More than 10 million people in Shenzhen will be allowed to visit Hong Kong as many times as they like from December 1, the authorities said on Friday.

Mainland officials have reversed their 2015 decision to limit such visits to once per week, allowing Shenzhen residents to apply for multi-entry permits to make repeated trips to the SAR.

The maximum length of each visit will remain at seven days.

Chief Executive John Lee expressed his gratitude to the central government for making the move.

Lee previously said he had requested a return to the earlier arrangement, which was scrapped due to concerns over parallel trading and overcrowding.

Meanwhile, from next year Zhuhai residents can apply for weekly trips to Macau, while those living in the Guangdong-Macau In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin will be able to go to Macau as many times as they like for up to seven days at a time.