HONG KONG, 27 September 2024: Hong Kong’s Immigration Department estimates 10.03 million passengers will pass through the territory’s land, sea, and air checkpoints during the Golden Week Holiday, festive season from 28 September to 7 October.
In consultation with the Shenzhen General Station of Exit & Entry Frontier Inspection, the department added that it estimates around 8.54 million passengers will transit through land boundary control points.
The Golden Week Holiday officially gets underway on 1 October, when outbound and inbound passengers using land boundary control points will peak at around 523,000 to 632,000.
Passenger traffic at the Lo Wu Control Point is expected to reach a daily average of about 208,000 passengers, while the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line Control Point and the Shenzhen Bay Control Point are forecast to handle around 185,000 and 118,000 passengers, respectively.
To cope with the anticipated heavy traffic during the festive period, the department has minimised leave for frontline officers to deploy and operate extra clearance counters and kiosks.
Apart from setting up a joint command centre at the Lo Wu Control Point with Police, Customs and the Mass Transit Railway Corporation to closely monitor passenger conditions, the department will establish close communication with Mainland authorities.
Travellers are advised to plan in advance and avoid making their journeys during busy times. They can check the expected busy times at boundary control points on the department’s website and find the estimated waiting times at all land boundary control points via its app.
HK third in finance hub ranking
Meanwhile, News.Gov.HK reported this week that Hong Kong has been ranked third in the Global Financial Centres Index GFCI 36 Report, published on Tuesday by the UK’s Z/Yen and the Shenzhen-based China Development Institute. The report is published biannually in March and September.
The territory improved its ranking from fourth place in the March version of the index. The city also ranked first in the Asia-Pacific region. Its rating rose by eight points, the largest improvement among the top five financial centres.
GFCI 36 Results — Leading Centres
“New York leads the index, with London second. Hong Kong has overtaken Singapore (4th) to regain the third position. San Francisco remains at number five, with Chicago and Los Angeles overtaking Shanghai to place sixth and seventh, with Shanghai now in eighth position. Shenzhen and Frankfurt complete the top 10.”
Asia/Pacific
“Seven Asia/Pacific centres feature in the world’s top 20, and the average rating for this region is down 0.56%. The region’s ranking was relatively stable, although Sydney, Nanjing, and Tianjin fell 10 places or more. Kuala Lumpur was the only centre in the Asia/Pacific region that improved more than 10 places in GFCI 36.” (Source:https://www.longfinance.net/publications/long-finance-reports/the-global-financial-centres-index-36/)
News.Gov.HK said the “report affirms Hong Kong’s status and strengths as a leading global financial centre, highlighting that its scores were among the highest for the business environment, human capital, infrastructure, and reputational and general competitiveness.”
