Following is a question by the Hon Tam Chun-kwok and a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Tang Ping-keung, in the Legislative Council today (July 8):
 
Question:
 
     The Government made special boundary-crossing arrangements for the first time during the 2024 Lunar New Year, extending the clearance service hours of Lo Wu Control Point and Shenzhen Bay Control Point, and subsequently implemented relevant arrangements on multiple occasions during long holidays. However, it has been reported that on the final day of some recent long weekends (such as The Birthday of the Buddha holiday in May this year), long queues appeared at various land boundary control points (BCPs), where members of the public and visitors had to queue for hours to cross the boundary, and some even failed to do so before the closure of BCPs. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the following information regarding the implementation of special boundary-crossing arrangements at land BCPs to extend clearance service hours: (i) the implementation dates and the land BCPs involved, (ii) the number of outbound and inbound passenger trips at various land BCPs on the days when the arrangements took effect, and (iii) the maximum and average clearance waiting times for passengers at various land BCPs on the days when the arrangements took effect, and the comparison with the average clearance waiting times for passengers at various land BCPs before the implementation of such arrangements;

(2) of the operational details of the contingency mechanism formulated by the Immigration Department (ImmD) for cross-boundary passenger flow management (including how the number of cross-boundary passengers is assessed, what factors trigger the ImmD's deployment of additional manpower to handle clearance services, and the additional manpower deployed at BCPs under the mechanism in the past three years), and whether the ImmD has regularly reviewed the effectiveness of the mechanism;
 
(3) whether the Government's interdepartmental working group on festival arrangements will consider covering the clearance arrangements for passengers for all long weekends and long holidays in its meetings, announce the forecasted outbound and inbound passenger trips for such holidays in advance, and provide real-time updates on the number of outbound and inbound passenger trips at various BCPs on the ImmD's website during such holidays, so as to enable members of the public, the tourism industry and cross-boundary transport operators to make early preparations; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
 
(4) whether it has formulated long-term planning and specific measures to enhance the clearance capacity of existing land BCPs, such as whether it will co-ordinate with the Mainland authorities to extend the clearance service hours of all BCPs during peak periods of cross-boundary travel; if so, of the details of the relevant planning and measures, as well as their respective expected implementation timetables; if not, the reasons for that; and
 
(5) whether the Government will consider disseminating relevant information through more channels when there is an abnormally high flow of outbound passengers or severe congestion at BCPs, such as issuing real-time reminders on social media platforms (such as WeChat official accounts and Xiaohongshu) to Hong Kong residents currently on the Mainland to appeal to them to reserve sufficient time for boundary crossing as early as possible; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
 
Reply:

President,
 
     With the increasing cross boundary passenger flows between Guangdong and Hong Kong, and in view of the growing demand for clearance services, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) has been closely monitoring the operation of the boundary control points (BCPs) and proactively enhancing the clearance capacity to facilitate the two way flow of people between Hong Kong and the Mainland.
      
     In consultation with the Chief Secretary for Administration's Private Office, the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau and the Transport and Logistics Bureau, the reply to the question raised by the Hon Tam Chun-kwok is as follows:
 
(1) The HKSAR Government and the Shenzhen Municipal People's Government (SZMG) would make special arrangements to meet the demand for clearance services and facilitate cross boundary passenger flows during festive periods.
  
     As mentioned in the question raised by the Hon Tam Chun-kwok, special arrangements were made during the Chinese New Year festive period in 2024 at the Shenzhen Bay Control Point and the Lo Wu Control Point. Between the Lunar New Year's Eve and the fourth day of Lunar New Year in 2024 (i.e. between February 9 and 13), the passenger and passenger vehicle clearance services at the Shenzhen Bay Control Point, which usually close at midnight, operated overnight; on the Lunar New Year's Eve and the second day of Lunar New Year that year (i.e. on February 9 and 11), the passenger clearance services at the Lo Wu Control Point, which usually close at midnight, were extended until 2am the following day.
      
     Subsequently, on the New Year's Eve of 2024 and 2025, to meet the demand for cross-boundary clearance services arising from the New Year countdown events, the governments of both sides made arrangements for the passenger and passenger vehicle clearance services at the Shenzhen Bay Control Point to operate overnight, while the passenger clearance services at the Lo Wu Control Point were extended until 2am the following day, in order to facilitate the passenger flows between Hong Kong and the Mainland for citizens and visitors to enjoy the festive season.
      
