Over 500 Hong Kong students register for new border channel aimed at easing travel to mainland China for start of school year
- Eighty-six per cent of applications on Tuesday are for land crossings, with most headed for Guangdong
- More than 1,000 students expected to benefit from new measure amid tough Covid-19 rules restricting cross-border travel
More than 500 Hong Kong students have registered for a new border channel within a day of its launch, aimed at easing travel to mainland China for the start of the school year amid tough Covid-19 restrictions.
A spokeswoman for the Education Bureau said that as of 5pm on Wednesday, 504 students had signed up for the special quota. Some 434 applications, or 86 per cent, involved land crossings and the remaining by air.
She said most of the students’ destinations were in Guangdong and Fujian provinces, adding that the bureau had also received 287 inquiries.
New arrangements to help Hong Kong students enter mainland China for school
Earlier, Deputy Secretary for Education Esmond Lee Chung-sin urged students who planned to use the new pathway to sign up online before Friday.
“We will make relevant arrangements with mainland authorities after receiving the forms,” Lee told a radio programme. “Students should be ready to get on board as soon as possible upon receiving our notification.”
He said applicants who opted for the land route would receive a notification via email requiring them to log into a designated website to receive a special cross-border pass, while airlines would prioritise bookings for those under the scheme. Students can then book quarantine hotels afterward.
Mainland authorities will also analyse details given by students to decide on whether to allow additional flights. Lee said he hoped the cost of air tickets would go down with more flights provided.
He said that because the number of students flying to the mainland was not too high, it could be handled even without additional flights.
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On Tuesday, the city’s education minister announced the launch of the special scheme, aimed at prioritising students seeking to cross the border, as well as providing “compassionate” quotas for those with special needs.
It was estimated that more than 1,000 students would benefit from the measure. They will not need to compete for the 2,000 quota spots drawn daily under a lottery system for most cross-border travellers, but will still be subject to quarantine rules, including hotel isolation and Covid-19 tests.
Lawmaker Kitson Yang Wing-kit, however, voiced concern over the availability of flight tickets in late August and September. Students might need to spend thousands on a ticket from travel agents who hold such bookings, he warned.
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He said arranging chartered vehicles for students to travel back to the mainland via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge would be the best approach as they were all headed for various provinces.
“Arranging a charter flight or vehicles and letting the students quarantine in a mainland city would be more cost-effective … They could go back to different cities by high-speed rail after completing their quarantine,” he said. “I believe that the students will not mind bearing such costs.”
