Despite limits on Shenzhen residents coming to Hong Kong, parallel trade seems to thrive in Sheung Shui. Photo: RTHK
Residents in Sheung Shui said on Monday that parallel goods trading was still rampant in the district - a year after Shenzhen authorities limited the number of trips its residents could make to Hong Kong.
On April 13 last year, the mainland's Ministry of Public Security slashed the number of visits Shenzhen residents could make to the territory from multiple times to just once per week, in a bid to reduce parallel trading activities in North District.
The Immigration Department said ever since the one-visit-per-week permit was launched last year, the number of visitors from Shenzhen dropped about 9 percent, compared with 2014.
But residents in Sheung Shui said they cannot feel the problem of parallel trading has been solved. They said they can still see people buying and distributing goods that are of high demand on the mainland, such as milk powder and phone gadgets.
The spokesperson for the North District Parallel Imports Concern Group, Ronald Leung, said although Shenzhen residents are not allowed to come to Hong Kong as often, some locals and South Asians have taken their place by becoming parallel traders and selling goods across the border.
He urged the government to conduct a thorough review of the policy of allowing Shenzhen residents to visit Hong Kong once a week.
http://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1253708-20160411.htm
