John Lee urges Hongkongers to take advantage of Beijing’s new measures, be innovative

Beijing announced on Monday that it would offer the city a pair of giant pandas and a five-year travel permit for non-Chinese permanent residents of Hong Kong and Macau to enter the mainland in celebration of the 27th handover anniversary.

The duty-free threshold for mainland tourists visiting Hong Kong was also raised from 5,000 yuan (US$688) per trip to a maximum of 15,000 yuan on Monday, but drew a lukewarm responses from travellers.

Some said it was not as attractive as the 100,000 yuan annual limit in the Southern Chinese province of Hainan.

Asked whether he would fight for a higher limit, Lee said the increase was achieved “after a lot of efforts” by different ministries of the central government, adding it was important for the city to utilise it first.

“It is important for us, Hong Kong people, government included of course, to capitalise [and] make good use [of] all the different measures and ensure that they realise their best potentials,” he said.

Lee called on different sectors to offer a good experience to visitors during their stay in Hong Kong.

“I urge everybody to think of innovative ways to capitalise on the new measures that have been offered to Hong Kong,” he said.

Lee also said the series of beneficial measures Beijing offered would create an amplification effect and benefit Hong Kong as a whole.