HK plans to reopen border with mainland
HONG KONG: Hong Kong intends to start reopening its borders with China before mid-January, aiming at returning to pre-Covid cross-border travel arrangements, the city’s leader said.
The borders will “open fully in a gradual, orderly way,” Chief Executive John Lee said during a press briefing at the city’s airport on Saturday on returning from a trip to Beijing, where he met President Xi Jinping.
Mr Lee’s team will hold talks with Shenzhen and Guangdong governments to formulate a plan to reopen the borders, and will form a task force in the city to focus on the issue. The group will then report back to the central government, the chief executive said. Matters under consideration in the first stage of the plan include the daily quota of travellers and which border control points should be opened, he said.
The border between Hong Kong and mainland China has been effectively shut for almost three years. Currently visitors from Hong Kong are limited by a daily quota, while they also have to undergo five days of hotel quarantine.
Mainland visitors also have to quarantine on their return.
Mr Lee didn’t share details about the quarantine policy after borders open, only saying he hopes to return to the arrangements before the pandemic.
Most of Hong Kong’s border checkpoints have been closed since early 2020.
Mr Lee’s trip to China was his official visit since taking office in July. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang told Lee the city needs to further integrate with the mainland’s development plans and consolidate its role as an international hub.
Hong Kong could see an estimated 7.6% boost to its gross domestic product from China’s reopening, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. economists. The local economy is projected to have contracted this year for the third time in four years. The city hosted almost 44 million arrivals from mainland China in 2019. The city scrapped most of its remaining Covid restrictions in recent weeks, including a ban on new arrivals going to bars.