Hong Kong’s biggest pro-establishment party to propose measures at top state meetings for residents to manage cross-border affairs

Proposal is among 21 initiatives to be put forward at meetings of nation’s top legislature and advisory body

DAB chairwoman Starry Lee also calls for changes to cash flow across border to help Hongkongers buy properties on mainland

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Delegates from DAB have said that they will propose the creation of platforms in bay area cities to help stranded Hongkongers sort out cross-border issues. Felix Wong

Published: 8:06pm, 2 Mar 2022Updated: 12:07am, 3 Mar 2022

Hong Kong’s biggest pro-establishment party has said it would urge mainland Chinese officials at the country’s two most important annual conferences to establish remote channels for local residents to manage cross-border affairs amid the city’s Covid-19 crisis.

Delegates from the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) on Wednesday said the proposal was one of 21 initiatives that would be put forward at meetings of the country’s top legislature, the National People’s Congress (NPC), and advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

The CPPCC’s annual session starts on Friday, while the opening of the NPC is set for the following day.

The DAB attendees said they aimed to address the concerns of Hongkongers who were struggling to resolve personal and business dealings in bordering mainland cities because of quarantine measures imposed over the past two years.

The arrangement would cover business, real estate and driving licence registration, as well as pensions and taxation, in the Greater Bay Area, which covers Hong Kong, Macau and nine cities in Guangdong.

“We don’t know when the resumption of normal travel will come and many Hongkongers have failed to renew their documents and licences [on the mainland] during this period, causing some to have expired and bank accounts to be frozen,” DAB lawmaker Rock Chen Chung-nin said.