China eases immigration restrictions for travel to Hong Kong and Macau

Mainland China will fully resume the issuance of visas for group tours to Hong Kong and Macau.

China.- The National Immigration Administration has announced that it will ease immigration restrictions for travel to Hong Kong and Macau. From May 15, visa issuance will fully resume for group tours to the two Special Administrative Regions (SARs) and for mainland Chinese residents seeking to work, study or visit relatives. Legal and medical travel are subject to the same rules.

As part of another policy, mainland Chinese students studying at tertiary institutions in Macau will have their visas extended to cover the duration of their studies, instead of for one year. The move comes after China lifted a six-month restriction on cross-border travellers using Macau’s two large immigration halls.

The new measures are expected to boost visitor arrivals to the two SARs, which are popular tourist destinations for mainland Chinese travellers. The city collected MOP10.11bn (US$1.25bn) in taxes from casino operations in the first three months of the year. The figure was up 15.8 per cent when compared to MOP8.73bn (US$1.08bn) in the same period of last year.

The total represents 19.88 per cent of Macau’s annual forecast of MOP50.85bn (US$6.3bn). Accumulated GGR for the first three months of the year was MOP34.64bn (US$4.29bn), a 95 per cent yearly increase but down 54.5 per cent when compared to the same period in 2019.

In April, GGR was up 15.6 per cent month-on-month from MOP12.73bn to MOP14.72bn (US$1.83bn). The figure was up 449.9 per cent when compared to last year.