Passengers depart from West Kowloon Station in Hong Kong, South China, Sept 23, 2019. (LU YE / XINHUA)

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government is striving to gradually resume normal travel with the Chinese mainland at the latest by Jan 8, Chief Secretary for Administration Eric Chan Kwok-ki said on Sunday.

Chan, who chairs a cross-disciplinary coordination group on the resumption of quarantine-free travel, said in a social media post that apart from the land ports that are now in operation, other checkpoints that have been closed for almost three years will reopen.

Initially, a quota will be set for those traveling between Hong Kong and the mainland. The government will also gradually increase the land, air and sea traffic flows between the two sides.

Based on the situation in the first phase of the resumption, the government will further expand cross-boundary travel until full normalization, Chan said.

To protect public health, he urged travelers to the mainland and those in the opposite direction to obtain a negative result for their COVID-19 nucleic acid tests before departing.

Secretary for Transport and Logistics Lam Sai-hung said on Sunday the SAR government is liaising with the transportation sector to ensure that the transportation capacity would be adequate, including sufficient goods vehicles and drivers

Secretary for Transport and Logistics Lam Sai-hung said on Sunday the SAR government is liaising with the transportation sector to ensure that the transportation capacity would be adequate, including sufficient goods vehicles and drivers. 

Allen Shi Lop-tak, president of the Chinese Manufacturers’ Association of Hong Kong, said he’s encouraged by the preparations being made by the SAR government. He said an initial daily quota of 20,000 travelers would be acceptable, and gradually raising it to 100,000 per day would be good enough.

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Shi predicted that the resumption of normal travel with the mainland would see businesses of related industries restored by up to 30 percent. But, he said priority does not need to be given to the business sector in allocating the daily travel quota as many Hong Kong residents are eager to visit the mainland for family reunions.

Pang Yiu-kai, chairperson of the Hong Kong Tourism Board, believes the number of tourists to Hong Kong will gradually recover, and the tour with the operations system and related works that have been suspended for nearly three years.

Cheung Chi-keung, head of crossboundary operations at MTR Corp, said on Friday trial operations for high-speed rail services between Hong Kong and the mainland will begin on Jan 3. Members of the public can purchase tickets three days before the full resumption of cross-boundary travel.

He said MTR Corp and the mainland authorities have agreed on the trial run, during which MTR staff will be able to familiarize themselves with the operations system and related works that have been suspended for nearly three years.

Cheung said workers at Hong Kong West Kowloon Station and the Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau checkpoints have been asked to return to their posts. MTR is also preparing to reopen the two checkpoint stations on the East Rail Line that connect Hong Kong with Shenzhen in Guangdong province.

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He’s not worried that the morning rush hours for local commuters will clash with those for cross-boundary traffic, and the resumption of rail services will not have much effect on local transportation.

The central government downgraded its management of COVID-19 on Dec 26, saying travelers to the mainland will no longer need to be quarantined from Jan 8.

The National Immigration Administration said a day later it would resume processing travel documents enabling mainland residents to visit the HKSAR for tourism and business.

Contact the writers at bingcun@chinadailyhk.com