Interest surges as visit scheme further expands

Stacy Shi

Inquiries from Taiyuan city in Shanxi province on traveling to Hong Kong have more than doubled ahead of the first day of the expanded individual visit scheme to include eight more mainland cities.

Ng Tang, chairman of the Hong Kong Shanxi Chamber of Commerce, said entrepreneurs in the province can now visit Hong Kong to look for business opportunities.

Direct flights between Hong Kong and Taiyuan had ceased operation for years and were officially resumed in March, Ng said.

It is good news that Taiyuan is part of the new individual visit scheme, allowing merchants to “travel and spend money in Hong Kong while exploring business opportunities.”

There are still no direct flights between Xining of Qinghai province and Hong Kong, but the Qinghai Hong Kong and Macau Association said the provincial government is planning to remedy this to facilitate interconnection between the two…