RTHK has learnt that the government is hoping to first open the cross-border checkpoints at Lok Ma Chau, Man Kam To as well as the Hong Kong Macau Ferry Terminal when quarantine-free cross-border travel resumes as early as Sunday.

Border control points that had been operating throughout the pandemic – Shenzhen Bay, Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge and the airport – will remain open, while Lo Wu and the high speed rail station in West Kowloon will stay closed.

It is understood that quotas will be allocated to travellers on a first-come-first-served basis.

The proposal has yet to be approved by the central government, and SAR officials are expected to announce the arrangements on Thursday at the earliest.

Executive Councillor and a lawmaker representing the commercial sector, Jeffrey Lam, said he hopes business travellers would be given priority to go to the mainland quarantine-free.

He said many of them are eagerly waiting to travel across the border to handle business matters before and during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday.

Lam said he hopes up to 50,000 people will be allowed to travel to the mainland every day when the border is reopened, and that the daily quota should be gradually increased to 200,000.

A deputy director of the Society for Community Organisation, Sze Lai-shan, said people who want to go to the mainland for family reasons should also be taken into consideration.

“Some of them have old parents on the mainland. They need to take care of them. Some have spouses there waiting for family union for years… so there are many urgent matters they need to handle,” she said.
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Last updated: 2023-01-04 HKT 21:08