In a written reply to the Legislative Council (LCQ15) on 8 July, Hong Kong’s Secretary for Security Tang Ping-keung laid out new measures to tackle holiday congestion at the city’s land boundary control points (BCPs). The statement follows complaints that travellers waited hours to cross into Shenzhen during recent long weekends. Key elements include an inter-departmental contingency mechanism that redeploys Immigration Department, Customs and Police staff, opens temporary e-Channels and extends operating hours at the Shenzhen Bay and Lo Wu checkpoints during peak periods. Authorities also pledged to publish daily passenger-flow statistics on the Immigration Department’s “Easy Boundary” portal and to push real-time alerts via social-media platforms such as WeChat and Xiaohongshu. Over the longer term, the Government confirmed it will expand e-Channel capacity—34 kiosks have already been added at Shenzhen Bay—and roll out AI-enabled “Seamless e-Channel” gates at other crossings after a successful pilot at the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge in June. Redevelopment of Huanggang and Sha Tau Kok ports will adopt joint-inspection models so that travellers disembark only once for both jurisdictions, mirroring arrangements at West Kowloon high-speed-rail terminus. For corporate mobility programmes, the updates mean that cross-boundary commuters could enjoy shorter queues during the Mid-Autumn Festival and upcoming “Golden Week” peak. HR teams securing Mainland Employment Permits for Hong Kong staff should however brief employees that operating-hour extensions will be decided case-by-case and may not cover all checkpoints. Travel-risk vendors recommend integrating the Government’s API feeds into duty-of-care dashboards so that mobile workforces receive instant rerouting advice. The LegCo disclosure signals continued political focus on enhancing Guangdong–Hong Kong integration under Beijing’s Greater Bay Area blueprint. Faster passenger throughput supports the city’s ambition to attract 80 million visitors annually by 2030 and to cement its role as a regional headquarters location for Mainland corporates expanding overseas.
