Non-Chinese citizens’ mainland travel card a ‘policy breakthrough’, says John Lee

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu on Tuesday labeled a new five-year mainland travel card offered to non-Chinese permanent residents in Hong Kong – a new measure announced by Beijing to facilitate cross-border exchanges – as a “policy breakthrough”, as he vowed to further integrate the city into the country’s development plans.

Non-Chinese permanent residents of Hong Kong and Macau will be able to apply for a home-return permit to travel to the mainland starting next Wednesday.

This came as the Exit and Entry Administration announced yesterday that it would extend issuance of the mainland travel permit, generally known as the home-return permit, to non-Chinese permanent residents of the two SARs to enhance people-to-people exchanges.

Read more: Non-Chinese residents, too, get present in home-return permits

Speaking to the press ahead of his weekly executive council meeting, Lee said the new travel measure demonstrates the strength of the “one country, two systems” framework governing the city. He said the government will promote the arrangement to foreign business chambers.

The measures will better integrate Hong Kong into China’s Greater Bay Area economic cluster, comprising also Macau and nine mainland cities, he said.