Over 500,000 Hong Kong people Visit Mainland RegularlyMore than half a million Hong Kong people make regular trips to the Chinese mainland, at least once a month, accounting for 45 percent of the Hong Kong people going to the Chinese mainland, according to the results of a survey announced by the Hong Kong Planning Department Tuesday.They go to the mainland usually for business, shopping, leisure and family union, according to the survey. The Cross-Boundary Travel Survey, conducted between October and November last year, also revealed that, during the two-week fieldwork period, about 51,300 Hong Kong residents living in the mainland came to Hong Kong, among them 34,400, or 67 percent, were making regular trips to see relatives and friends, or because of work or business. During the fieldwork period there were 110,200 mainland residents coming to Hong Kong, mostly for business, work, or visiting relatives and friends. About 22,600 of them, or 20 percent, were regular visitors. The survey was carried out in the light of a tremendous increase in cross-boundary travel activities in recent years, as a result of the growing socio-economic ties between Hong Kong and the mainland, in particular the Pearl River Delta region. "Subject to resource availability, regular review or updating of the findings will be carried out to form a useful reference basis for forecast of future trends, scenario assumptions, and sensitivity testing in strategic planning," the spokesman said. |
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