Policy announcement of Southbound Travel for Guangdong Vehicles

​The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government today (July 2) announced the policy direction of Southbound Travel for Guangdong Vehicles (the Southbound Travel Scheme).

The Southbound Travel Scheme is an important measure to promote the facilitation of the flow of people and vehicles between Hong Kong and the Mainland as well as the transport and logistics development through the study and formulation of transport policies between Hong Kong, Macao and the Mainland, thereby duly implementing the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area as well as the requirements of relevant documents of the Central Government. With the agreement of Guangdong and the strong support of the Central Government, Guangdong and Hong Kong have been discussing and taking forward the policy through the task force for collaboration on Guangdong-Hong Kong transportation, and reached a consensus on expediting the implementation of the policy of the Southbound Travel Scheme.

The automated carparks of the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) at the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) Hong Kong Port is a part of the Southbound Travel Scheme, providing “park and fly” arrangements before the Hong Kong control point. As for the entry into the urban area via the HZMB, Guangdong and Hong Kong have made advance planning, and will strive to implement it simultaneously in November this year, allowing Mainland residents to apply. The booking procedure for using the port carpark is relatively simple, while Guangdong vehicles entering into the urban area are required to undergo vehicle inspection and other procedures. Therefore, it is expected that Guangdong vehicles will start using the port carpark first, and will also be able to enter into the urban area within this year.

The Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Ms Mable Chan, said, “Since its successful launch in July 2023, Northbound Travel for Hong Kong Vehicles (the Northbound Travel Scheme) has become increasingly popular among Hong Kong citizens. The Northbound Travel Scheme is a mutual arrangement with the Southbound Travel Scheme. Eligible single-plate private cars of Guangdong can apply to travel to Hong Kong via the HZMB through an innovative and simple route, which facilitates mutual visits between residents of the two places and meets the expectations of mutual engagement. Not only will it attract different types of travellers, but also facilitate visits by relatives, friends and business partners in Guangdong, which in turn promote social exchanges, benefit many trades and sectors in Hong Kong, as well as promote the integration of the Greater Bay Area.”

For the Northbound Travel Scheme, over 100 000 Hong Kong vehicles have participated, which means that one out of every five vehicles has joined. The usage of the HZMB has also hit new highs. In May this year, the two-way traffic throughput reached 450 000 trips, which was an average of about 15 000 trips per day, an increase of about 170 per cent compared to before the implementation of the Northbound Travel Scheme, among which vehicles travelling under the Northbound Travel Scheme accounted for about 40per cent of the two-way traffic throughput of the HZMB, which amounted to an average of about 6 000 trips per day. We have been working with the Guangdong Provincial Government to optimize the scheme in various aspects, including improving port clearance efficiency, streamlining booking arrangements, etc, with a view to providing Hong Kong citizens with better experiences.

For the Southbound Travel Scheme, the AAHK’s “Park & Fly” carpark has 1 800 spaces, and the AAHK has developed the booking system. This arrangement will further attract Mainland residents to transfer flight via the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA), which fully reflects Hong Kong’s status as an international aviation hub. For entry into the urban area, it will start with a small-scale 100 daily booking quota to test the system and procedural arrangements. We will closely monitor the operation, as well as take into consideration the traffic at the port and nearby roads, users’ adaptation, social responses, etc, and take it forward in a prudent and manageable manner, that is, to take a “small-and-quick step” approach for accumulating implementation experience, and then increasing the number of quota. In the meantime, the AAHK is taking forward the “Park & Visit” carpark at the HZMB port, which allows Mainland residents to “park and ride” for visiting the facilities on the Airport Island, and then different places in Hong Kong.

From now until November this year, the governments of Guangdong and Hong Kong will continue to actively formulate implementation arrangements for the Southbound Travel Scheme in a prudent and orderly manner, including management arrangements, system interface, construction works, facilitation measures, port clearance, monitoring measures, insurance arrangements, publicity work, and full-scale drills (relevant information at Annex), so that the scheme will be orderly implemented, welcomed by users, to the satisfaction of the public, and beneficial to the community at large. We strive to announce the details as soon as possible within this year.

The Southbound Travel Scheme will open up a new mode of southbound travel for Mainland residents. We welcome travellers with different travel purposes to use the HKIA or stay in Hong Kong, which will benefit the tourism, business, exhibitions, entertainment, professional services, shopping, catering, and other sectors in different districts. Along the above, the Southbound Travel Scheme will further promote the integration of the Greater Bay Area and benefit Hong Kong’s economic development.

Remarks by STL on Southbound Travel for Guangdong Vehicles (with photo/video)

Following are the remarks by the Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Ms Mable Chan, at a media session on the Southbound Travel for Guangdong Vehicles today (July 2):

Reporter: You mentioned that the initial daily quota for Guangdong cars to enter Hong Kong urban area will be 100 and will increase gradually. I wonder how you come up with that number? Will there be a cap for the quota given the capacity of car parking spaces in Hong Kong? How will the Government ensure that there are enough parking spaces for those cars? Secondly, regarding road safety, will Guangdong drivers be required to take any mandatory training or test to familiarise themselves with Hong Kong’s driving rules or regulations? Will they be penalised for any violation? Finally, you mentioned that there will be vehicle examinations in Mainland before those cars can enter Hong Kong, can you elaborate on the roles of Hong Kong authorities in those examinations and what kind of examinations will be conducted?

