Give mainland parallel-goods traders border ban, NPC to urge CPPCC
Party members outline ideas they will take to plenary meeting on the mainland next month
Mainland authorities should ban convicted parallel-goods traders from visiting Hong Kong for up to several years, a local deputy to the national legislature has advised.
Brave Chan Yung, a new National People's Congress delegate from the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, said the proposal was one of 20 suggestions to be made at next month's NPC and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference plenary meeting.
"[The boom of parallel goods] has been unfavourable to public order and transport. The parallel-goods traders who brought Hong Kong goods across the border, bit by bit, have affected the normal flow of people," Chan said.
He asked the mainland to suspend those found guilty of parallel-goods trading from entering Hong Kong on the individual visit scheme for a certain period of time.
"Repeated offenders should be banned entry for several years to serve as a deterrent," he said. Chan called on the mainland to put first-time offenders on a monitoring list and proposed a boost in funding and manpower for customs and immigration departments across the border.
To help stabilise prices of live cattle and pigs, Chan said the DAB would urge the mainland to ensure a quota of supplies to Hong Kong and encourage more suppliers to offer such goods.
On the influx of cross-border students in recent years, Thomas Pang Cheung-wai, a CPPCC delegate from the DAB, said they would propose Hong Kong's school-sponsoring bodies be allowed to set up facilities in Shenzhen, with principals and teachers from the SAR.
Pang said such schools could attract Hong Kong-born children living on the mainland.
With more Hongkongers working across the border, Pang also urged the mainland to make it clear how they could sign up for social security.
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said the chambers' estimates put the number of Hongkongers now working in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen at 370,000.
DAB chairman and CPPCC delegate Tam Yiu-chung suggested the mainland set up a long-term Hong Kong products expo in the border area to help promote local merchandise.
