ExplainerCould Hong Kong visa scheme for Shenzhen residents resurrect parallel trading?
- Hong Kong authorities aim to bring back multiple-entry visa scheme for Shenzhen residents to help revive tourism industry caught out by changing spending habits
- Original scheme was first introduced in 2009, but was scrapped in 2015 amid concerns over parallel trading activities and overcrowding
Hong Kong authorities are hoping to bring back a controversial multiple-entry visa scheme for Shenzhen residents to help revive the local tourism industry, almost a year after the border reopened following the end of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Post takes a look at the previous iteration of the scheme, why it was considered controversial at the time and what the government hopes to achieve by bringing it back.
What were the old schemes?
After Hong Kong recovered from the severe acute respiratory syndrome, or Sars, pandemic in 2003, central authorities introduced a solo-traveller scheme that allows mainlanders to make individual trips to the city.
The scheme grants mainlanders an endorsement to make one or two visits to Hong Kong within a three-month or one-year window, with each trip not allowed to exceed seven days.
Applicants can secure a new endorsement once the old one has expired, with no limit on how many times they can apply.
The policy was among a raft of measures that aimed to revive Hong Kong’s crippled economy following the pandemic.