Secretary for Transport and Logistics: As I have mentioned just now, today’s announcement covered the entry of Guangdong vehicles to Hong Kong. It comprises two parts. The first part is regarding the parking of vehicles in the automated car park organised and arranged by the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) and the automated car park is situated at the artificial island of the Hong Kong-Macao-Zhuhai Bridge BCP (Boundary Control Point) area. That part will allow Guangdong vehicles to be parked and facilitate their visitors to transit via our Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA).

As for the part regarding the entry of Guangdong vehicles into the Hong Kong territory, we would like to advance the implementation so that we can achieve a simultaneous implementation, i.e. we will allow and facilitate the application by Guangdong vehicles for both parts, including the part for entry into the Hong Kong territory. Given that the entry of Guangdong vehicles into the Hong Kong territory will require vehicle examinations and also application for the date and time to enter the Hong Kong territory, this will inevitably involve some time for processing, so the implementation and the entry of vehicles into the automated car park organised by the AAHK will be earlier. As for application for the entry of Guangdong vehicles into the territory, due to the need for them to go through various procedures, we hope that we will advance and streamline. Hopefully before the end of this year, they will be able to enter into the Hong Kong territory. We would like to try out our system’s various procedures and make sure that the implementation is smooth and organised. We would also monitor the implementation situation, the reaction of the society, the community and also the user experience so that we will map out our roadmap for the gradual implementation and increase of the daily entry number. Although we start small, we would like to make an early head-start so that we have a firm and useful basis for us to advance quicker and on a larger scale.

As for the requirements for the vehicle inspection, basically the entry of this kind of Guangdong vehicles, they will have to follow the requirements under the Hong Kong law. The Transport Department has a series of requirements regarding the vehicle type and vehicle conditions. We will facilitate and arrange the vehicle inspection in the Guangdong Province so as to facilitate that all the vehicles, which have applied for the Scheme, will go through all the necessary requirements for vehicle inspection. As for the individuals, like the drivers of these Guangdong vehicles, they are required to hold valid driving licence in Guangdong and Mainland area. In other words, they are required to undergo very serious and robust procedures and checking as regards their capability to drive their own cars. The Transport Department will also discuss with the Guangdong authorities and map out detailed requirements and procedures so as to uphold our requirements as well as to facilitate such kind of drivers to come to Hong Kong and get the necessary driving permits in order to allow their cars to be driven into the Hong Kong territory.

Reporter: Can you please clarify whether the Government will surely launch or seek to launch the Scheme on a certain date in November and drivers from Guangdong can submit their applications? Given the Bureau has been criticised for delaying the launch quite a few times, can you give us a date? Secondly, does one quota mean one vehicle on the road for the Southbound Scheme? Given the Northbound Scheme has a daily quota of 500, but we have observed more than 500 vehicles at the road crossing border. Any difference between the two in terms of application? Have you estimated how many vehicles will be on the road daily when the Scheme is launched?

Secretary for Transport and Logistics: I would like to stress that it is our target and our aim to achieve simultaneous implementation of the entry of Guangdong vehicles into the Hong Kong territory and the parking of the vehicles in the HKIA automated car park. The simultaneous implementation of both parts of the Scheme will be implemented in November. As regards the exact timing, this will be an area subject to our detailed follow-up discussion between the Hong Kong and Guangdong authorities. As regards the number of the vehicles on the road, those vehicles parked into the HKIA automated car park as the Executive Director, Mr Yiu, just mentioned, there will be a total capacity of 1 800 car parking spaces and these car parking spaces are arranged and organised under an automated car park system which gives the efficiency and the certainty for the Guangdong drivers to park their vehicles. The actual number for admission of the parking of vehicles on a daily basis will of course be evaluated and assessed based on the average number of days of stay of these vehicles in the car park. We presume that will be reflected in their travel pattern when they take their transit arrangement in the HKIA. As regards the entry of the Guangdong vehicles into the Hong Kong territory, we will actively discuss with the Guangdong authorities in order to map out the exact number of stay and the duration of stay for these Guangdong vehicles in Hong Kong. Our current thinking is to allow them for a stay of three to a few days. This number is actually based on our assessment of our capacity and also our wish to allow these Mainland residents using Guangdong registered vehicles to stay in Hong Kong so that they can enjoy a full stay of experience in Hong Kong, they can go and visit different tourist spots, they can buy things, they can go to shopping malls and they can also participate in different conferences and activities in Hong Kong. But in any event, we will be flexible and we hope that the number of stay can enable them to have a good experience in Hong Kong.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the remarks.)