A tycoon, businessmen and students were among the Hong Kong permanent residents with foreign passports who applied for a new travel permit to enter mainland China after applications opened on Wednesday.
Many hailed the five-year multi-entry permit as a “game changer”, while others faced difficulties over a lack of correct documents.
Sino Group chairman Robert Ng Chee Siong, a Singaporean national, headed to China Travel Service (Hong Kong) (CTS) to apply for the permit and described the new measure as “tremendous” in boosting exchanges between foreigners and the mainland.
“It just goes to show [the] motherland’s strong support to Hong Kong [under] ‘one country, two systems’,” Ng told the Post at the CTS centre in Sheung Wan, referring to the principle governing relations between the city and the central government.
British national Steve Hart, also visiting the Sheung Wan centre, said he was looking forward to easier entry procedures, compared with those for his previous trips to the mainland.