Visa rules open door for more Shenzhen residents to visit city

People from other provinces living in Shenzhen will be allowed to apply for Hong Kong visas through the individual visit scheme without returning to their home provinces, the chief executive has announced.

Also, permanent Shenzhen residents will be allowed to apply for multiple-entry visas to Hong Kong.

The two new measures, announced by Donald Tsang Yam-kuen in Beijing yesterday, were among 14 the central government unveiled to bolster Hong Kong's economy.

'These two ground-breaking arrangements may not only increase the number of visitors under the individual visit scheme. They can also offer more convenience for trading activities between Hong Kong and Shenzhen,' Mr Tsang said at the end of his 'duty visit' to the capital.

Shenzhen has a population of 8.6 million, of which about 2.2 million are permanent residents who will be eligible to apply for the new one-year multiple-entry visas.

However, there has been no announcement on a much-anticipated expansion of the individual visit scheme to other second- and third-tier mainland cities. Mr Tsang said only that Beijing would 'aggressively consider' expanding it from the current 49 cities.

The tourism sector, hit by a fall in long-haul visitors as the financial crisis deepens, and the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau welcomed the measures.