Hong Kong’s Chief Secretary for Administration Chan Kwok-ki convened an interdepartmental working-group meeting on 23 September to finalise operational plans for the Mainland’s National Day Golden Week (1–7 October). Officials from security, transport and tourism portfolios confirmed that all frontline leave is suspended and that additional immigration counters, temporary channels and mobile kiosks will be deployed at the city’s seven land, sea and air control points. A 24-hour Inter-departmental Joint Command Centre, linking the Immigration Department, Police and Customs, will go live from midnight on 1 October. The centre will share real-time data with Shenzhen, Zhuhai and other mainland port authorities through an established hotline and instant-notification mechanism so that manpower can be redeployed within minutes if queues build up. A parallel Emergency Monitoring & Support Centre under the Security Bureau will coordinate crowd-control and public-order responses inside the city. Transport arrangements were another focus. The MTR Corporation will run additional East Rail Line trains to Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau, while the frequencies of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge “Gold Bus” and the Lok Ma Chau-Huanggang “Yellow Bus” will be cut to one- and two-minute headways during peak hours. Coach quotas have been increased and dedicated lanes reserved for public transport at key checkpoints. District officers will monitor tourist hot-spots, and police traffic units will fan out to the Peak, Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront and Sai Kung country parks, where CCTV coverage and uniformed patrols are being strengthened. To enhance visitor experience, the Hong Kong Tourism Board will launch a dedicated Golden Week page on its Discover Hong Kong platform, providing live wait-times at attractions, boundary-crossing status and weather alerts. Authorities also vowed “zero tolerance” for coerced shopping: the Travel Industry Authority and Customs will step up shop inspections, while police will mount sting operations against taxi over-charging. For multinational companies moving staff in and out of Hong Kong, the message is clear: schedule arrivals outside morning and late-afternoon peaks, pre-book cross-border transport and monitor the government’s ‘Easy Boundary’ and HK eMobility apps for real-time updates. Failure to plan could mean hours-long delays for assignees and visiting executives as the city braces for its busiest holiday week since the pandemic.
Source: HKSAR Government Press Release