     The number of outbound and inbound passenger trips at land BCPs on the aforementioned dates are tabulated below. The figures are similar to those of normal weekends and festive periods:
 

Date	Outbound trips	Inbound trips	Total number of trips
Chinese New Year festive period in 2024
February 9, 2024 (Lunar New Year's Eve)	313 524	142 238	455 762
February 10, 2024 (Lunar New Year's Day)	347 541	198 853	546 394
February 11, 2024 (the second day of Lunar New Year)	456 188	377 931	834 119
February 12, 2024 (the third day of Lunar New Year)	481 998	500 513	982 511
February 13, 2024 (the fourth day of Lunar New Year)	375 220	553 630	928 850
February 14, 2024 (the fifth day of Lunar New Year)	371 264	495 916	867 180
New Year's Eve in 2024 and New Year holiday
December 31, 2024	339 018	377 574	716 592
January 1, 2025	341 399	435 998	777 397
New Year's Eve in 2025 and New Year holiday
December 31, 2025	410 017	424 924	834 941
January 1, 2026	435 723	566 421	1 002 144

 
     The Immigration Department (ImmD) does not maintain statistical breakdown on the clearance waiting time of inbound and outbound passengers at different periods.
 
(2) Relevant departments, including the ImmD, the Customs and Excise Department, the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) and the Transport Department (TD), have in place an interdepartmental co-operation mechanism to monitor the real-time situations at BCPs during different festive occasions and large-scale events. To address the increase in passenger flows during festive periods and large-scale events, the departments will pre-assess the cross-boundary passenger traffic and make corresponding arrangements, including minimising leave for frontline officers, arranging officers of other sections to work at BCPs during peak periods for flexible manpower deployment, operating additional counters, temporary counters and channels, and implementing appropriate crowd control and traffic diversion measures. The Security Bureau (SB) will activate the Emergency Monitoring and Support Centre where necessary to closely monitor and co-ordinate the public order situation at various BCPs and facilitate interdepartmental follow-up actions.
 
     Besides, the departments at the BCPs have been maintaining close liaison with relevant Mainland authorities through the established port hotlines and real-time notification mechanisms to constantly monitor the real-time situations at various BCPs and take timely actions where necessary to ensure smooth operations of BCPs.
      
     Drawing on their experiences in managing peak passenger flows at BCPs during festive periods, the departments have been continuously reviewing and refining their deployments to enhance the clearance facilitation measures and efficiency, with a view to striving for excellence. For example, in light of the relatively crowded situations at the public transport interchange of the Shenzhen Bay Control Point during the peak inbound passenger traffic period on the last day of The Birthday of Buddha long weekend this year (May 25), relevant departments have further strengthened measures to facilitate passenger flows at the Shenzhen Bay Control Point during long weekends. These include the TD's co-ordination with franchised bus operators to increase the frequency of services and deploy additional staff to assist passengers in boarding buses. The HKPF has also enhanced crowd control measures to maintain public order at the control point, including increasing on-site public announcements and erecting additional signages to direct passenger flows.
      
     In the past three years, all land BCPs under the ImmD have met the ImmD's target to clear 98 per cent of Hong Kong residents within a 15-minute waiting time and 95 per cent of visitors within a 30-minute waiting time.
 
(3) and (5) To prepare for festive periods with a surge in visitor arrivals, such as the Golden Week of the Mainland and New Year countdown events, the Chief Secretary for Administration will chair meetings of the interdepartmental working group on festival arrangements to holistically co-ordinate and steer the preparatory work of various government departments in receiving visitors, in order to co-ordinate with stakeholders, including the tourism sector and public transport operators, and ensure the smooth operation of various aspects in receiving visitors. Relevant departments will make thorough preparations, with a view to ensuring efficient operations in areas such as clearance and crowd management. The ImmD will also publish statistics on daily passenger traffic on its website for public reference. For public transport services, the TD will, in advance, steer local and cross-boundary public transport services operators to suitably enhance their service level according to the forecast cross-boundary passenger flows (including assessments for peak days of passenger flows), and to reserve sufficient spare vehicles and additional manpower to provide additional services where necessary to ease passenger flows.
 
