Hong Kong immigration department has a list of suspected parallel-goods traders: director
Immigration chief addresses low conviction rate and concerns over technology being used in new ID cards at year-end media briefing
The Immigration Department insists it is winning the fight against parallel-goods trading despite a low conviction rate, arguing it has a list of 13,000 mainlanders that it is closely monitoring and who may be refused entry into Hong Kong.
Speaking at an annual review press briefing on Thursday, immigration director Eric Chan Kwok-ki said about 25,000 mainlanders suspected of being parallel-goods traders were denied entry to Hong Kong last year - almost double the 2013 figure of 12,800.
But among the 1,735 mainlanders arrested last year for breaching their conditions of stay by engaging in parallel-goods trading activities, only 200 have been convicted and sentenced to prison terms ranging from four weeks to three months.
Some 14 locals were also arrested for employing illegal workers in 155 operations against parallel trading undertaken in 2014. These compare with 1,065 mainlanders and 12 of their local employers being arrested in 2013.
Mainlanders who are convicted face being barred from entering Hong Kong for two years.
"[A conviction prevents a person from further] engaging in parallel trading in Hong Kong," Chan said. "We will put the person on our monitor list if we have evidence that he or she is [a parallel-goods trader]. There is a good chance that person will be denied entry the next time he or she visits Hong Kong."