HONG KONG - More than 980,000 Chinese mainland visitors arrived in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region between Oct 1 and Oct 5, up 35 percent from the same period last year, according to the HKSAR government's Immigration Department.

Director of Immigration Benson Kwok Joon-fung said on Sunday that more than 220,000 mainland visitors arrived in the city on Oct 1, National Day, a significant increase compared with about 177,000 on the same day last year.

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The figures reflected the popularity of various activities organized by the HKSAR government and various sectors of the community, and also proved that Hong Kong still has its attractiveness, Kwok said, expecting the total number of arrivals and departures to reach 300 million by the end of this year.

Since July 10, non-Chinese permanent residents of the HKSAR and Macao SAR have been eligible to apply for special travel permits to enter the mainland. Kwok said the immigration department had received more than 61,000 applications as of Sept 30, and the measure was popular.

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As for the Top Talent Pass Scheme, Kwok said that as of the end of September, the immigration department had received 100,000 applications and 81,000 were approved. So far, 240,000 applications have been approved under various talent entry schemes, and more than 300,000 talents and their families have come to Hong Kong.