More Chinese Cities Join Hong Kong Tourism Initiative

Facts

• China has added the mainland cities of Xian and Qingdao to its list of residents allowed to visit Hong Kong in a personal capacity rather than as part of a tour group. The 'Individual Travel Scheme' agreement originally began in 2003 under the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement between the PRC and Hong Kong.¹
• Eligible residents of these cities, whose populations exceed 10M, will be allowed to visit both Hong Kong and Macao for leisure purposes for a maximum of seven days per visit. Officials say the measure will also allow Hong Kong residents to explore more parts of the mainland.²
• The tourism program, which began with just four cities before opening up to 49 in 2007, will now include 51 cities once Xian and Qingdao officially join by March 6.³
• Hong Kong, which struggled with tourism after the crackdown on the 2019 anti-government protests and COVID shutdowns, saw over 1.4M visitors during the recent Lunar New Year holiday. 87% of them came from mainland China.³
• Since the introduction of this travel agreement, annual mainland visitors to Hong Kong rose from roughly 667K in 2003 to 55.8M in 2019, with travelers spending over HK$2.2T (roughly US$281B) in Hong Kong throughout that period.²
• According to local media outlets, two northeastern mainland cities — Heilongjiang and Harbin — are expected to be added to the solo traveler scheme in the next phase of its expansion.⁴

Sources: ¹South China Morning Post, ²chinadaily.com, ³Reuters.com and ⁴Dimsum Daily.

Narratives

• Pro-China narrative, as provided by Global Times. Hong Kong is back in business. Even without having finished its security law — which, as was the case with Macao, will make travelers feel safe enough to visit — the city reported over 1.4M travelers just during the eight-day Lunar New Year festivities. These numbers discredit Western media reports that Beijing is hurting the city. And if you wanted more proof, leaders in the Hong Kong tourism industry say that once the security law is codified, business will only continue to grow.
• Anti-China narrative, as provided by Radio Free Asia. Whether China forces a new tourism scheme upon Hong Kong is irrelevant — because the island no longer represents the vibrant culture it once had. Beijing, through its pro-Communist Party proxy politicians on the island, is now codifying Chinese culture into the laws of Hong Kong. While the government is attempting to bring back the spirited nightlife and tourism culture that existed before the security law took place, it likely won't succeed now that every islander is forced to live and work at the behest of the mainland's dictatorship.

Predictions