Travelers wearing face masks with their luggage head to the immigration counter at the departure hall at Lok Ma Chau station following the reopening of the crossing border with Chinese mainland, in Hong Kong on January 8, 2023. The upcoming full resumption of Hong Kong-mainland travel is a major step forward in the city's effort to return to social normalcy and deepen cross-border connections in all aspects, according to PHOTO AP HONG KONG Representatives from various sectors on Friday.
Cross-border students, including cross-border students, will be able to return to normal, pre-pandemic life by allowing them to return to normal, pre-pandemic life.
The move came after Hong Kong and the mainland government announced the scrapping of travel-quota limits and COVID 19 test requirements for cross-bound passengers, and the reopening of all cross-border checkpoints on Monday.
Leung Chun-yingChun-ying, a vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said in a social media post that he will lead an 80-member delegation, including representatives from 29 business and social organizations, to Guangzhou s Nansha district on Monday to explore business opportunities.
He believes that the border reopening will bring more Hong Kong people to the mainland and will further aid the country's integration into the country's overall development.
After Monday, he will organize more exchange activities and internship programs for young people in Hong Kong and the rest of the Greater Bay Area, according to Angus Ng Hok-ming, chairman of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Youth Association.
Chu Xiuyun, a mother of a 13-year-old cross-border student, said she was glad to hear about the reopening of the Lo Wu checkpoint near her home in Shenzhen. She was happy about the lifting of travel quotas and COVID-19 tests for cross-bound passengers, which will make it easier for her son to commute between the two cities as it was three years ago.
Chu Wai-lam, the principal of Hong Kong's Fung Kai No 1 Primary School, said that the full-scale travel resumption with the mainland will allow more cross-border students to have face-to- face classes in the city.
He believes that secondary school students will return to Hong Kong first, as they are old enough to make the cross-border journey on their own. Students in primary schools must wait for school buses to resume service. Some students need time to renew their travel documents to Hong Kong.
Chu said after the full border reopening, the school will resume face-to-face communication with mainland counterparts and study trips to mainland cities. Some senior students will go to sister schools in Beijing, Guilin or Foshan for exchange programs. More exchange activities will be held during the summer and Christmas holidays.
Frankie Yeung Wai-shing, chairman of the advisory committee of the Xiqu Centre in West Kowloon Cultural District, said that the full resumption of travel would give a boost to the city's arts and culture development, which will help the sectors get a new start and seek brighter prospects with normal communication with the mainland.
The practitioners can participate in top international events with no barriers and recover exchanges with the outside world. He said that the feasts in Hong Kong will see more participants and have a greater influence on the event.