Chinese tourists to help Hong Kong
economy? By Janus Lam
HONG
KONG - China is opening the doors to Hong Kong and Macau
to individual travelers from the mainland - not just
business people or group tourists - in an effort to
boost Hong Kong's sagging economy. Another batch of 16
cities in Guangdong and three other provinces were added
to the list on April 20; more will be added May 1, and
by July 1, 150 million people from 32 cities will be
able to travel as individuals, at least in principle, to
Hong Kong and Macau.
Critics, however, say the
influx of individual tourists is not the solution to
Hong Kong's economic problems because tourism and
related industries do not have a formidable impact on
the economy.
This expansion of the existing
Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) is a reciprocal agreement
and has been praised by the Hong Kong government and
pro-Beijing media as the latest bounty from the central
government to help Hong Kong out of economic recession
and 60 months of deflation.
Beijing's
official mouthpieces in the territory even describe the
expanding program as a concession that the government hopes
will persuade Hong Kong to abandon pressing for a
full popular vote on the chief executive of the Hong
Kong Special Administrative Region in 2007. The
official Xinhua news agency reported on Monday that
China would not allow Hong Kong citizens to elect their
chief executive and full legislature beginning in 2007,
as demanded by pro-democracy activists. The standing
committee of the National People's Congress, China's
parliament, ruled out universal suffrage, Xinhua said.
Prior to the expanded visitation program,
mainland residents could only travel to Hong Kong and
Macau on business visas or in package tours, though the
two regions were handed over to Beijing in 1997 and 1999
respectively. Under the initial stage of the Individual
Visit Scheme launched last July, four cities in
Guangdong province were among those in the pilot group,
followed by Beijing and Shanghai.
Starting from May 1, permanent
residents in Guangdong's remaining cities - Shaoguan,
Heyuan, Shanwei, Yangjiang, Zhanjiang, Maoming and
Jieyang - will be allowed to join the visitation scheme.
All other cities in Guangdong have already been
included in IVS. In addition, Beijing's State Council
has decided to extend it further beginning July 1
to nine more cities with a combined population of about
43 million people: Nanjing, Suzhou and Wuxi in
Jiangsu province; Hangzhou, Ningbo and Taizhou in Zhejiang
province; and Fuzhou, Xiamen and Quanzhou in Fujian
province. As a result, the total number of people
eligible for the scheme will increase to 150 million
in 32 cities.
Barter democracy for dollars?
Never. Speaking with journalists, Stephen Ip,
secretary for economic development and labor, denied the
suggestion that Hong Kong might barter away its pursuit
of genuine general suffrage in three years in exchange
for Beijing's latest expansion of the IVS. Yet in a
speech, the secretary emphasized the scheme's economic
benefits to Hong Kong with the underlying message that
IVS is another boon to Hong Kong granted by Beijing.
"Since the launch of IVS last July, over 1.6
million mainlanders have visited our city. Their total
spending stands close to HK$9 billion (US$1.2 billion)
based on an average sum of HK$5,600 per capita," the
secretary said.
When it comes to the visitors
program, Hong Kong is preoccupied with how much the
economy, such as retailing and catering, is stimulated
by the flooding in of hinterland tourists. When news
that a visiting mainlander purchased several hotel
suites hit the headlines, the notion that the open
visitation policy is a panacea to the economic slump was
reinforced.
However, according to the
London-based World Travel & Tourism Council, the
tourism sector merely contributes 2 percent to the local
gross national product. If all related profits are
considered, that is 12.4 percent at most. Even if a
cure-all existed, it would not be tourism from the
mainland.
Still, seen as a win-win situation for
both the mainland and the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region, the announcement of the expanded
scheme caused an immediate surge in the number of
mainland visitors. In the short period from July 28 to
November 4, 2003, over 600,000 individuals in the
mainland applied for visas and 450,000 were issued.
To cities where the scheme is not available yet,
the limitations also have been relaxed. For example, in
Hunan province, it costs inhabitants only 1,000 yuan
($120) to get a business visa to Hong Kong, which used
to be a privilege for staff in major enterprises.
Further, the individual tourist also provides a
lucrative business opportunity for public security
authorities in the mainland, where a permanent resident
applying for a Hong Kong or Macau tour has to pay the
authorities for the required tourist visa.
Pro-Beijing media sees
benevolence However, some Hong Kong-based media
call the individual tours another benevolent Beijing
policy to rejuvenate the island's economy, for which
residents should be grateful; they then subtly
discourage Hong Kong residents from making a fuss over
the controversial constitutional developments - Beijing
still refuses to allow direct popular election of the
Hong Kong legislature and Hong Kong's chief executive.
The overseas edition of China Daily, a
mouthpiece for Beijing, has even used the individual
tour to attack what it calls the the selective
patriotism of some Hong Kong people, who are alleged to
love their country economically but not politically.
Yet, this accusation gains scant applause in Hong Kong,
for many dispute the artificial links between the
individual tourism plan and patriotism. But a historical
look verifies the affection for China held by the Hong
Kong people, who generously contribute to the mainland's
disaster relief work and other economic development and
social causes.
Without abundant natural
resources on which to capitalize, the Hong Kong economy
nevertheless took off between the 1970s and 1980s. But
it was, and is, neither opportunism nor dependence - but
unremitting perseverance - that finally lofted the Hong
Kong economic aircraft. And as the local saying goes,
God helps Hong Kong who helps itself.
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2004 Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Apr 27, 2004
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