Rising yuan boosts mainland visitors's spending power
Bargain-hunting mainlanders expected to take advantage of exchange rate during visits to city
Internet users across the border are enthusiastically discussing plans to shop in Hong Kong as the yuan climbs to a 19-year high.
The exchange rate has risen in the past few days, passing HK$1.25 as the yuan appreciated against the weak US dollar, to which the Hong Kong dollar is pegged. Beijing devalued its currency in late 1993.
Mainlanders are expected to take advantage of the resulting "discounts" in Hong Kong.
On Sina Weibo, the most popular microblogging service on the mainland, users posted messages yesterday saying "Everything over 20 per cent off in Hong Kong" and "Brothers, let's go [shopping]".
Meanwhile, mainlanders already in the city were emboldened to spend more.
"I don't have time to come more often, but I will definitely spend more because things are even cheaper now," a 28-year-old visitor from Shanghai said.
She said she visited twice a year, spending more than HK$10,000 each time on fashion items and also household items like milk powder.