First Hongkongers with foreign passports receive 5-year permits to visit mainland China
- Senior business figures among the permanent residents picking up new travel permits, with some planning trips as early as next week
The first five-year multi-entry travel permits to enter mainland China have been granted to Hong Kong permanent residents holding foreign passports, with some planning to head across the border as early as next week.
The successful applicants, who collected their permits on Wednesday, said the easier access would encourage them to visit the mainland more often for both business and leisure.
Among them was Gan Khai Choon, chairman of the Malaysian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong and Macau, who picked up his permit at the Sheung Wan centre of China Travel Service (Hong Kong).
Gan said he had been to various parts of the mainland since the early 1980s and would now visit more often, once or twice a month.
The Malaysian planned to go to the city of Wuxi in Jiangsu province next week, where he had some investments in real estate, hotels and manufacturing.
“With this travel card, we are very happy because we can easily visit [mainland] China and we don’t have to apply for a visa or Apec card, which takes a long time and is very inconvenient, and also the ease of travel into mainland China will become more convenient,” he said.
