HONG KONG (Reuters) -Hong Kong will reopen its borders with mainland China by mid-January, metropolis Chief Government John Lee stated on Saturday, as Beijing accelerates the unwinding of stringent COVID-19 guidelines which have battered financial progress.
Lee, talking at a press occasion on the airport in Hong Kong as he returned from a visit to Beijing, stated the objective in “step by step, orderly, and absolutely” reopening the town will probably be to return the border to its state earlier than the virus outbreak.
“Our objective is to shortly come to a consensus with the central authorities, submit our plan to the central authorities for assessment and execute on the plan earlier than mid-January,” stated Lee.
Hong Kong authorities will work with the governments of neighbouring Shenzhen metropolis and Guangdong province to handle the move of individuals crossing the border, Lee stated.
Restrictions on journey throughout the border have been imposed in early 2020. The reopening was postponed a number of occasions as a result of outbreaks in Hong Kong or the mainland. Hong Kong and China have lagged a lot of the world in easing stringent COVID guidelines.
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Individuals within the Chinese language particular administrative area of Hong Kong have been capable of entry the mainland solely by the town’s airport or two checkpoints – Shenzhen Bay or the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge.
Preparations for reopening are underway, together with deploying 1000’s of officers from the town’s customs, immigration and police companies, native media say.
Hong Kong’s authorities stated on Dec. 12 that mainland authorities had allowed cross-border truck drivers to gather and ship items on to their locations with out utilizing designated checkpoints.
Worldwide passengers arriving in Hong Kong since mid-month are not topic to COVID-related motion controls or barred from sure venues.
Arriving travellers may additionally proceed on to mainland China or Macau so long as they meet the required standards, the town authorities stated. Beforehand they needed to wait three days within the metropolis earlier than persevering with to the mainland.
(Reporting by Josh Ye and Farah Grasp in Hong Kong; writing by Josh Horwitz in Shanghai; Modifying by Edmund Klamann and William Mallard)
Copyright 2022 Thomson Reuters.
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