LCQ15: Mainland residents on business trips to Hong Kong

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Following is a question by the Hon James Tien Pei-chun and a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mrs Regina Ip, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):

Question:

In view of the increasingly frequent commercial and trading activities between China and Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) of the number of visits by Mainland residents who made business trips to Hong Kong in the past three years on the Exit-entry Permit for Travelling to Hong Kong and Macau and the business visit endorsement issued by the Mainland Public Security Bureau offices responsible for exit and entry administration;

(b) whether it has estimated the total amount of spending by these Mainland residents during their stay in Hong Kong; and

(c) whether it knows the time normally required for Mainland residents to obtain approval for their applications to make business trips to Hong Kong, and how it compares with that required for their applications to visit Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia on business trips; and whether it has plans to discuss with the relevant authorities in the Mainland the shortening of the time required for vetting and approving the relevant applications?

Madam President,

(a) Mainland residents who wish to make business visits to Hong Kong have to apply, under a Business Visit Scheme operated by the Bureau of Exit-entry Administration (BEEA) of the Public Security Ministry, for an Exit-entry Permit for Travelling to the Hong Kong and Macau (EEP) and a business visit endorsement. There is no need for the BEEA to make prior reference to Immigration Department in issuing the EEP and the endorsement. Holders of them will be admitted to Hong Kong for business visits.

The Business Visit Scheme started on 30 March 1998. Prior to that, Mainland business visitors entered Hong Kong under different arrangements, viz., they either held a Multiple Chinese Exit Permit or an ordinary Chinese passport. The arrival statistics of EEP holders over the past two years are as follows -


         Year                       Arrival statistics*



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    1998 (April - December)           57 704   (6 412)


    1999 (January - November)        231 543  (21 049)

* Bracketed figures denote monthly average.

(b) We do not keep statistics on the total amount spent by the EEP holders referred to in (a) above during their stay in Hong Kong. But the quarterly surveys conducted by the Hong Kong Tourist Association (HKTA) at our control points on visitors on departure may help shed light on the spending of these EEP holders. Findings of the HKTA's surveys show that the estimated total spending by all Mainland residents who reported themselves to be making business visits to Hong Kong regardless of the types of travel documents were $3,954 million, $3,484 million and $2,343 million in 1997, 1998 and 1999 (January - September) respectively.

(c) We understand from the BEEA that they normally require 15 working days to process an application for an EEP and/or a business visit endorsement under the Business Visit Scheme. This processing time is the same as that for processing an exit application for Mainland residents making business trips to Singapore, Malaysia or Indonesia.

The Immigration Department maintains close liaison with the BEEA over the operation of the Business Visit Scheme. The Department has reflected to the BEEA the concerns of the business community about the processing time for an EEP and a business visit endorsement, and will continue to raise them with the BEEA.

End/Wednesday, January 5, 2000

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