China resumes multiple-entry visas for Shenzhen travellers to Hong Kong

Audio By Carbonatix

BEIJING (Reuters) – China has eased visa restrictions for Shenzhen residents visiting Hong Kong, allowing multiple entries into Hong Kong per year beginning from Dec. 1, Xinhua reported on Friday.

Each stay is for up to seven days, the official news agency said, with the multiple-entry visas valid for one year at a time.

The announcement reinstates a multiple-entry policy from 2009 that was tightened in 2015 when China began allowing Shenzhen residents to go Hong Kong only once a week.

The stricter policy was aimed at quelling anger in Hong Kong over traders making trips up to several times a day to take advantage of lower taxes by buying goods for resale in the mainland.

Hong Kong said the resumption of the more lenient entry policy is expected to benefit a number of tourism-related industries such as retail and catering.

Hong Kong leader John Lee had proposed further enhancements to Beijing on mainland residents’ tourism visits to Hong Kong in a policy address last month pledging measures to boost the city’s economy.

Visa rules for residents in Zhuhai, another city in southern Guangdong province, were also eased, allowing once-a-week entry to Macao for trips of not more than seven days. This would take effect on Jan. 1, Xinhua said.

Zhuhai residents were previously allowed entry to Macao once every two months.

(Reporting by Liz Lee and Ethan Wang in Beijing, and Jessie Pang in Hong Kong; Editing by Tom Hogue)