     Currently, the Government disseminates information through various official and unofficial channels, including radio broadcasts, websites, and online media such as social media platforms, to assist residents and passengers in planning ahead and avoid making their cross-boundary journeys during busy periods as far as possible. Members of the public may visit "Easy Boundary" (www.sb.gov.hk/eng/bwt/status.html?type=outbound), a one-stop information platform on immigration clearance launched by the SB, to conveniently obtain useful information including the respective average waiting time for passengers and private cars at land BCPs, as well as for the Gold Bus and Yellow Bus, so as to plan their trips and save waiting time. Members of the public can also make use of the TD's "HKeMobility" mobile application or the TD's website (hkemobility.gov.hk/en/traffic-information/live/cctv) to access the status of all land BCPs, including the traffic snapshots of the outbound and inbound vehicle clearance plazas of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) Hong Kong Port. The relevant snapshots are updated every two minutes. Furthermore, they may browse the relevant websites and mini programmes, etc of the Shenzhen and Zhuhai authorities to know more about the clearance status of the BCPs in the Mainland.
      
     The HKPF will continue to monitor the real-time situations at various BCPs and timely disseminate the latest information to the public through the media or social media in the event of serious congestion at individual BCP, including appealing to the public to adjust their itineraries (e.g. switching to other modes of transport or using other BCPs for boundary crossing) in order to ease passenger and vehicular flows.
      
     Moreover, the TD's Emergency Transport Co-ordination Centre operates 24 hours a day to closely monitor traffic conditions and public transport services in different areas of Hong Kong, including various land BCPs and major stations, and will disseminate the latest traffic information through various channels. Public transport services operators will also disseminate latest service information to passengers at major stations and land BCPs.
 
(4) In view of the growing demand for clearance services, the HKSAR Government has been working closely with relevant Mainland authorities. Through forward-looking planning, the Government has been enhancing the clearance capacity of land BCPs on multiple fronts, including flexible manpower deployment, enhancement of BCP facilities and the use of information technology.
 
     Regarding the enhancement of land BCP facilities, further to the completion of the first phase of enhancement works at the Heung Yuen Wai Control Point in September 2025, which had increased the number of e-Channels from 14 to 18 both at the arrival and departure halls, the ImmD also increased the number of e-Channels from 30 to 34 at the arrival hall of the Shenzhen Bay Control Point in early May 2026. At present, the ImmD is planning for the next phase of alteration works at the Heung Yuen Wai Control Point to further increase the number of e-Channels, with a view to enhancing the clearance capacity.
      
     As for utilising innovative technologies, the ImmD launched a Seamless e-Channel service at the departure hall of the HZMB Hong Kong Port on June 25 this year. Enrolled eligible Hong Kong permanent residents can complete "on-the-move" self-service departure clearance seamlessly by AI and facial recognition technology, without the need to present a Hong Kong identity card or an e-Channel QR code. Depending on the operational situation, the ImmD will explore extending the Seamless e-Channel service to other BCPs.
      
     The HKSAR Government and the SZMG are pressing ahead with the redevelopment of the Huanggang Port and the Sha Tau Kok Control Point in full steam. The redeveloped new Huanggang Port will adopt a co-location arrangement and implement the novel "collaborative inspection and joint clearance" mode to provide greater convenience for cross-boundary passengers. A cross-river construction approach will be adopted in the redevelopment of the Sha Tau Kok Control Point, and the "collaborative inspection and joint clearance" mode will be implemented.
      
     The HKSAR Government will continue to closely monitor the operation of the BCPs and work with the Mainland port authorities to make special arrangements to meet the demand for clearance services and facilitate cross boundary passenger flows during festive periods. The extension of operating hours of clearance services involves the operation of the ports on both the Mainland and Hong Kong sides, and careful consideration has to be given to a host of factors, including the actual needs, effective utilisation of resources of both places, manpower arrangements and ancillary transport services, etc. On the basis of the 24-hour passenger clearance services currently provided at the Lok Ma Chau Control Point/Huanggang Port and the HZMB Hong Kong Port, the Government will continue to closely monitor the demand for passenger clearance services and, having regard to actual needs, liaise with relevant Mainland authorities on extending the operating hours of the passenger clearance services at respective BCPs when necessary.

Ends/Wednesday, July 8, 2026
Issued at HKT 14:55

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