China eases Hong Kong visa rules: What it means for tourism, Shenzhen residents

China has eased visa rules for Shenzhen residents travelling to Hong Kong, allowing unlimited visits within a year instead of the previous one-trip-per-week limit. Shares of Hong Kong retailers gained.
Starting Dec. 1, residents of the southern Chinese tech hub will be able to apply for multiple-entry visas to Hong Kong, according to state broadcaster China Central Television.
This move restores a 2009 policy that allowed Shenzhen residents to apply for multi-entry visas. The system was replaced in 2015 with a one-trip-per-week rule after complaints from Hong Kong residents about parallel trading, where a surge in people buying daily necessities in Hong Kong to resell on the mainland spurred weeks of street protests.
The Hong Kong government recently asked Beijing to bring back the multiple-entry visa as part of efforts to revive its stalling tourism industry. It’s unclear how much impact the new rules will have, given the economic slowdown in the mainland and the waning popularity of Hong Kong among Chinese travelers.
Residents of Zhuhai, a city in Guangdong province, will also be able to apply for a visa to visit neighboring Macau once a week, according to the CCTV report.
The news boosted consumption-related stocks in Hong Kong, with Sa Sa International Holdings Ltd. jumping 9% and Samsonite International SA up about 5%. A Bloomberg Intelligence gauge of Macau casino operators gained 3%.
The number of Shenzhen residents eligible for the visa will increase to over 10 million, the Hong Kong government said in a statement, adding that the move will benefit tourism, catering and retail industries.
Hong Kong reported 3.1 million visitor arrivals in September, which was still down 30% from the same period in 2018, before the city plunged into months of social unrest and three years of Covid isolation. About 75% of the arrivals were from mainland China.