The border between Hong Kong and mainland China is set to “fully reopen” early next month for the first time in three years, the South China Morning Post has reported, as the Communist Party rolls back Covid restrictions to bolster its faltering economy.
Preparations are being made for the reopening of the border, including sending thousands of customs, immigration and police officers to land checkpoints to handle the expected crowds, the newspaper reported, citing unnamed people.
Adding to optimism about a reopening, Under Secretary for Transport and Logistics Liu Chun-san said at a briefing that Hong Kong is preparing to resume its high-speed rail services with the mainland.
Beijing is keen to restore travel by early next month to revive the economies of Hong Kong and the mainland, the SCMP said, citing a person familiar with the plan. Data released on Thursday showed China’s economic activity weakened sharply in November before the government abruptly dropped its Covid Zero policy.
Publicly, Hong Kong officials have taken a more cautious approach to the border reopening. Chief Executive John Lee said on Thursday it was “highly possible” to lift border controls next year, adding he hopes for step-by-step restoration of exchanges with neighbouring Shenzhen, according to a Weibo post.
Under the current mainland rules, visitors from Hong Kong are limited by a daily quota, while they also have to undergo five days of hotel quarantine. Mainland visitors also have to quarantine on their return.
The SCMP report did not make it clear whether international travellers would be able to freely enter the mainland via Hong Kong. Most of Hong Kong’s border checkpoints have been closed since early 2020.
Hong Kong could see an estimated 7.6% boost to its gross domestic product from China’s reopening, Goldman Sachs economists said Monday. The local economy is projected to have contracted this year for the third time in four years. The city hosted almost 44 million arrivals from mainland China in 2019.
Now that President Xi Jinping has changed his mind on zero-Covid, officials can work rapidly to revive the economy, said Dongshu Liu, an assistant professor specialising in Chinese politics at the City University of Hong Kong.
“The social and economic pressure is huge on both sides, resuming travel is something very urgent for them,” he said.
Hong Kong scrapped some of its remaining Covid restrictions on Tuesday, including a ban on new arrivals going to bars or restaurants and ending a policy requiring people to scan a QR code when entering venues. The city still requires masks to be worn in public.
The speed at which China has shifted its attitude to Covid has taken the city by surprise. China’s top medical adviser Zhong Nanshan likened the virus to the common cold, saying the fatality rate from the Omicron variant is only 0.1%. He spoke at a university lecture, according to videos of his remarks on social media.
Hong Kong’s healthcare system was overwhelmed when Omicron entered the city early this year, causing the deaths of thousands, many of them unvaccinated elderly.