Foreign business leaders on Wednesday said a new permit is providing easier access to the mainland, as the first batch of non-Chinese permanent residents in Hong Kong received their travel cards.

Permit holders can travel to the mainland within the five-year validity period, with each stay not exceeding 90 days.

The chairman of the Malaysian Chamber of Commerce, Dato' Gan Khai Choon, was among those collecting their permits at a China Travel Service centre.

“When we wanted to go to mainland China, in the early days, we had to apply for a visa like everybody else. But for Malaysians ourselves, we also needed to apply for permission from our Malaysian government to have a permit to go into China," he said.

"When China and Malaysia had a better relationship, we could apply independently without the Malaysian approval. But even at that time, to apply for a visa, it was quite difficult because the process and passport requirements were quite cumbersome."

He said the application process for the new permit was smooth with the application centre offering him a "first-class service", and that he's planning to travel to the mainland in the coming few weeks.

A former committee member of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, Alfred Buchner, received his permit after filing an application around three weeks ago.

He said he hasn't travelled to the mainland for seven years, because he wanted to avoid the hassle of going through the visa application process.

“There are a lot of suppliers which I see in China, where I have contact in China, so far only by email... With this travel permit, it's a big encouragement to visit China," he said.

Buchner, who picked up his permit along with his family, said he would first travel to Shenzhen for a weekend trip.