Beijing pledges to adjust entry rules to Hong Kong after mainland tourist ‘saturation’
The deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office says the two cities have reached capacity for tourists and changes will soon be made to the numbers permitted to visit
Schemes that make it easy for mainlanders to visit the city will soon be changed "to better suit Hong Kong's situation", a Beijing official overseeing local affairs pledged in the wake of violent protests against cross-border traders.
Set to be refined are an individual visit scheme that lets residents of 49 cities travel to Hong Kong without joining tour groups, and multiple-entry permits that grant two million permanent Shenzhen residents countless trips, according to Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office deputy director Zhou Bo.
The adjustments would be a response to concerns raised by Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying over the schemes, he said.
"The tourist capacity of Hong Kong and Macau has by and large reached saturation, as shown in studies conducted by the two SAR governments. Unsurprisingly, certain problems have occurred," Zhou was cited as saying by mainland newspaper Southern Metropolis News on Wednesday.
He did not specify what revisions were in store nor when they would be implemented.
The pro-business Liberal Party is proposing to Beijing that Shenzhen residents be allowed just one visit per day.