Two strikes and you're out for Shenzhen smugglers

In what could be a heavy blow to cross-border traders between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, Guangdong authorites are planning to deny travel permits to Shenzhen residents found to have been involved in smuggling. 

Officials from the Guangdong branch of the General Administration of Customs are working with the Ministry of Public Security in hammering out the details of new measures aimed at controlling rampant smuggling activities between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, the Southern Metropolis Daily quoted unidentified customs officials as saying.  

The new rules would include "restrictions" on multiple-entry Hong Kong travel permits to Shenzhen residents who have been fined twice for smuggling, the newspaper said. Residents who have previously been convicted of offences related to smuggling and those who resist checks at customs checkpoints can also be denied permits, the report said.

The special travel permit, launched in 2009, grants Shenzhen residents an unlimited number of visits to Hong Kong for a year.