Eight more Chinese cities join Hong Kong solo travel scheme

HONG KONG - Eight more Chinese cities have joined a scheme allowing their residents to travel to Hong Kong on their own, rather than as part of a tour group, as part of efforts to boost Hong Kong's economy.

Hong Kong is battling to revive its economy following a national security crackdown and Covid-19-related controls, which led to many local and expats leaving the city and caused tourist numbers to dwindle to a fraction of pre-pandemic levels.

The Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) began in 2003 as part of a cooperation agreement between mainland China and Hong Kong to boost the city’s economy by allowing Chinese residents to apply for individual travel, rather than in a tour group.

Fifty-one cities have already joined the programme and will be joined by Taiyuan in Shanxi province, Hohhot in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, Harbin in Heilongjiang province, Lhasa in the Tibet autonomous region, Lanzhou in Gansu province, Xining in Qinghai Province, Yinchuan in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region and Urumqi in the Xinjiang autonomous region.

Hong Kong city leader John Lee said: “These eight cities are all provincial capital cities with large populations, significant economic growth and high spending power”.

Although recent official figures showed the territory growing 2.7 per cent in the first quarter compared with the year before, local businesses have described

shopping malls as “dead”, with low foot traffic

and shops covered with “for lease” or “coming up soon” signs.

One lawmaker recently told the city’s legislature that more than 20,000 companies had deregistered in the first quarter of 2024, up more than 70 per cent from the same period in 2023.

China imposed a

sweeping national security law in 2020

after months of pro-democracy protests in 2019.

In March, the authorities enacted

another set of security laws

that some foreign governments say further undermine rights and freedoms.

The Hong Kong and Chinese governments have repeatedly said the security laws have brought stability. REUTERS