About 16,000 Hong Kong permanent residents with foreign passports have already received a new five-year, multi-entry mainland Chinese travel permit, accounting for a third of all applicants since the scheme launched in July.

Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po shared the figure on Sunday as he pointed out the benefits of a recently expanded free-trade deal with the mainland that would grant more preferential treatment to Hong Kong enterprises and talent.

Last week, the minister and mainland authorities signed off on amendments to the Closer Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), relaxing qualification requirements for Hong Kong professionals working across the border, as well as lifting curbs on shareholding and business activities in the north.

Discussing the five-year, multi-entry permit scheme, Chan said the China Travel Services (Hong Kong) agency had received about 48,000 applications as of early October.

One-third, or 16,000 applicants, were issued a travel permit by the Exit and Entry Administration of Mainland China over the same period, he noted.

Hong Kong’s Immigration Department said last Sunday that more than 61,000 people had applied for a document needed to obtain the travel permit.