Visitors passing through Hong Kong up 171 pct in 2022

HONG KONG, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Immigration Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government said on Tuesday that around 5.3 million passengers passing through Hong Kong's control points were recorded last year, representing an increase of 171 percent over 2021.

Reviewing the Immigration Department's work in the past year, Au Ka-wang, director of immigration of the HKSAR government, told a press conference that the total number of visitor arrivals was around 600,000, representing a 562-percent increase as compared with that of 2021.

Of the some 600,000 visitors to Hong Kong in 2022, over 370,000 were from the Chinese mainland, up 472 percent from 2021.

Au said that in 2022 the department had issued a total of more than 610,000 HKSAR passports, nearly doubling that of 2021, among which the number of applications for HKSAR passports hit an all-time high for three consecutive months from October to December 2022, with more than 100,000 applications for HKSAR passports received per month.

As of Jan. 16, 2023, the Top Talent Pass Scheme launched by the HKSAR government and implemented with effect from Dec. 28, 2022, has received over 6,200 applications. Over 75 percent of the applications were processed, among which over 90 percent have been approved.

The department will act in concert with the country's development in pooling talents to build a better future for the country and Hong Kong, the department said.