SINGAPORE, 21 February 2023: A news report from China.org.cn claims normal travel trends have resumed between the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the mainland.
According to the report, residents in Guangdong province are once more heading to Hong Kong for school or work and returning to Guangdong the same night. It revived what was the daily routine of thousands of people until the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted travel.
On 6 February, normal travels between Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) and the Chinese mainland resumed, revitalising the “one-hour living circle” in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area.
Within one week, Hong Kong monitored a consistent climb in arrivals and departures, while tourists are also making a comeback.
“This is good news for Hong Kong. Tourism is one of the pillar industries of Hong Kong. The return of tourists will spur the recovery of the city’s dining, hotel and retail businesses, further catalysing the development of exhibition, transportation and trading,” said the China.org.cn report
Following the reopening of economic and trade exchanges between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, Guangdong province hosted an investment and trade policy promotion conference in Hong Kong on 8 February, attended by 500 international organisations and businesses based in Guangdong. Participants travelled from Zhejiang, Yunnan and Nanjing provinces to attend the conference.
The Chinese mainland is Hong Kong’s largest export market. But due to the pandemic, Hong Kong’s import and export activity decreased over the past three years. Along with the gradual resumption of goods transportation between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, the city’s export volume will also increase, helping Hong Kong’s economy get back on track.
From a long-term view, financial services and technological innovation are the key drivers of Hong Kong’s future economic recovery. The mainland’s economic development, a greater opening up, and the building of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area will provide a broader market for Hong Kong’s financial services and technological innovation industries.
The cross-boundary interconnection of financial data throughout the Greater Bay Area and the cross-boundary payment of Chinese yuan will, in turn, consolidate and revive Hong Kong’s position as an international finance hub.
As recovery plans emerged in late 2022, the Hong Kong SAR government promulgated the Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Development Blueprint to enrich I&T talent resources and develop an “international talent hub”.
Last week China’s National Immigration Administration moved the talent hub project forward by introducing a new policy effective 20 February that issues endorsements for talents travelling to and from Hong Kong and Macau SAR to residents of mainland cities in the Greater Bay Area.
China Mosaic
http://www.china.org.cn/video/node_7230027.htm
(Source: China.org.cn; PRnewswire)
