The central government's continuous preferential policies for Hong Kong have brought benefits to Hong Kong's economic development

Graphic: Orange News

The Central Government has been providing preferential policies for Hong Kong for a long time, and in recent years, it has intensively introduced a large number of measures, which have brought benefits to Hong Kong's economic development and the convenience of people's lives. On the occasion of the 27th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland on July 1, Orange News has compiled some of the central government's policies to benefit Hong Kong for readers to understand.

2024

On June 27, the tax allowance for Hong Kong and Macao residents entering the Mainland was raised

The Ministry of Finance, the General Administration of Customs, and the State Administration of Taxation announced on June 27 that the tax exemption for resident passengers aged 18 or above entering the mainland from Hong Kong and Macao will be increased from 5,000 yuan (RMB, the same below) to 12,000 yuan; In addition, goods purchased at ports with inbound duty-free shops of no more than 3,000 yuan are allowed to be released duty-free. From July 1, the relevant measures will be implemented at six ports, including Luohu, Futian, Shenzhen Bay, West Kowloon Station of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Railway, Gongbei, and Zhuhai Highway of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge. From 1 August, it will be extended to all ports of entry.

On June 15, the intercity through train was switched to high-speed rail

China State Railway Group announced on June 4 that the intercity through train between Hong Kong's Hung Hom Station and Shanghai and Beijing West Railway Station will be replaced by high-speed rail from June 15, and the "Xifa Chaozhi" sleeper train with sleeping facilities will be introduced for the first time.

On May 11, the "Individual Tour" was expanded to add 8 more cities

The Central Government has further enhanced the Individual Visit Scheme to include residents of the eight cities in Taiyuan in Shanxi Province, Hohhot in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Harbin in Heilongjiang Province, Lhasa in Tibet Autonomous Region, Lanzhou in Gansu Province, Xining in Qinghai Province, Yinchuan in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and Urumqi in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The Immigration Bureau announced on May 11 that it will be implemented on May 27. The "Individual Visit" program will cover 59 cities, including all provincial capitals in the country.

On April 28, the talent endorsement and the national general endorsement were expanded

The National Immigration Administration (NIA) announced on 28 April that it would extend the period of stay of persons holding business endorsements in Hong Kong from seven days to 14 days with effect from 6 May, and extend the scope of application of talent endorsements to Beijing and Shanghai. The authorities have also announced that the "nationwide" measure will apply to business endorsements, allowing applicants to go through the procedures at relevant offices across the country without being restricted by their household registration or place of residence. These measures will greatly facilitate Mainland business personnel to visit Hong Kong for various business activities and facilitate the exchange of business personnel between the two places.

19 April Enhancement of Stock Connect mechanism

The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) announced on 19 April that it will promote a series of measures to expand the mutual access between the capital markets of the Mainland and Hong Kong, including (1) relaxing the scope of eligible products for equity ETFs under Stock Connect, (2) including real estate investment trusts in the Stock Connect, (3) supporting the inclusion of RMB stock trading counters in the Stock Connect, (4) enhancing the mutual recognition of funds arrangement, and (5) supporting the listing of leading mainland enterprises in Hong Kong.

On April 8, Xuelong 2 visited Hong Kong

The country's first self-built polar scientific research icebreaker, the Xuelong 2, arrived in Hong Kong on April 8 for a five-day visit.

On February 29, the arrangement of "Hong Kong vehicles going north" was optimized

After discussion, the governments of Guangdong and Hong Kong have decided to enhance the vehicle inspection arrangements for "Hong Kong vehicles heading north" from 1 March. If the applicant submits a new application for "Hong Kong Vehicle Journey" within two years after the vehicle has passed the inspection, the applicant will be exempted from the vehicle inspection if the applicant's Mainland electronic temporary entry motor vehicle licence is still valid and the applicant and the vehicle remain unchanged.

