Li Hao
THE city s general station of frontier inspection wants residents with multiple-entry visas for Hong Kong to use e-channels at checkpoints to make crossing the border more efficient.
Only about 100,000 residents had registered to use e-channels, according to the general station.
During peak hours, travelers with the multiple-entry visas usually joined manual inspection channels, leaving the e-channels under-used.
Insufficient use of the e-channels could be attributed to poor public awareness of the need for personal data to be collected as a prerequisite for access to e-channels, according to Chinese-language newspapers.
Residents can lodge their personal information at Luohu, Futian and Shenzhen Bay checkpoints, according to the frontier department.
Personal information collection for mainland travelers is available at the first three channels on the second floor of Luohu Checkpoint. Hong Kong and Macao travelers can register at channels 20 and 22 in the entry hall on floor B at the checkpoint.
Collection hours are between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. from Monday to Friday.
Hong Kong is planning to open e-channels for inbound mainland travelers to deal with the surge in the number of visitors.
There were 198 million cross-border travelers last year, a 7.18 percent increase year on year.
A recovering domestic economy has resulted in a large number of mainland residents to Hong Kong for sightseeing or going abroad through Hong Kong.
The frontier inspection department expects the number of cross-border travelers to surpass 200 million this year.
