Three-fold leap in number of parallel traders denied entry to Hong Kong
Over 6,300 denied entry in first quarter as departments join forces in crackdown
The Immigration Department refused entry to more than 6,300 mainland visitors it suspected of parallel trading in the first quarter, a jump of more than three times year on year.
The figures were disclosed in the second of a series of interdepartmental meetings chaired by Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor with a focus on tackling parallel trading, in which people buy goods in Hong Kong to resell across the border.
The traders are accused of affecting the livelihoods of locals, especially those in Northern district, and have been the focus of numerous protests.
The meeting was the first of its kind since the mainland authorities announced on Monday that Shenzhen residents with multiple-entry permits would only be allowed to visit Hong Kong once a week. The move could cut the number of visitors to the city by 4.6 million a year.
Customs authorities, working with their Shenzhen counterparts, said that in the first quarter they had cracked 70 smuggling cases involving parallel traders, seizing goods with a total value of about HK$1.22 million.
Officers from the department had detected 1,364 cases of traders attempting to export unlicensed powdered formula, involving 11,453kg of powdered milk. Of those arrested, about 55 per cent were mainlanders and 45 per cent Hongkongers.