26 February Cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect version 2.0 came into effect

The revised Implementation Rules for the Cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect Pilot Program in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area came into effect on 26 February, enhancing five major measures, including expanding the scope of eligible investment products to better meet the diversified investment needs of GBA residents; appropriately increase the quota of individual investors; further enhance promotional and sales arrangements; optimise the access conditions for investors and support more GBA residents to participate in the pilot projects; Expand the range of participating institutions.

Feb.23 Expansion of "Individual Tours"

The central government has further enhanced the "Individual Visit Scheme" to Xi'an in Shaanxi Province and Qingdao in Shandong Province, which will be implemented from March 6. The Immigration Bureau announced on February 23 and will implement it on March 6. The number of eligible cities under the Individual Visit Programme has been increased to 51.

On 29 January, the civil and commercial arrangements between the Mainland and Hong Kong came into effect

The Supreme People's Court recently promulgated the Arrangement on Reciprocal Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Cases by the Courts of the Mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, which will come into force on January 29.

24 January Six measures to deepen financial co-operation between Hong Kong and the Mainland

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the People's Bank of China (PBoC) jointly announced six policy measures to deepen financial co-operation between Hong Kong and the Mainland, including: including the inclusion of government bonds and policy financial bonds issued in the Mainland as eligible collateral for the HKMA's RMB liquidity arrangement; further open up the participation of foreign institutional investors in the domestic bond repurchase business, and support all foreign institutions (including Bond Connect investors) that have entered the interbank bond market to participate in bond repurchases; Issued the implementation rules for enhancing the cross-boundary wealth management connect pilot business in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area; implement cross-border payment facilitation measures for Hong Kong and Macao residents to purchase property in the Mainland in the Greater Bay Area; promote cross-border credit cooperation to facilitate cross-border financing of enterprises; Expand the cross-border pilot of e-CNY in Hong Kong.

2023

On December 1, the "China Manned Space Engineering Exhibition" was held in Hong Kong

The "China Manned Space Engineering Exhibition" will be held from 1 December 2023 to 18 February 2024 at the Hong Kong Science Museum and the Hong Kong Museum of History, with free admission.

On July 1, the "Hong Kong car northbound" was officially implemented

The first day of the implementation of "Hong Kong cars going north".

28 April Extension of the validity period of the Home Return Permit for Hong Kong Residents

The Exit and Entry Administration Bureau decided to announce on April 28 that after the outbreak of the epidemic in 2020, some Hong Kong and Macao residents failed to apply for the renewal of their Home Return Permits in time. The Immigration Bureau has decided to extend the validity period of Home Return Permits from January 1, 2020 to December 30, 2023 to December 31, 2023.

On April 17, the regulatory measures for raw milk supplied to Hong Kong by the mainland were further optimized

The Guangdong Branch of the General Administration of Customs of China said on April 17 that the General Administration of Customs and the Environment and Ecology Bureau of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government officially signed the "Co-operation Arrangement on the Safety Supervision of Raw Milk Supply to Hong Kong from the Mainland" on the same day to optimize the supervision measures for raw milk supplied to Hong Kong. It is estimated that each batch of raw milk for Hong Kong will be compressed to less than 6 hours from declaration to customs clearance.

On February 24, the "Opinions on Financial Support for Comprehensively Deepening Reform and Opening-up in the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone" was released

The People's Bank of China, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange and the People's Government of Guangdong Province issued the "Opinions on Financial Support for the Comprehensive Deepening of Reform and Opening Up in the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone", proposing a number of measures, including facilitating Hong Kong residents to open Mainland bank accounts, facilitating credit financing for Hong Kong residents, facilitating cross-border investment and financing for Hong Kong enterprises, and facilitating the practice of Hong Kong professionals.

On February 20, the mainland cities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area implemented the talent endorsement policy for travelling to and from Hong Kong and Macao on a trial basis

The Exit and Entry Administration announced on 8 February that the Exit and Entry Bureau will implement a pilot endorsement policy for talents travelling to and from Hong Kong and Macao in the mainland cities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area from 20 February 2023.