280,000 travelers recorded on first day of reopening of Hong Kong-mainland border

HONG KONG, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Chan Kwok-ki, acting chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), said on Tuesday that around 280,000 cross-border travelers were recorded on Monday when normal travel between Hong Kong and the mainland started to resume fully.

Speaking ahead of an executive council meeting, Chan said all the seaborne, land and air control points have been fully reopened since Monday. The overall operation was smooth on the first day of the full resumption of cross-boundary travel, when around 220,000 people traveled through the land control points with the one at Lo Wu being the busiest.

Chief Executive of the HKSAR John Lee departed for a visit to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Saturday. During Lee's absence, Chan, the chief secretary for administration of the HKSAR government, becomes the acting chief executive.