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The Immigration Department today (January 30) welcomed the one millionth individual visitor to Hong Kong from the Mainland since the individual visit scheme was launched on July 28, 2003.
Mr Xiao Xi arrived at the Lo Wu control point, where he was presented with a certificate and a souvenir by Mr Wai Chuen, Divisional Commander of the border control.
Based in Beijing, Mr Xiao came to Hong Kong last year on official business. He gained a good impression of Hong Kong on that trip and decided to return on an individual visit, accompanied by a friend.
"Since the implementation of the individual visit scheme, residents of 16 Mainland cities are able to visit Hong Kong on an individual basis," said Mr Wai Chuen. "The rapid increase in the number of people arriving in this category shows that the scheme is being warmly received.
"During the Chinese New Year holidays, from January 19 until now, about 200,000 individual visitors have arrived, an average of about 16,000 per day.
"We are glad to see that the number of individual visitors reached one million today. With several other cities in Guangdong province due to join the scheme later this year, even more Mainlanders are expected to travel to Hong Kong, which will certainly have a positive impact on the local economy.
"We will continue with our efforts to enhance the smooth flow of passengers at the control points and provide them with quality immigration service," Mr Wai added.
Ends/Friday, January 30, 2004
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