Easing of mainland visitor entry rules proposed
Hong Kong's sole delegate to the nation's top legislative body has proposed to the NPC Standing Committee the easing of entry rules for mainland visitors to the city. After returning to Hong Kong from an NPCSC meeting in Beijing, Starry Lee told the press she had suggested allowing visitors across the Greater Bay Area to obtain a multiple-entry permit to Hong Kong, in hopes of boosting the local economy "We need more stimulus from all angles, I would say, for our retails and service industry. One way is to invite more visitors to come to Hong Kong. We believe that with all the infrastructure, connections...and all the customs clearance facilities, we can now [be] ready for more people from the mainland to come to Hong Kong," Lee said.  Under the proposed changes, visitors from nine Greater Bay Area cities would be able to travel to Hong Kong with a multiple-entry permit.  Currently, the travel permit restricts visitors from Shenzhen to travel to Hong Kong only once a week Lee also proposed raising the ceiling on the total value of duty-free goods that mainland visitors can purchase in Hong Kong from the current RMB 5,000 to RMB 30,000. The permit restriction was implemented in 2015 to prevent visitors from exploiting the multiple-entry visa policy by taking tax-free goods from Hong Kong across the border, which sometimes led to shortages of goods.  However, Lee said she said this would be avoided if the rule relaxation was implemented gradually, starting with neighbouring cities to the SAR.