of visits.
Currently about 2.5 million mainlanders in Shenzhen are eligible for multiple-entry permits. Some 1.2 million have obtained such permits, of which 30,000 to 50,000 are said to be working as parallel-goods traders, who buy up goods in Hong Kong and sell them on the mainland.