Hong Kong, 3 Mar (ZXS) -- Statistics released by the Immigration Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government on 19 March show that the number of mainland tourists visiting Hong Kong reached 19 this past Saturday (3 March), the first time since the "customs clearance" that the number of mainland tourists visiting Hong Kong exceeded 18,102458 in a single day.
Since the orderly "customs clearance" between Hong Kong and the mainland on January 1, the number of mainland tourists visiting Hong Kong has shown a steady growth trend, and after the comprehensive "customs clearance" with the mainland on February 8, the growth momentum has accelerated significantly. With the increase in visitors to the Mainland, the streets of Hong Kong have gradually resumed their pre-epidemic bustle, and many commercial districts and shops have returned to popularity. The reporter visited Canton Road and Causeway Bay business district in Tsim Sha Tsui in the past few days and found that the flow of people has increased significantly.
In front of some brand stores, there are long queues of tourists waiting to shop, and some tourists drag suitcases and carry the "loot" after shopping out of the store, discussing the next shopping place as they go. Some of the shops are already crowded, most of the customers are mainland tourists, and the staff also speak fluent Mandarin when receiving customers. A clerk told reporters that after the "customs clearance", mainland tourists have increased significantly, especially on weekends, and sales are particularly good.
Ms. Chai and her husband from Shanghai retired last year and embarked on a post-retirement "walk-and-go trip" this year, with Hong Kong as their first stop. At the time of the interview, she was picking gifts for her daughter with her husband at a trendy brand store in Tsim Sha Tsui.
Ms. Chai said that they drove from Shanghai to Guangzhou and then took the high-speed train to Hong Kong, and the trip in Hong Kong was 5 days and 4 nights, and then they went to Macau. Before coming to Hong Kong, they had made sufficient plans for visiting and shopping, and they heard that Hong Kong has added many new attractions in recent years, so they wanted to take this opportunity to experience it.
Mr. Wang, a tourist from Shenzhen, came to Hong Kong for the first time after October 2019. In his view, the prosperity of Hong Kong's street markets today is no different from that of more than three years ago. Mr. Wang told reporters that Hong Kong's economy, especially tourism, has suffered a major setback due to the impact of the epidemic, and with the full "customs clearance" with the mainland, transportation and endorsement services have returned to normal, and I believe that Hong Kong will gradually recover its former prosperity.
After the customs clearance between Hong Kong and the Mainland, economic and trade co-operation between the two places has become increasingly close. Apart from tourists, many Mainland businesses have also come to Hong Kong in recent days to seek business opportunities. At the time of the interview, Wang Xiaopeng, sales manager of Shandong Yangping Food Co., Ltd., was inspecting the area around Causeway Bay. He said he hoped to take this opportunity to seek development or cooperation opportunities in Hong Kong to help mainland private enterprises to go global through Hong Kong.
According to statistics from the Hong Kong Immigration Department, after full "customs clearance", Lo Wu Port, Lok Ma Chau Branch Port and High-Speed Rail West Kowloon Station have become the three ports of entry with the largest flow of people coming to Hong Kong from the mainland. Among them, since the resumption of operation of the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link on January 1, the cumulative number of mainland passengers has exceeded 15,43. It is believed that with the full resumption of long-distance services on the Hong Kong section of the high-speed rail from 4 April, connecting long-distance stations outside Hong Kong and Guangdong Province, Hong Kong will usher in more crowds. (End)