Hong Kong, Macau residents can apply for temporary mainland travel permits via app
Advertisement
The Exit and Entry Administration said on Thursday that residents from the two cities, alongside those from Taiwan, could now apply for the seven-day permits if they had lost their regular papers while travelling on the mainland and needed to fly domestically or go somewhere by train.
The application process could be done instantly using the National Immigration Administration's mobile app, it added.
Central authorities said the new measure could help prevent delays if someone lost, forgot or damaged their standard permits but urgently needed to travel by plane or train on the mainland.
But the temporary permit cannot be used to cross onto the mainland.
The previous system required Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan residents who had lost their mainland permits while travelling to go to public security authorities and file an application in person. Photo: Yik Yeung-man
The previous system required Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan residents who had lost their mainland permits while travelling to go to public security authorities and file an application in person.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RTHK
4 days ago
- RTHK
China tourism sees upgrade in hospitality sector
China tourism sees upgrade in hospitality sector Domestic tourism is on the rise with the hospitality sector having to adapt to changes in tourist experiences. File photo: Xinhua China's tourism boom is pushing upgrades in its hospitality sector, with shifting travel preferences and growing popularity of digital technologies spurring hotels to embrace cultural integration, artificial intelligence (AI) and international management. In the first half of 2025, domestic tourist trips hit 3.285 billion, up 20.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Summer travel is set to accelerate, with an estimated over 2.5 billion trips, according to data from the China Tourism Academy. Hotel giants are feeling the heat. Jin Jiang Hotels, one of China's largest hotel groups, reported receiving more than 40.7 million guests in its Chinese hotels in July. In addition to the robust data, customers' hospitality demands are also changing. "Chinese travellers are no longer satisfied with just a bed for the night. They seek immersive, multifaceted experiences that turn hotels into hubs of exploration and engagement," said Qian Kang, vice president of Jin Jiang Hotels. Integrating hospitality services with culture, commerce, tourism, and sports has been identified as a major strategic opportunity for the hotel market in 2025, according to an industrial survey released earlier this year by hotel market observer HUAMEI Consulting Group. In Shanghai, Jin Jiang Radisson Hotels launched a culinary initiative, offering exclusive dining deals and immersive food tours. Jin Jiang Hotels China Region's AI voice system handles 70 percent of guest calls, resolving 86 percent of requests within 15 minutes, often coordinating with in-house robots for tasks like deliveries, according to Qian. (Xinhua)
HKFP
6 days ago
- HKFP
Tropical Storm Podul makes landfall in China after raking Taiwan as typhoon
Typhoon Podul weakened to a severe tropical storm when it roared ashore in southeastern China early Thursday, state media said, after carving a path across Taiwan, shutting down businesses, grounding flights and knocking out power to thousands of homes. Podul made its second landfall in Fujian province's Zhangpu County, Chinese state news agency Xinhua said, citing the provincial meteorological observatory, reporting maximum sustained winds of 108 kilometres (67 miles) per hour. On Wednesday, wind gusts of up to 178 kilometres per hour were recorded shortly before the typhoon slammed into Taiwan's Taitung County, the country's Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. One person is missing after he went fishing and was swept away, and 112 have been injured, disaster officials said. More than 8,000 people were evacuated from their homes. As Podul swept across storm-battered central and southern areas of Taiwan, it toppled dozens of trees and triggered flooding. Streets in the port city of Kaohsiung were littered with fallen branches. Embed from Getty Images 'Kaohsiung, Tainan and Chiayi will become major rainfall hotspots tonight, with increasing rain also expected in Penghu and Kinmen,' CWA Administrator Lu Kuo-chen told a briefing attended by President Lai Ching-te. Flights scrapped, schools shut All domestic flights across the island of 23 million people were cancelled on Wednesday, along with dozens of international journeys. More than 63,000 households were still without power. High-speed rail services on the west coast were reduced, while train services in the southeast were cancelled. Many ferry services were also suspended, and businesses and schools across the south closed. More than 31,500 soldiers were ready to assist in rescue and relief efforts, disaster officials said. The CWA said mountain areas in Kaohsiung and Tainan could be hit with a cumulative 400-600 millimetres (16-24 inches) of rain from Tuesday to Thursday. In mainland China, some schools in Guangdong paused classes while train and ferry services have been temporarily halted, China state broadcaster CCTV said. Embed from Getty Images Parts of other provinces such as Hunan and Jiangxi in central China will also see heavy to torrential rain, CCTV added. Intense weather Podul comes after weeks of intense weather in central and southern Taiwan, which is accustomed to frequent tropical storms from July to October. Typhoon Danas, which hit Taiwan in early July, killed two people and injured hundreds as the storm dumped more than 500 mm of rain across the south over a weekend. That was followed by torrential rain from July 28 to August 4 that left at least five people dead, with some areas recording more than Taiwan's total rainfall of 2.1 metres in all of 2024. Natural disasters are common across China, particularly in the summer, when some regions experience heavy rain while others bake in searing heat. The death toll from flash floods and mudslides in northwest China last week has risen to 13, state media said on Saturday. Heavy rain in Beijing in the north also killed 44 people last month, with the capital's rural suburbs hardest hit and another eight people killed in a landslide in nearby Hebei province. Scientists have shown that human-driven climate change is causing more intense weather patterns that can make destructive floods more likely. Global warming, driven largely by the burning of fossil fuels, is not just about rising temperatures, but the knock-on effect of all the extra heat in the atmosphere and seas. Warmer air can hold more water vapour, and warmer oceans mean greater evaporation, resulting in more intense downpours and storms.
South China Morning Post
06-08-2025
- South China Morning Post
Chinese tourists offered visa-free entry to South Korea from September
South Korea has rolled out a temporary visa waiver programme for Chinese tour groups in the latest effort to help strengthen fragile ties. Advertisement From September 29, members of Chinese tour groups will be allowed to enter South Korea without a visa until June 30 next year, the office of Prime Minister Kim Min-seok said on Wednesday. It is the first time that South Korea has allowed travel visa exemptions for Chinese tour groups, regardless of point of entry. Previously, only Jeju Island offered such access, allowing group visitors visa-free stays of up to 30 days. South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok announced the visa-free programme on Wednesday. Photo: EPA/Yonhap 'With South Korea's inbound tourism market recovering rapidly, the implementation of this visa waiver programme is expected to help boost demand for travel to Korea, revitalise regional economies and fuel domestic consumption,' a government official said, according to the Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency. Chinese nationals made up the largest group of overseas tourists travelling to South Korea, with about 2.5 million arrivals in the first half of this year, The Korea Herald reported, citing the Korea Tourism Organisation. In November, Beijing announced a unilateral visa-free policy for South Koreans, allowing them to stay in China for up to 15 days until the end of this year. Advertisement The measure drove strong growth in South Korean travel to China, with passenger traffic from November to March up 20.4 per cent to 5.7 million visits, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in Seoul.
