In the first phase of reopening, only 1,000 residents will be allowed to enter the Guangdong province daily via a single point of entry: Shenzhen. Photo Credit: Getty Images/ JoeyCheung
Hong Kong's route to mainland China for quarantine-free travel is set
for December — although business and other urgent needs will receive
priority, according to Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam in a 9 November
briefing.
It is hoped the move will allow the city to stage mass events in
early 2022 towards the third anniversary of the Greater Bay Area
blueprint — the Chinese government's plan to link Hong Kong, Macau,
Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Zhongshan, Dongguan, Huizhou,
Jiangmen and Zhaoqing into one integrated business hub.
In the first phase of reopening, only 1,000 residents will be allowed
to enter the Guangdong province daily via a single point of entry:
Shenzhen. Entry is also subject to valid health codes and a quota
system, according to report by the South China Morning Post.
However local reports caution that the quarantine-free scheme could
be suspended if just one case of infection (from an unknown source) is
detected — although Lam said the trigger would not be "too harsh".
In addition, a delegation from mainland China may arrive in Hong Kong
this month to inspect the anti-pandemic system on the ground.
The two destinations share the same Covid-zero policy, where
approximately 69% of Hong Kong's 7.4 million residents have received
their first dose, and 66% are fully vaccinated.
Should quarantine travel with the mainland prove successful, talks to
open to Macau are also on the cards, via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau
Bridge. This would mark the first three-way reopening for travellers
since lockdowns in early 2020.
The end goal is to open to global markets by June 2022, said Lam
Ching-choi, a member of Lam's advisory Executive Council, in a recent
Bloomberg interview. The next few months will serve to complete opening
negotiations with China, and to increase vaccination rates among Hong
Kong's elderly.